Chapter Text
Caelus stood in front of the wooden double doors leading to the theatre. He contemplated turning around and simply leaving; after all, he really had no obligation to be here.
He thought of that girl from yesterday, she was... something, for sure.
But then again, using basic knowledge and common sense, with how she promoted her club, he doubted anyone would show up, and he imagined her alone in the theatre after hours.
After another sad girl appeared in his head, with a sigh, Caelus reached for the door handle.
With a metallic shriek, the door slowly opened, revealing an empty theatre, lines of red velvet seats led to an empty stage.
Or at least what should've been an empty stage.
"Oh, you don't know how happy I am to see you!"
The girl from before, her familiar brown hair and loud voice helped identify her.
Also, the fact that she was the only other person in the room, but that's beside the point.
She hopped off the edge of the stage and walked up to Caelus, looking him up and down briefly.
"Names Sparkle, though I don't mind nicknames."
She teased, waggling her eyebrows.
"Sparkle will do."
He quickly rebutted, smiling awkwardly before looking beyond her, toward the empty stage.
"This is a club, right? Where's the other people?"
To that, Sparkle nervously chuckled, shrinking to his words.
"Well... about that..."
She thought for a moment, before returning to her usual demeanor.
"They're just not here yet!"
"Right..."
He walked past her, much to her dismay, he continued.
"So what do you even do here? Isn't drama about plays and stuff?"
Caelus said, making his way toward the short flight of stairs that led to the stage.
Making his way up, he walked to the front of the elevated platform, looking around the theatre.
"I'm surprised the school left all this to you."
He commented, looking over his shoulder to see Sparkle standing there, looking rather lost until he spoke up.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
She rebutted, raising an eyebrow and eyeing Caelus, who feinted ignorance, looking away from her and continuing to speak.
"It looks like something you'd see in those old movies."
He spoke, continuing to look around for just another moment, before finally turning around to face Sparkle.
"So, when do we get started?"
Caelus asked once more, tilting his head slightly.
Sparkle didn't respond for a moment, her brows furrowing, before her expression softened.
"When more people show up, I did bother lots of people yesterday, so all we have to do is wait."
Sparkle said cheerfully, before skipping over to the edge of the stage and taking a seat, her legs dangling off of the wood surface.
Caelus looked at her and sighed, hesitantly moving to her side, and sitting down alongside her.
...
After some time, nobody showed up, and despite Sparkle's occasional reassurance to Caelus that somebody would, no one ever did.
Sparkle let out a sigh, a defeated expression on her face.
Caelus looked over at her and despite knowing that nobody would (probably) show up, he couldn't help but feel bad.
"Don't look so down, at least you're not alone, that's something isn't it?"
Caelus's words managed to at least get Sparkle to laugh, which she was doing right now.
"I guess."
After her laughter died down, she sighed.
"Maybe I was too direct with my approaches, what do you think?"
Sparkle asked, looking at Caelus, and he recognized what she was looking for from him.
He sighed, internally debating how to respond.
On one hand, he knew that her approach was too pressing and probably did the opposite of its intended purpose to many, but on the other, he didn't want to hurt her feelings. Judging by how she acts, he assumed she didn't have much experience in social interaction, but maybe that's a stretch.
"No, you're fine."
He lied through his teeth, giving Sparkle a small smile,
"If people wanted to show up, they would have that's not your fault."
Sparkle nodded, soaking in his words.
"Yeah."
She muttered, a silence falling between them as she couldn't think of what to say next.
Sparkle, being her usual self sprung up from where she sat, beginning to walk backstage.
"Since you're here, why don't I show you what I had planned?"
She said, looking behind her and seeing Caelus with a slightly surprised expression.
Hesitantly he stood up, and walked over to her, making sure to stay a few paces behind.
"Why are you showing me? The two of us can't do it alone."
He questioned her, watching her rummage through a large, wooden box.
Comically, her arms seemed to move like spinning wheels as she threw stuff out of the box.
First a few papers, then a hobby horse, then a couple of sock puppets, and finally,
"Ah, finally."
She said, standing upright, flashing a small booklet at Caelus.
"What's that?"
He questioned, approaching her, making sure not to step on anything she threw about.
"It's a script, one for a play I wrote."
She said, flipping about the pages, her eyes scanning through the lines.
"You wrote that?"
Caelus asked, looking over her shoulder to get a glimpse of the booklet.
"Yeah, here."
She handed the script to him and watched nervously as his eyes slowly looked over the words she had written, taking a mental note every time his expression changed, or when his eyebrows would furrow.
After a few minutes of silence, Caelus stopped and looked at Sparkle.
"..."
For a moment he didn't say anything, and Sparkle slowly started to form a nervous smile.
"It's not bad."
Were his first words,
"Though it could use a few edits, I like it. I never was exactly a fan of musicals, but I enjoyed this."
He finished, looking at Sparkle with a small smile.
"Do you think I could listen to the song this is tied to? I think it would help me understand the theme of this more."
Caelus asked her, a slightly hopeful look creeping onto his face.
Sparkle nodded, pulling out her phone and navigating her way to the song.
"Yeah, I get it. Whatever you're imagining the song to be is probably nothing like the original."
She muttered, as she finally found the song she had listened to while writing the script.
As she played the song, silence descended between the two once more.
Caelus found himself thinking less of the play and more of himself as the song echoed in the theatre.
The song itself was rather interesting, it matched the script, he noted.
However, he could imagine himself enjoying the song outside of the script. It was one of those songs you'd hear in a movie or something, and then listen to every day.
As the song ended, he nodded to himself.
"I liked it, I could definitely imagine it playing over however you want the play you wrote to be acted out, I was imagining some kind of ballroom kind of setting."
Caelus commented, a strange newfound interest in plays being found inside of him.
"Though, I think that since the song says a lot already, you should probably cut down on the dialogue."
After a couple of moments of silence, Caelus finally looked at Sparkle who looked at him with a slightly flushed expression.
Caelus could feel a sense of awkwardness wash over him, perhaps he had said too much?
"Well- I mean, it's fine as is, don't feel obligated to change anything."
He quickly retracted his earlier criticism, he didn't mean for it to hurt her.
Sparkle shook her head slowly, putting a hand over her mouth.
"I just didn't expect you to give me feedback, much less your own thoughts."
She muttered, to which Caelus just shrugged, his earlier worry dispersing.
"I was just saying what I thought."
He slowly spewed out, before shaking his head.
"But, I think that what you wrote is great, don't take what I said as an insult."
Caelus said, looking at Sparkle with a small smile.
"I won't, thank you."
She said, her voice almost a whisper, but Caelus could make out what she was saying.
He looked around to see if there was anything they could talk about, his eyes falling on the box Sparkle had rummaged through earlier.
"Do you have any other scripts?"
...
"-I never took you for the type to like horror."
Caelus chuckled, his eyes scanning through the newest script Sparkle had given him, which she quickly took back, a faint blush on her face.
"That's enough from you for today,"
She said, before standing up and making her way to the story box (named by Caelus) to find something else for Caelus to read.
With Sparkle's mention of that being enough, he quickly checked his phone, surprised to see that it was already quite late.
"Hey, Sparkle."
He called out to her, looking over his shoulder to see the girl digging through the box.
"Yeah?"
She replied, her voice muffled by the fact that half of her body was in the box.
"It's getting late, we should get going soon."
He said, taking note that he said 'we' rather than 'i'.
Sparkle popped out of the box, a slightly disappointed expression on her face as she groaned.
"Already? It can't be that late."
She said, checking her own phone before grimacing.
"Well, maybe it is."
She said, before pointing to the pile of papers that sat next to Caelus.
"Pick those up, we have to clean first before we can leave."
Sparkle said, quickly turning her attention to the many, many items that she threw about aimlessly.
Caelus chuckled, before standing up from where he sat, picking up the stack of papers that sat next to him, and walking over to Sparkle.
He gently placed the many scripts into the box that Sparkle had fished them out of, making sure to keep them all in one pile so Sparkle wouldn't have to fish for them next time.
As he stood up, brushing off his hands, he saw Sparkle dump all of the random things she (somehow) had thrown out of the box earlier, slightly panting.
"Are you okay?"
He questioned her, noticing that she seemed tired.
"It's nothing, I was just putting in minimal effort so I could have energy for later today and tend to the many important matters that require my attention."
She proclaimed, an excuse, Caelus noted to himself, but he knew better than to say that out loud.
"Yeah, I get it."
He nodded, smirking to himself as he and Sparkle began walking toward the exit.
"I don't like how you said that, you said that like it was sarcastic."
Sparkle squinted at him, in which he put his hands up defensively in a joking manner.
"Oh, me, sarcastic? I would never."
He said, his sarcasm overly apparent this time.
Sparkle just sighed, shaking her head.
"Whatever, raccoon."
She said, almost so casually that Caelus didn't pick up on the new nickname she deemed him.
"Raccoon?"
He repeated, surprise apparent on his face, his eyes moving from the double doors that they were getting closer to, before returning to Sparkle.
"Yeah, you don't like it? I made it myself, you should be honored."
She said, giving Caelus a mischievous smirk.
Caelus thought for a moment, it wasn't the worst nickname he had ever been given, it was quite accurate, actually. But, the mental image of Sparkle digging through the story box (named by Caelus!) popped up in his head, and suddenly the name felt more appropriate for her.
"It's not bad, but I think it suits you more."
He commented, before pushing one of the double doors open, walking out and holding the door for Sparkle, looking over his shoulder.
Just then, he could hear the sound of the other door opening, and he caught a glimpse of Sparkle looking at him with the widest grin he'd ever seen.
"Ladies first,"
Sparkle mocked, waving him off and beginning to walk down the hallway, paying no mind to his rather deflated look.
Caelus sighed, trying to keep up with her pace as he managed to finally reach her side.
"You can be rather rude sometimes."
He uttered, glancing at her, only to be met with her eyes, to which he quickly looked back forward.
Sparkle giggled to herself, her eyes moving to face forward as well.
"Well, it's just who I am. I don't mean to be too rude, if you'd like, I can tone it down."
She said, her response rather considerate.
Caelus shook his head,
"I prefer you just be yourself around me, even if I don't know you all too well yet, don't feel the need."
He said, smiling at her before continuing to look forward.
Sparkle's expression turned flushed as she mentally noted his use of the word, 'yet'.
"Yeah, okay."
She replied briefly, before noticing they had made it to the doors that led out of the main building on campus.
She also noticed that it was raining quite dramatically, grimacing at the sight of the constant downpour.
"So I'm guessing this is goodbye?"
Caelus said, looking over at Sparkle, who looked back at him.
"Yeah, I guess it is."
She replied faintly.
"Well then,"
Caelus said, pulling out a compact umbrella from one of his coat pockets.
"I'll see you tomorrow Sparkle."
He said, before beginning to walk into the rain, the sound of water falling onto his umbrella creating a pleasant noise.
Caelus walked for a bit forward, before suddenly stopping in place, looking over his shoulder, and seeing Sparkle still standing underneath the awning that was situated over the entrance.
He sighed.
...
The sound of rain tapping onto the umbrella increased in tempo, with the tapping becoming more of a thumping.
Caelus took note that the left shoulder of his coat was getting wet, but he paid no mind to it, his eyes moving to see that Sparkle was still completely dry.
He let out a sigh, he couldn't just leave her there, so he offered to share his umbrella with her, which at first she mocked him for, claiming that he was trying to make advances on her, but when he turned around to leave once more, she quickly accepted.
"Thank you."
Sparkle blurted out faintly, not bothering to look at him as she spoke.
Caelus looked at Sparkle with a slightly surprised expression before smiling, letting his shoulders drop as he exhaled.
"Don't thank me, I couldn't just leave you there, could I?"
He said, chuckling as he continued to hold the umbrella over her head.
Sparkle simply nodded in response, and the two continued to walk in silence, the only words being spoken were the occasional directions Sparkle gave toward her apartment, which he was surprised she had.
"You have your own place?"
Caelus said, surprise in his voice as he noted that she wasn't going in the direction of the dormitory anymore.
"Yeah, why is that so surprising?"
She questioned him, a slight hurt in her voice, which Caelus immediately recognized.
"I didn't mean it rudely, It's just that none of the people I've talked to has one."
He said, keeping the fact that he has barely talked to anyone in the first place to himself.
"Oh, well, there's a first time for everything, huh?"
Sparkle said, chuckling as her expression brightened a bit.
"Yeah, there is."
Caelus simply replied, smiling at her as she returned the favor.
He took a moment to look at her, before quickly looking away, opting to look forward once more.
What was he doing? He shouldn't be looking at someone he just met like that, though, he had to admit, he and Sparkle had gotten a lot closer today than he anticipated.
Admittedly, he thought they'd hardly speak.
After a few more dim streetlights, Sparkle finally stopped and turned around, extending her arms forward as she made a 'ta-da' sound.
"Here we are, my apartment building."
Caelus looked up, seeing the height of the building impressed him.
"Wow, it seems like a nice place."
He said to himself, to which Sparkle chuckled.
"It is, but you ought to get going home now, raccoon."
She said, making use of her new nickname for him, laughing to herself.
The two walked up the front steps together until they were under an awning, Caelus staring at Sparkle for a moment, who noticed that half of his body was soaked, meanwhile the other wasn't.
"Oh, I didn't notice I took up most of the umbrella, I'm sorry, it's yours after all."
Sparkle quickly spewed out, reaching out to touch, but quickly retracting her arm once she realized what she was doing.
Caelus noticed this but opted to leave that unspoken.
"It's fine, I'd rather myself get wet than you."
He simply spoke, before remembering something he mentally noted to do earlier.
"Do you think I could get your phone number? For club purposes, after all, I'm your only member so far, we ought to keep in touch."
He spoke, pulling out his phone and opening his keypad, to which Sparkle gently put her hand onto it, lowering his phone.
"Huh?"
Caelus quickly said, about to say more until Sparkle shushed him, pulling out her own phone.
"Give me your number so I can call you, how about that?"
She said, rather out of character for herself, but Caelus didn't know what to expect at this point, sighing.
He entered his phone number, and Sparkle retracted her arm, quickly skimming over the digits inputted onto her phone and nodding, looking back up at him.
For a moment, all they did was stare into each other's eyes, though the eye contact they held was broken just as quickly as it was made.
The two looked away from each other, equally flushed, before Sparkle glanced at him,
"Well, that's enough advances for the day, raccoon."
She teased, despite her nervous tone betraying her.
"Yeah, I'll get going now."
Caelus said, recomposing himself before waving her goodbye as he descended the steps that led to the entrance to her apartment building.
All Sparkle could do was wave back as he slowly, but surely left her vision.
...
Caelus's amber eyes were focused, sharp even.
It was the 10th inning, and Caelus was at bat.
He had runners on both 2nd and 3rd base, all it took was one good swing and this game was over, with that he'd win his team the league championship.
After two swings, two strikes, and Caelus could feel the pressure on him as his grip around the bat in his hands tightened.
He locked eyes with the pitcher, who looked at him with a familiar intensity, and with that, the ball was thrown.
The ball was spinning with a speed and velocity Caelus had never seen before, though in the moment he felt like it was something he'd seen a million times.
He swung his bat with everything he had, all the while being sure to stay accurate.
Wham!
Caelus held his breath as he watched the ball soar in the air.
After a moment of silence in the entire stadium, it was broken.
"Home run! It's gone!"
A booming voice would yell with excitement over the speaker system, which caused the crowd to roar with the same excitement.
Caelus panted, letting the bat in his hands slowly drift to the ground as he watched the ball he had hit go beyond the baseball field fences, his teammates in the game running toward him, along with the bench.
He looked around himself, being swarmed by teammates, friends, and coaches.
He couldn't help but smile, cheering with them as he hugged the nearest teammate, jumping up and down with them.
"We did it!"
Caelus cheered, and his teammates all echoed similar cheers, though they varied.
He could only smile at the moment, his eyes moving to the setting sun in the distance.
...
After the celebration, he began to walk off of the field, trophy in hand, when he was suddenly stopped by a young boy.
"Hey! Mr. Caelus, was it?"
The boy questioned his name, to which Caelus nodded, smiling.
"That's me."
Was all he said, and the boy tugged on Caelus's jersey,
"I want a picture with you!"
He said, before a hand grabbed his other hand, his parents finally catching up to him.
"I'm so sorry about him, he's a handful."
The mother quickly apologized, while the dad echoed her apology.
Caelus just shook his head while smiling.
"No, it's fine, I can take a picture with him if that's what he wants."
Caelus said, allowing the kid to hold the championship trophy, and giving it to him gently.
"Smile!"
The mom said, taking a picture of the two before lowering the camera.
The boy handed Caelus back the trophy, who held it in one hand and was about to wave his goodbyes until the kid spoke up once more.
"Hey, Mr. Caelus, I just have one more question if you don't mind."
The kid asked, though he could hear his mom telling him that he was asking for too much, Caelus just nodded.
"Ask away."
He said, still smiling.
The kid seemed to pause for a moment, mustering up the courage to ask Caelus the question until he finally found it.
"You were the hero tonight, so, I feel inclined to ask..."
The kid said, shockingly formal with how he spoke,
"Who's your hero?"
He finally asked, looking at Caelus with a curious expression, his childish smile still beaming.
"Who's my hero..."
He echoed the child's question.
Caelus paused, his smile fading as he thought of the question, though he didn't have a concrete answer, he found one name appearing in his mind, one who many wouldn't consider their hero if they were in his situation.
Caelus swallowed his words, gulping before faintly smiling,
"That's a great question, but if I had to name someone, I think..."
His eyes began to water, but he quickly wiped the incoming tears away.
"I think my mom's my hero."