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Yuu was, by all accounts, exhausted from her impromptu trip. She didn’t even want to go back to Japan, but Crowley’s ‘benevolence’ apparently knew no bounds. Or boundaries, for that matter. She was still pretty peeved about the entire affair. Grim had long settled into his bed at the dorm. They’d have a formal breakfast the next day, she decided, to celebrate. Try as the cat may, she knew he cared. If nothing else, to feed the thing. He really was like a little brother, she decided with a familiar fondness. For now, she ought to rest. Was dimensional jet-lag even a thing? In any case, even though sleep begged her to stop to do just that, her mind adamantly refused.
Which explained why she was strolling outside her dorm instead. The dusky glow had dripped into a deep ebony sky. The street lamps gently illuminated the path, kissed by moths. Tiny lime lights danced in the night air, leading a trail in the sky to the man on the bench. The curled horns dipped inward, curves caressed by lamp and fire-light.
“Malleus-senpai?” Yuu greeted.
“You’re back, human,” he stated simply. A small, vague smile tugged at his lip.
“Uh, yeah.” She returned with eloquence. “Sorry, I probably worried you, huh?”
“I’m only ashamed that I was not of any help to the situation.” His tone was somber- guilty maybe. “I have a copious amount of Magic, and power at the ready, and yet it is all for not if I cannot aid those I care for.”
“Don’t worry about it, senpai,” she assured, taking a seat beside him. “Legal stuff isn’t anything to mess with.”
“Human legalities make little sense to me.”
“Let’s just say it was a delicate operation,” she offered.
He sighed. “I do not understand.”
She gently pat his hand. “It’s okay.”
He hummed in response. Long fingers curled over her hand, dubious and unconfident. Her face heated. Green, glowing eyes stared outward into nothingness, warmth dipping his ear tips.
Affection bloomed in Yuu’s chest, as she gingerly took his hand. He stiffened at first, eyes widening, before a soft smile melted on his face.
“I’m back, y’know?” She spoke softly. “Sorry for leaving you hanging.”
“Time is allusive to me.”
Her mind blanked. How do you respond to that?
“You’re worth the wait,” he finished, a vague sense of vulnerability lingering in the night air.
“Thank you.” She smiled back at him. “I missed you. And this.”
“I’ve grown rather fond of these nights as well.”
Spoken like a true cryptid.
“This may be a weird question to ask,” she phrase carefully, “but don’t Fae live a really long time?”
He returned with an unfazed nod. “Human lives, in comparison, are not more than a flickering flame on a wick.”
As if to illustrate his point, a small green light blossomed on his fingertip.
“Burning brightly with warmth-“
He clenched his hand, suffocating the fiery petal
“-yet gone too soon. More often than not, it is too late to realize that a candle is snuffed, since there are so many others in any given place.”
“A fire, huh?” Yuu mused. “I guess that makes sense. Is that why you like gargoyles so much?”
Viridian eyes widened in surprise. “I suppose so. They’re guardians, unyielding and permanently etched in stone.”
She nodded. “Makes sense. But a fire, huh? That’s kinda depressing.”
His brow furrowed ever so slightly. “Can you explain?”
“Well, fire is beautiful, yeah. But it goes out without anyone noticing. Not much is lost, and it’s easily replaced.”
“How would you compare them, child of man?”The question was earnest.
“Stars.” She leaned back on the bench. “They’re small from where we are, but they light up the night sky. They may not be as big or bright as the moon, but they’re more delicate and interesting.”
Her finger traced a constellation carved into the night.
“They tell stories. And when they die? Stars explode. Everyone notices.”
A curious finger touched his lip thoughtfully, eyeing her quizzically. “Stars, you say?”
Yuu chuckled. “Sounds kinda dumb, but that’s what I think.” She glanced back down to face him. “What are you staring at?”
“Don’t pay me any mind.” His lip tugged into an unabashed smile, green eyes softened with an unseen affection. “I’m simply stargazing.”