Chapter Text
‘Can we be friends?’
At her request, Caelus couldn’t help but blink in confusion, eyes fixating on her as if to beg her to repeat what she just said so he didn’t run a possibility of mishearing her.
It wasn’t like her request was absurd or anything. But… considering how he had seen her surrounded by people more often than not, whether they were fellow students or little children, he couldn’t help but feel as if this was supposed to be his line.
And most importantly. Why did she look so embarrassed asking him?
“Sure. Are you alright, though?” He couldn’t help but ask. It wasn’t like he was trying to point out her red face to tease or anything, but with how suspect she was behaving, not asking would feel amiss.
Instead of reacting to his question however, the girl practically started beaming, a small smile settling on her face as she led out a barely audible sigh, before returning to her previous self as if nothing had happened.
“Yes, I am. Thank you for asking… And thanks for accepting my request.”
“No problem”, was all he managed to say in response, before growing silent for a moment, debating whether to press the issue further or not.
Didn’t she already have a ton of friends? Why go so far as to formally ask him to be hers in the first place?
No. He suddenly recalled their chat. They weren’t friends. They were friendly acquaintances.
Still. The difference couldn’t be that big.
No matter what his decision would have been, Caelus didn’t get the chance to press the issue with Robin further, as their time alone ended just as quickly as it had begun, the two not getting much opportunity to enjoy their new friendship much longer.
Like a firework soaring into the night-sky, their new guest entered loudly and was difficult to oversee, grabbing both of the boy’s shoulders from behind with such a firm grip the following startle nearly sent him flying out of the seat, as her voice beamed through the otherwise silent cafetaria.
“There you are, greyhair! I’ve been looking for you all week!” Yay. It’s Sparkle.
“Why?” He asked in return, just hoping they’d be able to finish this conversation as quickly as possible and she’d leave again.
Caelus wasn’t really to blame for his mistake, he had no way of knowing yet, after all. And yet it wouldn’t take him long to learn that interactions with Sparkle pursued no goals but her entertainment. The only way to get out of one therefore, was to survive until she had enough.
Still, it was too late for him now.
“What’s with that attitude, Caelus? I thought you enjoyed our time together, or did you already grow bored of me?” Sparkle’s tone switched in an instant. Gone was her beaming voice, replaced by a much more muted, worried one. One he wouldn’t blame anyone for mistaking as the onset of genuine hurt and betrayal.
Part of him found himself genuinely confused by what was going on, another felt so embarrassed by the whole performance that he wished he could sink into the ground, and yet another began to panic.
Looking up at Robin with an alarmed expression, he fully expected the girl to be as confused as he was, and yet the moment his gaze landed on her, he just found her sitting there with a small smile on her face, silently observing the two.
Just then, the intruder stopped in the middle of her sentence, following his eyes towards the girl before letting out a small– almost embarrassed sounding –chuckle, “Oh hey. Sorry, didn’t see you there.” A lie. There was no doubt in Caelus’ heart, and still Sparkle took a step back from him and towards the table before reaching out her hand for a shake. “I’m Hanabi, sorry for just now.”
“I’m Robin, pleasure to meet you.”
Watching them shake hands, the boy couldn’t help but note Sparkle looked almost like a reasonable, normal behaving person for once.
She was planning something.
Usually, deciding to mistrust someone to this degree after only ever meeting them twice would have been incredibly unfair and unreasonable. And yet considering how Hanabi– or however she insisted on being called at this moment –had been deceiving him for pretty much the entirety of their time together, Caelus found it more than warranted.
“Are you a friend of his?” Robin took the conversation further, sparking almost immediate responses from both of them.
”No.” “Yes.”
When he looked up at Sparkle, he saw the girl smile through the awkward silence that followed, expression not wavering for even a moment before her lips parted once again.
“He’s a bit shy when it comes to these things. I’m sure you’ll realize it on your own soon enough.” Seeing Robin’s still puzzled confusion, she clapped her hands together as if she was about to announce her departure.
Not a moment too soon.
“Well, I’m sorry I interrupted your little date”, she began, only to press onwards before either of them had the chance to get a word in, “But there’s something I need to discuss with Caelus in private. Would it be alright to borrow him for a bit?”
Sparkle didn’t even seem interested in hearing Caelus’ reply, her gaze firmly fixed onto Robin as she looked at her with an apologetic smile, “Five minutes tops.”
His friend, for her part, threw a quick glance at him, as if to make sure he was alright with the proposal. Not like he had much of a choice. Sparkle seemed like the type of person to not stop bothering someone until she got what she wanted, so just biting the bullet for five minutes seemed like the best scenario for all parties involved.
Seeing him nod, Robin gave the two of them a smile before grabbing her bag, “In that case I’ll go for a drink.”
And with that, she was gone, her absence immediately being filled by Sparkle swooping in to take her seat as she now sat opposite of Caelus, a wide smile on her face that spelled trouble. Only now did he pay enough attention to her to notice she was wearing her hair in two twintails, seemingly having decided to ditch her persona from their first meeting entirely.
Not like he was going to complain. Even he couldn’t help but note that he had been doing so a bit too much whenever his mind drifted towards her. If anything it made it easier for his brain to register the side he had seen of her at the theater wasn’t just a one off thing. The less she leaned into Hanabi the quicker he’d get used to Sparkle.
Hopefully.
“That was fun! You should have seen your face, and that girl looked so confused as well… It was definitely worth coming here”, she announced gleefully only to be immediately met with a glare.
“What was that about?! Don’t tell me you couldn’t wait until I was alone to approach me. Are you going to try pulling this stuff whenever I’m with friends?” He couldn’t help but go off on hear, although he made sure to keep his voice down.
“Depends on how fun it sounds, I guess? I have seen your other friends… they look like such bores though”, she responded, letting out a drawn out sigh at the end before continuing in the same annoyed manner, “These kinds of things are fun only because of the shocked reactions, childhood friends though? They’re so boring. I could do anything and they’d support you. The only thing I would be able to think of would be to slowly convince one of them you had a crush on them, that would spice up your relationship. But you ruined that for me…”
Teasing with friends was fun, you could come up with creative insults or make fun of each other with the knowledge that at the end of the day none of it mattered or had any real effect on your relationship — as long as it didn’t cross a line, of course.
This wasn’t fun however. Sure, it was teasing, but this wasn’t a friend sitting in front of him and saying these words. It was Sparkle. And no matter what she thought he didn’t consider her anywhere close enough to put up with her comments.
“What is wrong with you?”
He didn’t get any response, the girl instead closing her eyes as she leaned forward to put her elbows onto the table before resting her face in the palms of her hands, the uncomfortable silence setting in between them seemingly not bothering her in the slightest.
Then, she sighed dreamily, “Ah… Robin~”
“What? Don’t tell me you want to be like her”, Caelus couldn’t help but ask, partly because he felt like saying at least anything snarky in her direction, and partly out of genuine surprise.
“Me?” Sparkle asked, eyes finally open again as she sounded almost slighted by the suggestion itself, “No. I’m fine with the way I am. But that girl… she’s so kind, and polite, oh and pretty. I kinda wanna see how much it would take to break her.”
His lips immediately parted to scold her for saying anything about his new friend, only to squeeze his eyes shut for a brief moment as he swallowed the comment.
She still had time to take this into a different direction… As much as he hated to say it, he still had some hope in her. Enough to give her the benefit of the doubt.
“I mean, you’re a guy. You get me, right? Don’t tell me you haven’t imagined what she looks like under her—”
“Okay, that’s enough. What are you here for? To make me look even dumber for thinking you were normal?”
He should have known that there was something deeply, deeply wrong with Sparkle. Even in their brief time. He ought to turn around and start running whenever he spotted her, and yet here he was still willing to give her the time of the day…
A brief, disappointed sigh was enough to grab his attention again, as the girl leaned back in the chair and folded her arms in front of her chest.
“Prude killjoy.” She mumbled, although she made sure to do so loud enough for him to hear her clearly. “Put this act up and I’m going to start to believe getting you to join our little club was a mistake.”
He decided to keep his remark to himself.
“I guess your new friend is pretty cool though. Sure, she nearly broke character when I first appeared, but she regained her bearings so quickly… She’s a real pro”, Sparkle continued more light hearted, only to finally get a response out of him.
“Not everyone is putting up an act, Sparkle.” Caelus said unimpressed.
“You’re right. She is, though.” The girl shot back immediately, her voice not leaving any room for discussion, before leaning back forwards and putting her elbows back on the table. “Don’t you go thinking you can just forget about the club, now that you found yourself another girl, though.”
He was starting to learn he was better off not questioning her phrasing. There were no ‘accidents’ with Sparkle, everything she did, everything she said, aimed to get a precise reaction out of you, the only way to win was to not give her the satisfaction of seeing you break.
That was easier said than done, though. As he had learned multiple times so far.
“I didn’t plan to”, he responded calmly, “I said I was going to try it out, even if I am skeptical whether I’ll like it or not. So I won’t quit until I’ve given it some tries and can still confidently say it’s nothing for me.”
When he finally looked back at Sparkle, he noticed her staring at him with her eyes widened in surprise, blinking at him in silence before the corners of her lips moved upwards to form a big smile.
“That was good, I almost believed you”, she exclaimed before playfully punching one of his shoulders, although she put enough force into it for it to still hurt a bit, “Maybe you really were the right choice after all.”
“I wasn’t lying, though?”
“Mhm~ You’re a true man of your word”, Sparkle teased with a chuckle, “What would I do without my knight in shining armor?”
“Just so you know. That doesn’t mean I find you any less unbearable”, the frank words slipped past his lips, the brief wave of embarrassment washing over him nearly making him forget about how fed up he was by her refusal not to ridicule something at any given point.
The girl for her part, didn’t seem even slightly bothered by his comment, smiling at him in response, “I know, that’s what makes your reactions so fun to see, greyhair~”
With that, she rose from her seat. Stretching her back for a brief moment before pulling a small piece of paper out of her pocket and putting it onto the desk in front of him. On it, Caelus spotted what was clearly a phone number written on it, looking back up at her in confusion before she cared to speak again.
“What? Don’t tell me you don’t know that’s a phone number?” Of course it was to ridicule him. “You’re gonna have to text me if you want to know when and where to be for your first day in the club.”
“I mean, you can also call me if you miss my voice that much. Well, until Saturday, greyhair~”
And then she was gone, grabbing her bag and leaving him alone to let out a deep, almost groan-like sigh. Still, until she hadn’t left his sight Caelus couldn’t help but keep his gaze on her, although he couldn’t tell whether it was to make sure she was really leaving or for any other reason.
Walking towards the exit, Sparkle came to a halt before leaning her back against the wall, pulling out her phone before seemingly readjusting her hair for a moment, only for their eyes to meet across the hallway when she glanced back towards the cafeteria.
As her lips curled into a mischievous smile, Caelus knew he’d hear about this if he decided to attend the meeting after all.
She seemed to have had enough for the day as well however, as she pushed herself away from the wall and turned the next corner towards the exit.
—
“I’m Caelus, nice to meet you. I hope we’ll have fun together.”
Saturday had rolled in quicker than he expected it to, and before he knew it he was standing in front of the attending members of the drama club, introducing himself with as friendly of a smile he could muster, receiving a quick round of greetings from the people in front of him. As they introduced themselves in turn, Caelus felt his nervousness dwindle, even if just by a bit.
The day before he had struggled so hard to decide whether or not to message Sparkle as she had told him to. Sure, he had committed himself to at the very least trying the whole acting thing out, and yet the fact the only way to receive information on how and where to get there was by having that girl know his number soured his opinion by a bit.
And yet after biting the bullet things had gone surprisingly smooth. She responded with the location and time… and that was it.
No continuous pestering with texts or further mockery. Maybe she knew he’d just block her number immediately now that he knew what he wanted to know, but if that was it she could have had her fun before sending him the information.
“You said Hanabi was the one to invite you?” An more elderly man asked, only for him to respond with a nod immediately, seeing the aforementioned girl rise from her seat from the corner of his eye. “Then you’d probably feel more at ease to have her show you the ropes.”
Of those who still paid attention to him and hadn’t left to do their own things again, some nodded along, only for a pair of hands to grab Caelus’ left shoulder from behind at the very next moment.
He didn’t need to turn his head to know who it was.
“Mhm! I’ll make a pro out of him in no time”, Sparkle assured them, her small smile almost making her appear trustworthy, only for their eyes to land onto him once again, as if awaiting his input.
Unsurprisingly Caelus wasn’t the biggest fan of the whole idea. And yet starting up a fuss in the open right on his first day when he knew nobody else was a surefire way of making a horrible first impression.
So he put on a thankful smile as his lips parted, “Thanks, I’ll try my best to keep up.”
With that, everyone split into smaller groups. Some of them just seemed to chat with each other, others seemed to be reading through what he could only presume were screenplays together. In the ensuing calm, his eyes began looking around the room itself.
They were in a bar. Clearly. There was the counter with shelves of alcohol behind, seats lined along it for people that wanted to sit directly by the barkeeper and a couple of tables dotted around the rest of the establishment, one of which he and Sparkle were now seated opposite of each other at.
“I’ll have to disappoint you, I doubt the owner will sell you booze right now”, the girl couldn’t help herself from commenting after noticing him staring at the bottles. For once he didn’t care much about her teasing, either because of the setting or due to its harmlessness, although he didn’t doubt the exact reason would dawn upon him at some point if she continued.
“No, just… Why a bar?”
Seemingly realizing she wasn’t going to get any real reaction out of him, Sparkle stopped her remarks for long enough to answer his question, “Remember the old gramps from before? He’s the owner. And considering he’s both part of the club and doesn’t really expect anyone to go drinking at lunch he’s allowing us to use this place for our meet-ups a few hours a week.”
Responding with a quiet ‘ah’, Caelus turned back towards the girl, only for the brief glimpse of her calmer side to vanish within an instant, a smile crawling onto her face as their eyes met.
“So, you sure took your time to message me, greyhair~”, she began with a teasing voice, “Were you embarrassed I was going to tease you about how you couldn’t keep your eyes off me even after I left? How cute.”
Before he could respond however, her personality did a complete switch, as her attitude melted away as her smile vanished and was replaced by a nervous expression, her gaze wandering south until she was staring at her feet as her fingers fidgeted with each other, “I— I’ve waited the whole day for your text… I was— I thought I might have really scared you off…”
Suddenly completely blindsided, Caelus had no idea how to respond, his mouth opening only for no words to come out. Sure. This was almost certainly another act and yet even if it was— Hell, especially if it was, the sheer speed with which she managed to do such a 180° turn was almost frightening.
Still… even if it was just a small chance… would he really be able to look himself in the mirror if he risked commenting something snarky?
Luckily, he didn’t need to, as Sparkle’s gaze snapped onto him within an instant, big smile back on her lips as her arms found themselves on the table while she leaned over it, her face invading his personal space as if it belonged to her in the first place, causing him to dodge backwards in his seat.
“Oh, you’d like that, wouldn’t you?~”, she teased in her usual way, only to be met with a stunned silence from him.
“H— How do you do that?”
“Improvisation!” She proclaimed grandiose, tracing a rainbow in the sky with her outstretched palm before seemingly snapping back to normal— or well, as normal as Sparkle could be, and staring him down excitedly. “Which is also the introduction to our first lesson. Any dunce can read lines off a script, to play the character is something entirely different however. And the quickest way to learn how to do that is improv”, she explained.
Taken aback by her enthusiasm, Caelus couldn’t help but blink at her in silence. Sure, seeing her energetic wasn’t anything new, and yet seeing she was capable of being excited about anything other than annoying people was a new side of her. Even if he had already known that she seemed to like acting, her relationship with it seemed to be more fittingly something akin to love.
“We’re going to play a few small games to train you. Don’t worry, you’ll be shit, no doubt about it”, she began, continuing to speak before her words had really clicked in his head, “Not many people out there who aren’t at first, so don't be dissuaded too easily.”
“Try it out. Improv as a dog!”
…What?
“I— What? No.” Was all he was able to stammer out in response, only to suddenly feel himself crumble under the weight of her unfaltering stare, closing his eyes as shame took over him as he took a few breaths.
“w—woof?”
When he was met with nothing but silence, Caelus looked back up at her, only to see the girl stare at him wide-eyed, seemingly frozen in time, before her lips began to quiver ever so slightly.
Then, she exploded in laughter.
“N-No, that’s not— that’s not what I— ’woof’, oh my— I can’t!”, she tried to form coherent sentences whenever she had to stop to breathe, only to be cut short by another wheeze.
To say he wanted to be swallowed by the ground would be an understatement. Her laugh was more than enough to make his face heat up to an unhealthy amount, and yet the sudden eyes it was drawing onto them made it all so much worse.
Slumping over the desk almost instinctively, Caelus only looked back up once the laughter died down once and for all, and even then it appeared all too obvious how much Sparkle was still struggling with every word that left her mouth.
“As much as I wish – ha – that I had recorded that. What I actually meant was something else”, she wiped a tear away, “There’s an improv game that basically goes like this: You have a group of people, each one gets assigned an animal and they have to act in such a way that the rest of the group are able to guess which one they were portraying at the end. If you got assigned as a dog, for example, you’d be expected to act like a friendly – although maybe slightly stupid – person. A bear has a big personality and loud voice, a cat is aloof and elegant and so on.”
Nodding along, his face still flushed, Caelus heard her crack up once again after she had finished, and even though this time she regained her bearing much quicker than before, it didn’t help to quell his shame to a level where he could try something like that.
“My bad, I should have explained it better”, his now fellow drama club member showed a rare moment of humanity by apologizing, although its effect was slightly hampered by the fact she still needed to press her lips tightly together to not make a sound.
“Well”, Sparkle then exclaimed, “Now that you know that, we can begin! Give it your all!”
And so he spent the rest of the meeting being subjected to all kinds of different games from Sparkle. She hadn’t been lying earlier, he was indeed shit. And yet with each awkward attempt he gave it, it seemed less so, even if just by a bit.
It would certainly take quite a while to get him used to it— not to mention how long it was until he’d be somewhat decent. But even so he couldn’t help but have at least a bit of fun.
Maybe he’d come again next week.