Chapter Text
In the long life that he’s ever lived, Hubert Vestra could never imagine finding a single person he would eventually befriend, let alone like so intensely.
It simply didn’t cross his mind at the beginning, with how much he spent most of his long life killing and eliminating targets at the expense of the clientele which began over a century prior. With the many casualties under his belt, he just didn’t give himself time for other priorities, such as love, or even matrimony.
The ones who were considered suitable ladies for him to potentially court, at least by the fellow elite of Capiz at the time, were the daughters of Señor Gonzales and Señor Varle.
Now, Hubert had rejected both families’ prospective candidates for marriage. Firstly, the daughter of Señor Gonzales was a haughty lady who made no point in hiding her blatant desire for getting richer by marriage. Hubert was so off-put by her attitude that he practically threatened Señor Gonzales with death if he didn’t stop pushing her forward as a candidate.
As for the daughter of Señor Varle, Bernadetta, she struggled to connect with others, and even more so because of her father’s past abuse. Furthermore, at the time, she needed a friend rather than a husband, so Hubert (reluctantly) fulfilled that role until she did eventually find someone she loved. Then, much to Hubert’s surprise, the husband adopted her surname rather than the other way around. (Which probably helped; Hubert had no difficulty tracking down her descendants, the current one also named Bernadetta.)
———————————-
Now, the period of the Spanish, American and Japanese colonialists have come and gone, and it was a miracle Hubert survived those times, even moreso due to his heritage as a Mambabarang. Which, in his personal opinion, made him a bigger target from the deep Catholic-ness the people had. He had since let his guard down a bit from not having people to eliminate, and frankly, it opened some new doors for him to navigate.
Namely, the fact that a person named Ferdinand has touched him in so many ways.
The guy, orange locks framing his face and all, was pretty much Hubert’s opposite, both in appearance and personality. Ferdinand preferred dressing up in bright colors, Hubert had a taste for cooler and darker colors. Hubert wasn’t a people person; Ferdinand was. Ferdinand was a spirited youth, Hubert a cautious one.
And so on and so forth.
Yet, as cliche as it was, Hubert got smitten with his opposite. He had no clue to know what did it; whether it was his literally radiant appearance, his tendency to drop everything to help anyone, or that last part plus doing it with a smile, Hubert was sure—-Ferdinand caused a butterfly effect of sorts for him, as ironic as it was with the nature of his powers and all.
As a matter of fact, the very first time they interacted was when Hubert, meticulous guy he was, forgot his pen for a class one day. Ferdinand, who happened to be around, lent him one without expecting something big in return. The memory was fresh in the sorcerer’s mind:
“I can’t believe this...” Hubert muttered, digging into his bag a little bit more until he paused, rolled his eyes, and hit his hand against his bag in an embarrassing kind of defeat. “Why today, of all days, did I forget my pen?”
“Excuse me?” A voice called out near him.
Hubert looked up, getting face to face with a teen with red hair, almost orange in shade, with matching eyes. He appeared curious as to what was up with Hubert.
“Yes?” Hubert groaned, a bit too dramatic, but to him, losing a pen was an obstacle to his education.
“I was thinking you might need this.” Then the redhead handed over a ballpen, ornate with its appearance, monarch butterflies decorating the whole of it. “I have another one anyways.”
Hubert accepted the pen with some reluctance, and oddly enough, a bit of heartfelt gratitude. “...Thank you.”
“No problem!” The mystery teen got and went on his way, but he turned his back one more time. His lips formed a sweet smile. “Oh, and I am Ferdinand Aegir! Hope I run into you again!”
—————————————-
That same ballpen remained in Hubert’s hand, him twirling it occasionally as he looked down on the small piece of paper resting at his table. It was about time he acted on these lingering feelings that rested in his heart, and as straightforward as it seemed to do so, in terms of what he actually wanted to say, well...
He was clueless on how to proceed with it.
One of the butterflies that stayed with him in his room fluttered by on his shoulder. Hubert noticed the little one resting on him, and reached out a hand for the butterfly to perch on. His eyes turned fond when he looked at the little black butterfly.
“You noticed me thinking too hard, haven’t you Remedios?”
The butterfly didn’t respond verbally, but Hubert imagined that little Remedios was staring at him in a flat sort of manner.
“Of course, I can’t really make much progress if I waste my time speaking to you.” Hubert commented, then after outstretching his hand to let Remedios fly free, he reached a eureka moment. He had an idea now on what to put on his paper. Taking a moment to write it down, with cursive and thought, Hubert put down his pen and held it up to read the result.
“Ferdinand...I only hope this would make you smile.”
—————————————
The next day, Ferdinand was brisk walking his way to the premises of Far Eastern, backpack at his person and his hair flowing by from the rush of getting there fast. He expected nothing to get at his way for today’s classes; after all, Ferdinand wasn’t going to risk missing one. Not when his father gave him a big scolding for doing so yesterday.
As he was on his way, a fluttering shape got his attention. Ferdinand stopped in his tracks, trying to look closer at the small figure. Said small shape happened to be a butterfly, or to be more specific, a monarch butterfly, and it appeared to be holding a small sheet of paper. Upon closer inspection, it had the name “Ferdinand” inscribed with refined cursive.
“What’s this...” Ferdinand plucked the paper from the little butterfly, and what he read behind in his inscribed name made him gasp.
‘I hope you keep finding reasons to smile...yours is so radiant whenever I look at it.
-Alibangbang’
Now, Ferdinand had a lot of thoughts running in his head: First, who was this person who gave him this note? Second, this mystery person knew about his tendency to grin. Thirdly, who was this person that was so refined that they even had a delivery service that used a butterfly?
But looking at the note again, Ferdinand couldn’t help but feel elated from the encouraging words. The scolding from his father nearly crushed his spirits yesterday, and the effects lingered on through this morning. He didn’t know if this mystery messenger knew about it, but he was glad to have received such encouragement.
Especially when he really needed it at the moment.
“I don’t know who you are, but...” Ferdinand brought the note close to his chest. “Thank you for the sweet words.” The redhead’s lips curled up, his eyes turning tender.
He didn’t know whether he will be given more, but until then, Ferdinand chose to hold on to the piece of paper, keeping those words close to his heart.
Ferdinand proceeded to get to his class, still hanging on to the note that made his day a little brighter.
————————————-
Just out of Ferdinand’s sight, there lingered Hubert, hiding behind and under the shadow of the Narra tree. He fought the urge to blush just as Ferdinand clutched the note close to his heart. From the way the other teen looked, Hubert could tell that he was successful in conveying how he felt. Ah, it was like in the old times, back when he was still in the Katipunan, exchanging secret notes and codes...
Except this time, his mission was more personal, much closer to his feelings.
The monarch butterfly fluttered back to Hubert, to which the ravenette gazed at, smitten from its color that reminded him of his target of affections.
That was it then; Hubert was going to keep sending them.