Work Text:
Regardless of how illusive the Ignihyde housewarden was, Malleus deemed gaining Shroud’s favor his utmost priority. Though this task was quite hard considering Shroud was never in the public eye of the school and Malleus was entirely unfamiliar with everything pertaining to him, those miniscule off-hand glimpses of him are all the thorn prince had of Shroud's character.
“Lilia, I…require some help with something” Malleus small stepped towards his guardian, fidgeting with his glove
Lilia looked up from the device he was holding in his hand “and what might that be?” he said with a fanged grin
“It's about the older Shroud, I'd like to figure out how to approach him”
The shorter fae let out a breath “you want to talk to Idia, my that is quite the big task” Lilia pocketed what he was holding as he stood “but what is young love other than an arduous quest?” he chuckled
Malleus had a puzzled look on his face “young love..?” he muttered his breath, what on earth could his guardian be talking about?
“Oh don't worry your horned head off over it, it could just be your dragon instincts telling you to gather what you find intriguing” Lilia joked as he patted the thorn prince on the shoulder
That just left the Diasomnia housewarden with even more questions, gathering intriguing items? Malleus already did that with books on gargoyles and the few very old magazine pages about gao gao dragon-kun, maybe acquiring an object solely because its hue and shine reminded him of Shroud's hair.
“Don't worry my dear protege, I'll help you meet up with Idia by the end of the week” Malleus was broken out of his thoughts by Lilia’s proposition
“Thank you Lilia,”
.
.
.
Idia groaned as he glared at his monitor, Lilia asked him to meet him Saturday evening, nothing else to elaborate with, just meet him at 6:30pm this Saturday. He chewed at the inside of his cheek not caring if he bit too hard and injured himself, why'd this have to happen to a shut-in like him?
“Why can't the fates just cut me loose already?” Idia had his head in his arms
The door opened and Ortho flew in with a box of films in his hands “Hey Idia! Could you help me with a project Vil gave me?”
“I thought you did research projects by yourself?”
“Well gathering information on others opinions on various films requires a larger party than one”
Idia sighed, maybe some mind numbing movie marathon could keep his mind off things “What the hell, sure” he said with a smile
.
.
.
Malleus had been hyperfocused on this meet up with Shroud that it was all he could think about, he was laying in a clearing with thorned brambles slowly crawling over his tall frame from how deep in thought he was, Malleus managed to get Silver and mainly Sebek away so he could have his alone time. From what Lilia told him about Shroud, he was a self-deprecating recluse who'd rather vanish from the world than be in public, Malleus couldn't grasp why such a deathly attractive man such as Shroud would think that way, but everyone has their reasons
“Oh, and Idia's got quite the set of pipes on him, but don't tell him I said anything about that”
Lilia had told the thorn prince that when the discussion of Shroud's characteristics happened the other night, it made Malleus try and picture Shroud singing, but to no avail, he'd like to hear it one day though
“Malleus! Sir!” Sebek was running towards where Malleus lay in the clearing almost consumed by thorns
Silver managed to catch up with Sebek and put a hand onto his shoulder to get him to stop trying to pull away the brambles “It's getting late Malleus, we should head to the cafeteria for dinner before going back to the dorm”
The thorn prince got up from where he lay on the grass, the brambles instantly tore away from him and he stood and brushed himself off “Alright, I would like to avoid Lilia from trying to feed us anything” he sighed as he spoke
The three Diasomnia students headed off towards the NRC building as the sky darkened.
.
.
.
Ortho flew down the hall towards the hall of mirrors with a bowl of curry and rice for his brother, as he needed to eat some real food soon or he'd get sick from malnutrition. The robotic boy spotted a familiar face with black and pink hair down the hall and decided to go have a chat
“Hello Lilia Vanrouge, why are you here and not in the cafeteria?” Ortho inquired
“Ah Ortho, I've actually been meaning to talk with you before this weekend”
“Is it about that meeting you want to have with my brother Saturday evening?”
“Yes, well, I'm not actually the one who will be meeting him”
Ortho tilted his head as he processed what the fae had told him, he said he wanted to meet Idia on Saturday but he actually isn't?
“Please elaborate” Ortho requested
“Right, see my protege has been wanting to meet your brother face to face for quite some time now, he's been quite the mess over it actually” Lilia remarked
“Malleus Draconia wants to talk with Idia? Why?” the boy was quite confused, his processor was still pending with possible reasons
“Why I believe the prince of Briar Valley is in love, despite his own lack of self awareness of the feeling and him just chalking it up to unresolved obsession” the fae answered Ortho's question
The answer made Ortho want to do a few loops in the air, but he acknowledged the takeout bowl in his possession, if this goes well then Idia might actually get out of his room more!
“I would like to help with this, I will keep everything confidential to just you” the boy responded
Lilia clapped his hands together “then it's decided! Let's continue this discussion in our break periods tomorrow, you wouldn't want the food to get cold now?” he pointed at the bowl in Ortho's hands
“Alright, schedule updated, see you tomorrow!” and with that Ortho flew off back to the Ignihyde dormitory.
.
.
.
“Do any of these suffice?” Sam set a box onto the counter, it was full of sapphires of varying color and quality
Malleus scanned over the jewels “I’m more intrigued on how you even have such items”
“I’ve got a menagerie of trinkets in my shop, if you can think it then I’ve probably got it”
Choices, choices, there were many options displayed before the thorn prince, he knew sapphires came in more than just blue but he wasn’t expecting this many shades of violet and pink. Malleus finally decided on two yellow ones and a deep blue
“Just those gems and silver? It almost seems like your going to make some jewelry, thought you could order one” stated Sam as he boxed Malleus’ purchase
Malleus took the small box “Well I wanted to get the materials from a reliable source”
“You flatter me good sir! Now run on back, it’s almost curfew” Sam waved the prince off
The walk to the hall of mirrors was quite pleasant with the night breeze going by, Malleus stepped in the Diasomnia mirror and made his way into the dormitory. Lilia was sitting in the lounge looking over some papers, sipping on some tomato juice as read them
“What are those for?” Malleus looked at the three papers on the coffee table
Lilia gathered two of them “oh Ortho and I just discussed the plans for saturday, the kid gave me more than I asked for with these well written documents so I just took the main things you required and put them here” he handed the remaining sheet of paper to his protege
Malleus skimmed it, the list of preferred flowers and ring size were there, but the flowers were what mainly caught his attention “Lilia these look like funerary flowers, are you sure they’d work?”
Lilia took a sip of his juice “of course they will! All this came from the one person who knows Idia best! I’m more caught on the needing his ring size”
The prince’s face reddened ever so slightly as he hid the small box behind his back, but his guardian was faster and quickly teleported behind Malleus and grabbed the box.
“Now what do we have here?” Lilia opened the box and was met with three gems and some bits of silver
“Lilia it’s really nothing” Malleus felt his face grow hot out of embarrassment as he reached out to try and grab the box from Lilia “please just give it back”
“Oh alright,” he closed the box and gave it back to the prince “but you should wait before gifting him that, maybe save it for the next meet up”
“But I haven’t figured out how I want the ring to look just yet” Malleus just stared at the box in his hands
“Well then, just come up with a design and bring it to me, I know a craftsman back home who would gladly take up your request” Lilia noted
Malleus nodded “alright then, good night” he went off to his room
“Don’t let this distract you from some well needed rest” Lilia waved goodbye
.
.
.
“The sun is way too bright…”
Idia was walking back to the hall of mirrors from Sam’s shop, he would’ve asked Ortho to go for him but his little brother was busy with club activities at the moment so Idia had to go himself, which led him to get a few more things than just a snack refill
“Maybe making kandi bracelets could be a fun pass time,” he glanced at the various beads and charms in the bag with his gummy worms as he kept heading down the path
Idia made it back to Ignihyde in one piece and without any social interaction, so he considered this a win, now that he was back in his room Idia put the bag of stuff he acquired down onto his bed. Now that his inventory was empty, he got the electric kettle and headed out to go fill it with water
“Ortho will get on my case if I don’t eat anything but snacks again” Idia muttered to himself as he filled the kettle up to the top “maybe I could make some milk tea too…”
Back in his room once again, Idia put the kettle onto the stand and turned it on, then got one of the cup noodles he had stashed somewhere as he waited for the water to boil. Man this was taking forever, Idia moved around the cords and power strip near his bed so he had enough room to sit on the floor and crack open the bracelet making stuff he got. He turned on a random commentary video and got to work on making whatever he felt like, and searching up how to tie a knot with this plastic string without it coming undone with a slight tug. The kettle was finally done boiling water so Idia put a pause on his crafting endeavors and filled the cup noodles with water to the line and covered it back up
“So much waiting, I’m already on my third bracelet and my lunch is still not done” Idia wasn’t sure why he was talking to himself, but who honestly cares, he’s in the privacy of his own room so he can do whatever he wants!
He went back to the bracelet he was making, it was almost done Idia just needed to tie it off and trim the excess, the door to his room open suddenly that it made him jump
“Could you at least knock?!” he exclaimed
Azul was standing in the doorway “well you’re usually on your computer playing games with your headphones on and all the way up, so don’t blame me”
Idia sighed in annoyance as he finished the bracelet “why’re you here Azul?”
“Because there’s a club activity today and you’re not missing it, side note, since when did you like green?” Azul pointed at the bracelet Idia was holding
Idia looked at the bracelet confused on what Azul was talking about, low and behold the Octovinelle housewarden was right, the bracelet had clear sparkly green beads with some black laced in there and purple gem shaped ones between the black ones, there was also a charm in the middle that looked like a tamagotchi he recalled only seeing once really
“Must’ve made it subconsciously” he sighed as he put it on “I’ll be out in ten, just wait for me outside”
Azul nodded and did just that, he shut the door behind him, Idia decided to get changed into his club attire and then got his cup noodles and a disposable fork then went with Azul to the board game club.
“Why do you have instant noodles?”
“Haven’t really eaten anything today yet, I would say I had some peach rings but Ortho said candy doesn’t count as a meal”
“And he’d be correct, also you could do with a shower”
“If you’re just here to berate me then just leave! Also I showered yesterday and I’m gonna shower tomorrow”
“Mainly for that mystery meeting tomorrow evening I presume?”
“Yes, first of all, how do you know about that? Second, it’s not a mystery meeting since Lilia was the one who proposed the idea”
“Alright I’ll take your word for it, also I know because your brother told me”
.
.
.
Earlier, Azul was looking through some contracts to distract himself enough that he could focus on homework later, then a short figure came flying into the lounge
“Azul Ashengrotto! I require some assistance!” Ortho flew over to where Azul was sitting
Azul moved the papers to the side “and what would require my services?”
“Can you rig an option wheel?”
“What for?”
“It’s better if I get Lilia Vanrouge to explain this plan, since he’s the one who made it”
The mention of the Diasomnia vice housewarden peaked Azul’s interest, he packed up the stray papers of forgotten homework and contracts into his school bag “Well take me to him, I’d like to hear what this all about”
The two made their way to the school building, Lilia was in the board game clubroom which led Azul to wonder how he even got in there
“Ah Azul, I guess you’ve agreed to help?” he greeting Azul with a smile
“Depends on what I’m helping with” Azul examined what was going on, there was an option wheel with alternating labels of truth and dare, and a karaoke machine
“Well Ortho and I have teamed together in helping my protege with his little crush”
“Who would the Malleus Draconia take an interest in I wonder,” Azul got to thinking, this was quite the intriguing predicament!
He considered all who were in the room: Ortho, Lilia, and himself. Lilia mentioned that the whole idea behind this was Malleus, which made sense for Lilia’s reasoning for being there, but for as to why Ortho was present there had to be a shared connection between him and the robot because why else would Azul be needed there aside from knowing the board game clubroom like the back of his hand? Lilia could see the gears turning as Azul deduced who this ploy could be for, then the realization his Azul like a truck
“Are we rigging a game of truth or dare to get Idia to sing in front of people?” Azul couldn’t believe he just said that
“Exactly, my you’re quiet the detective” responded Lilia
Azul didn’t think this would work at all, but the idea of this working in general was enticing. The three of them got to working setting up the game, Azul practiced spinning the wheel to land on dare exactly, Ortho made sure the karaoke machine worked, then Lilia paused them in their work
“Wouldn’t it make more sense to do this in the band room? It’s more sound proof than this one”
Azul and Ortho just looked at each other, Lilia was right but that would mean moving all their equipment. Lilia casted a spell on the wheel while Ortho carried the karaoke machine, Azul was given the keys to open the clubroom door, they then re-setup everything and made sure it all worked properly, Azul got the trick of getting the option he desired.
“Everything’s in place, are we expecting anyone else?” asked Azul
“Aside from Idia and Malleus I’m not sure” Ortho replied
“Considering who all is here, it’d make sense to invite the rest of my club, same goes for you Ortho so send a text to Vil, as for Malleus’ case Silver and Sebek are his guards so they’re sure to be around” Lilia explained
“Well I’ll go get Idia then” Azul went off to the hall of mirrors, the plan was soon to play out
.
.
.
Malleus was excited for whatever Lilia had invited him to, he rarely got the chance to experience any group activities since no one told him anything, which made him wonder why sometimes. Silver opened the door to the band room and Malleus entered and was pleasantly surprised by all who were present, all the housewardens and their respected groups all in attendance, except Kingscholar and Bucchi.
“Malleus you’ve made it!” Lilia greeted him “We’re still waiting for two guests so just take a seat where ever”
Malleus took the empty seat near the back, where he had a good view of the wheel that was in the center of all the chairs, there were a few conversations going on while the waiting took place
“I thought the Diasomnia housewarden was like always busy or something” Spade was whispering to Trappola
“Hey Cater, could you record this whole thing? Ruggie wanted to come but said he had some business to take care of and to just send him a video or something” asked Howl
“Sure thing Jackie! I am gonna need Ruggie’s number that though” Diamond got a device out of his pocket and started tapping away on the glass of it
Then some voices could be heard coming from the hall, growing louder as the came closer to the band room doors
“This isn’t even the way to the board game club! What’s really going on Azul?”
“Idia just shut up and follow me”
So Ashengrotto and Shroud were the last guests everyone was waiting for? Malleus couldn’t wait for what this group meeting was for
.
.
.
Idia followed Azul into the band room, tossing his empty noodle cup and fork into the trash bin, then he saw the eighteen other people in the room, it was hard to tell if any color drained from Idia’s face considering how pale he was but he was ready to bolt out of the room, but Ortho stopped him
“Lilia, I wasn’t aware that this many people would show up” Azul said through his teeth as he made his way towards the wheel in the center of all the foldout chairs
Lilia had a mischievous look on his face “Well I told Cater and Kalim to show up, they’re the ones who ran their mouths about this”
Cater and Kalim both tried to look not guilty and Azul turned to them, he just sighed and went to the right side of the wheel “Well now that everyone’s present, I suppose we should get started with the game”
“C’mon Idia! Just sit down and watch it all play out, I’ll make sure you go last so you can leave right after” Ortho was practically dragging Idia to an open seat
Idia groaned “fine, but can I at least-” he was cut off as his brother shoved him into a seat
“I’ll just be over here!” Ortho waved and flew off to go sit next to Lilia
Idia sighed “why me..?” then looked to his left and almost screamed when he saw Malleus sitting right next to him
What was he doing here?! The one guy Idia wasn’t even counting on showing up anywhere was here in the flesh, a 50/50 type chance encounter with the most uneven odds weighed against this happening
“Shroud, I’m surprised they managed to get you to leave your dorm” Malleus tried to strike up a conversation
“Well Azul lied and said this was a club activity, I just wanna leave” Idia pulled his hood over his face in an act to try and disappear
Malleus eyed the bracelet Idia was wearing on his left wrist “where did you get this?” he reached out and poked at the bracelet
Idia let out a choked “eep!” as he leaned away from the thorn prince
“Oh apologizes, I didn’t mean to startle you” Malleus retracted his hand went back to staring at something he had in his lap
Idia noticed how the tips of Malleus’ ears flushed ever so slightly from the embarrassment of scaring him prior “It’s fine, I just need better social skills” Idia bit on one of his nails
The sound of someone tapping on a mic caught the whole room’s attention, Cater took this a sign and started to record on his phone
“Alright now that everyone has settled I’d like to announce what will be taking place here,” Azul cleared his throat before explaining “to put it simply we will being playing truth or dare but with some added rules, we have a wheel that will be spun each turn and two decks of cards that correspond to a truth or a dare”
“And how do we know that you won’t pull anything?” Ace spoke out
Riddle pulled him back down into his seat “that’s enough out of you”
Azul adjusted his glasses “everyone is welcome to spin the wheel and draw their own card if they want, if not then I’ll be doing so for you”
Idia let out a small sigh of relief, which Malleus noticed
“What’s so relieving about Ashengrotto choosing for you?” he asked
“Means I don’t have to go in front of a crowd” Idia replied
Thus the game begun, to prove Azul wouldn’t pull anything he let Ace go first, he got a dare to hold the person to the right of his seat’s hand for the whole game…and that would be Deuce.
“Rigged I say, RIGGED!!” Ace shouted in annoyance, he still did the dare
The Heartslabyul freshman both looked equally bothered by this, but in a “aw shit we have to do this in public” type of way. The game continued, everyone had to do something embarrassing regardless if they got truth or dare, Vil had to eat his least favorite food, Sebek couldn’t talk for the rest of the game, Riddle had to admit that he forgot a rule because it was so off putting to him especially, so on so fourth. The game neared its end and it was Idia’s turn, Malleus finished his truth where it was asked why he didn’t like cake,
“Alright Idia, it’s your turn” Azul announced
“You can spin and pick for me, Azul” he used his tablet to talk
Azul had a knowing smirk on his face after Idia said that, he spun the wheel with a quick flick of his wrist, the wheel spun counter clockwise exactly twice and landed on dare, Idia didn’t like that, well either option was terrible in his opinion really, Azul grabbed a card from the deck but while he was doing so Ace seemed like he wanted to say something but didn’t. Then a sense of dread built up in Idia’s throat as Azul said his dare out loud
“You have to sing one whole song”
The dread crashed onto Idia like a tsunami, he scratched the back of his hand with vigor and anxiety “...what” he managed to squeak out with a strained voice
Malleus hesitantly put a hand onto Idia’s shoulder “are you alright?”
Idia couldn’t move to nod, he didn’t realize that he was holding his breath, then Ortho flew over “Idia just take a few deep breaths, I’ll keep the lights off during the whole bit”
.
.
.
Malleus was worried Shroud would faint as he was walked up to the front by the younger Shroud, the lights turned off but a small handful of students could still see, a beep sounded from the box with mesh on it that was in the center of the room. Shroud was looking at something glowing in his hand then tapped something, music started to play as he took a few deep breaths
“ Led to rot in treachery
Bury me in irony
愛の唄でおやすみよ ”
The song sounded somber to say the least so far,
“ When I wake, I'm born again
No one left to mourn my end
Shout from the other side
Sink me down below ”
Then a loud instrumental started up, Shroud shyly vocalizing along with it
“ How we've come so far away
Since "red tomorrow, red today"
In the ash of what remains
Lies the demon no one could tame ”
Malleus saw Diamond still recording on that device he had, how long has he been doing that?
“ Hollow smile
Dull disguise
Idle lies still idolized
Amongst the dead, there is life
Though sudden change cuts like a knife (ha) ”
Shroud looked very shaken, but more relaxed since no one could see him in the dark right? Malleus figured only the faint glow of his hair is all others in the room could see
" Time seldom heals
Your hell is all that's real ”
The younger Shroud looked quite happy that his brother’s performance so far
“ Lead you on pretty words and lies
Some sort of comfort when you burn ”
A few breaths were taken before the next line
“ Left for dead lullaby
Led to rot in treachery
Bury me in irony
愛の唄でおやすみよ
When I wake, I'm born again
No one left to mourn my end
Shout from the other side
Sink me down below ”
Malleus enjoyed the ongoing performance, Lilia’s remark on how well Shroud sang was quite right
“ Weak of heart
But sound of mind
Friends I found, but left behind
Speak of me like a ghost
Vibrant memories color-blind
Tragic words, last goodbyes
On my soul like a faded watermark
Wistful wanting
The narrative unwinds ”
“ ねえママ ぼくはどこで間違ったのかな
もう落下して発火しちまえこのまま
とっくにあの世は満杯 ”
Shroud looked a little embarrassed with this part when singing
“ 地獄百景
Downward spiral to where I belong~! ”
Another small instrumental break
“ うらみつらみねたみ そねみドレミに変え
100万本のリイン "カーネーション" ”
Shroud managed to look a little more confident again
“ Time never heals
Your hell is so that's real
The walls are falling in on us, and yet
Words like "regret" won't wet my lips
There are moments I'd change if I could
But searching for atonement does not ensure "good" ”
He appeared to mentally brace himself
“ Left for dead lullaby
Led to rot in treachery
Bury me in irony
愛の唄でおやすみよ
When I wake, I'm born again
No one left to mourn my end
Shout from the other side
Sink me down below ”
Small gasps came from the crowd as Shroud projected more, no one was expecting him to get louder than a little lower than normal talking volume
“ Drifting deep, I realize
No one expects me to rise
But in your selfish eyes
Catch and let me go
When I wake, recall with dread
She who he had left for dead
Shout from the other side
Sink me down below ”
Malleus brought a hand over his mouth, he had to have a chat with Shroud after this
“ Finally reaping what I've sown
Finally reaping what I've sown
Bring me back to live again
Bring me back to live again ”
With that, the song was practically over as the last line went unnoticed, Shroud was breathing heavily as the lights came on, eyes blinked and students exclaimed as their eyes adjusted. Shroud swiftly came by Malleus to grab his tablet that he left there then went straight to the door and left, is was so quick that Malleus couldn’t speak a word to Shroud before he left in a hurry
“Can’t believe I caught all that on video!” he heard Diamond remark in background
Malleus was glad he heard such a performance, but defeated in how he couldn’t talking to the one performing at the end, he heard Sebek almost fall over as he turned
“Sir, your tail” Sebek pointed at the floor where Malleus’ scaly tail was
He looked puzzled, it was usually tucked away with magic “must’ve slipped my mind during the performance”
Malleus gathered the one item he brought with him, a small dark wooden box, and signalled to Sebek and Silver that he was leaving. Everyone was pretty much leaving the band room aside from the younger Shroud, Lilia, and Ashengrotto who were cleaning up. Malleus thought over Shroud’s performance and their earlier interaction during the game, sure the first initial reaction Shroud had to him was fear but it turned into something more comfortable as the game went on, but that reaction towards his dare made the thorn prince worry. Malleus had made it back to his room and set the box on his nightstand, he changed into his sleepwear with the assistance of magic before collapsing onto his bed, perhaps he could talk to Shroud tomorrow evening when they were set to meet.
.
.
.
He didn’t want to get out of bed, he never wanted to leave his room again after what happened yesterday. Idia still had a lingering feeling of nausea from when he left the band room the night prior, Ortho sent him a text when he woke up about his meeting with Lilia or as Azul put it his “mystery meeting” Idia would rather die than go to this meetup now. Ortho wouldn’t approve of him flaking this, so he just sucked it up and went to wash all the dread he was feeling away in the shower. Idia picked out some nice clothes, well as nice as his wardrobe offered, it was mainly what people referred to as “emo attire” but regardless of that he also grabbed his favorite hoodie and headed to the dorm bathrooms.
Idia thought about how to spend his time before 6:30 in the shower. The warmth was soothing to say the least but then he remembered how Cater recorded the whole event last night and dreaded opening any social media, he brushed it off and just washed his hair and body. Idia dried off and got dressed in the clean clothes he brought with him. He could just let his hair air dry since it was fire adjacent and let off its own heat to some degree, but he liked it to be puffy so Idia plugged in the hair dryer and turned it on. Idia got back to his room and chucked his dirty clothes into the hamper then checked the time on his phone
“12:00pm, six and half hours to kill…this is gonna claw at my soul ain’t it?” Idia sighed, this was gonna suck waiting, timeskip features didn’t apply to real life
He spent those six hours doing quests in various games then getting burnt out from them, making bracelets or sketching while a commentary video or music played in the background, and doing maintenance on some of Ortho’s gear. Every so often he glanced at the clock and saw only ten minutes had passed, then groaned in annoyance that time was passing so slowly, got caught up in a task and looked back at the clock and saw how an hour or two passed by. At some point Idia had fallen asleep and was woken up from an alarm he set
“Huh? Oh fuck,” Idia stumbled out of bed and quickly put on his socks and shoes, he grabbed phone and shut off the alarm
He stuffed his phone into his hoodie pocket, Idia grabbed a bone shaped hairclip off his and clipped part of his bangs to the side, then left towards the mirror chamber. He checked his phone for a designated location where he was supposed to be, Lilia sent him a picture of a clearing near the greenhouse, the walk felt really short considering how fast Idia was walking but he made it to a few steps away from the clearing before his phone dinged
Lilia
Hope it all goes well with my protege!!
Idia just stared at the screen briefly before sticking it back in his pocket, does this mean Azul was right in this being a mystery meeting? He loathed the thought as he stepped into the clearing, he didn’t want to talk with anyone he didn’t know!
“Shroud! I’m glad you made it here with out any delay”
Idia stopped dead in his tracks and looked up from the ground and was met with the sight that was Malleus
“I wasn’t expecting this,” Idia was ready to turn on his heel and sprint back to the hall of mirrors “not a high enough level or properly prepared! Sorry bye!!” before he could even move a step, Malleus grabbed his wrist with an ounce of care in his grasp
“I wanted to talk, a little about last night and more about…some other topics” Malleus’ ears reddened like the night before in the band room, but so were his cheeks this time around
Idia sighed in defeat, and followed Malleus further into the clearing before the thorn prince cleared his throat
“I quite liked your singing last night, I wanted to tell you then but you ran off before I could”
Idia felt sick to his stomach then after the song was over, so he didn’t think he could open his mouth without everything coming out which would add onto his social anxiety problems.
“I…got really nauseous after it all so I just went- nervermind” Idia cut himself off, he twirled a strand of hair with a finger “thanks…you said there was something else?”
Malleus straightened up a little “Yes, there is something I would like to share” he lightly waved his hand and bouquet appeared with a green firefly effect dispersing afterwards “Shroud I’ve had my sights on you for quite sometime, but I couldn’t figure out how to approach you just yet, thus I asked Lilia for help, he set this meeting up and also got your brother to help with the flowers…” Malleus’ face was really flushed now as he handed the flowers over to Idia
The bouquet had white lilies, narcissus, flowering mint, a some smaller pale blue flowers all wrapped together with a black velvet ribbon, Idia could believe Malleus when he said Ortho helped with the bouquet as he did like all these flowers despite how he couldn’t keep them from withering to save his life. Idia lightly pushed the bouquet held out to him back towards Malleus, not to say he wasn’t flattered, but could really anyone actually be in love with him?
“Thanks, but you deserve someone better than an introverted recluse like me, and besides you’re a prince, you probably have someone lined up for you back in Briar Valley” Idia looked away with guilt as he spoke, this all had to be some elaborate prank done by Lilia right?
Malleus puffed out a small green flame in annoyance and determination “I don’t want anyone else Shroud, you’re the one I desire and-” he growled in frustration trying to find the right words “ Idia I want you, only you, I’ve spent the last semester gathering things that reminded me of your visage and it was only just last week I understood how I felt and that I had to tell you or my heart would eat me alive if I didn’t” the sense of yearning Malleus exuded was undeniable
Idia felt blood rush towards his face, someone actually felt like that towards him? Not a joke? Actual genuine love for him, tears stung his eyes as he blinked and wiped them away with his sleeve, the tips of his hair were definitely vibrantly pink now
“I can’t believe it…actually I will believe, all odds pointed against my favor yet here I am” Idia had a dumb grin on his face “um can I- can I see your hand?”
Malleus brought up his right hand and Idia slid the green bracelet he’d been wearing since yesterday onto Malleus’ wrist, the prince stared at it and smiled with contempt
“Lilia told me to save this for a later date, but I felt a funerary bouquet didn’t count as a gift”
Idia took the bouquet as Malleus pulled something from his pocket, he recognized it from yesterday, it was a small dark wooden box “please don’t be alarmed”
“Why would I be alarmed-?” Idia looked at the box as Malleus opened it, and his eyes widened at the sight
Oh!
It was a silver ring with three sapphires inlaid upon it, two yellow and one blue, the silver was made to look like thorn brambles. Malleus took Idia’s left hand and put it on his ring finger, from how hot Idia’s face felt he was certain his hair had to be pink down to his roots right about now
“I- uh- wowie- um- okayyoeahIdon’tknowhoworwhattosayholyshIT-!!” Idia almost fell over from Malleus trying to embrace him, but he stopped the prince before he could
Malleus had a pout on his face that Idia couldn’t help but find endearing “Do you not wish to be hugged my dear Shroud?” he asked
“Nonono! It’s not that at all just…” Idia fidgeted with his zipper pull “this has some form of iron in it, that stuff hurts fairies right?”
“You would be correct”
Idia pulled down the zipper of his hoodie then tossed the garment onto the grass, he wore a striped long sleeved shirt underneath “okay, now you can hug me”
Malleus did just that, he pulled Idia into a tight embrace and his tail wrapped around the two of them, small rose vines grew around Malleus’ ankles. Idia didn’t question anything, like when did Malleus’ tail show up? He was too drunk on the feeling of love to ask, and that feeling grew when Malleus placed a kiss onto his forehead