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Grom night was the night of the year Darius had been dreaming about his entire life. Even as a child, he was infatuated by the romance, the drama, all of it! And here he was, finally about to experience it for himself. He was dressed to the nines for the occasion, somehow more meticulously put together than he was on a daily basis. Lavender, tailor-fit suit, emerald green earrings, and just enough makeup to make him even prettier than he already was. Nothing would ruin tonight. Nothing could.
He caught a glimpse of the one person he most wanted to see and excitedly ran over, picking Alador up into a hug and spinning him around. “There you are, songbird! You look wonderful!” And that he did- a deep purple suit with gold accents that complemented his eyes.
“Thanks… I tried,” he muttered, a hint of pink blooming across his face. Darius giggled as Alador rubbed his cheek- it was adorable when he was flushed like that.
“Ahem- the party’s inside, you two.” Odalia was gesturing to the gym’s main doors, looking like a princess in an ornate ball gown and gloves. When did she get here? It seemed like she had a knack for showing up when you least expected it.
“You don’t want to miss the entire party, do you?” she said with a smirk. Alador’s face turned bright scarlet and he buried his face in his hands. Darius laughed it off and pulled him close.
“We’re coming, rest assured. The party won’t start without me.” Darius punctuated his sentence with a wink, ushering them all into the gym and flicking a stray lavender droplet off his shoulder.
The party looked every bit as spectacular as Darius had hoped it to be. The bards-to-be were putting their all into their performances- a certain blue-haired witch put down their violin to wave at Darius. He smiled back at Raine and gave them a thumbs-up as he took in his surroundings. Witches and demons crowded the long tables afar, lined with an array of treats that never seemed to go empty. A fountain made of glasses poured shimmering, color-shifting liquid, aligning its flavors to whatever it pleased. Everyone had come together to make this party spectacular, the music in his ears, the chatter of the people- it was enough to distract him from his ear dripping onto his suit.
“There you are! Were you trying to be ‘fashionably late’ again?” Always-energetic Eda ran over to the group, ruffling Alador’s hair and punching Darius in the shoulder.
“Did it work?” he teased, with a wink and a click of his tongue, causing the group to burst into laughter.
“Edalyn, you look spectacular!” beamed Darius, gesturing proudly to her red sequined coat and matching bowtie. A bit garish, sure, but when was she not?
“Thanks- I made it myself! Wanted to get Lily to match with me, but she said something about ‘understatement’ and ‘Eda, noooo, it’s too itchy.’ I at least got something out of it!, though!” She waved wildly over towards Lilith at the drink fountain, who was wearing a blue sequined hair clip. She waved shyly back at her sister and the rest of the group and soon joined them, glass in hand. Alador looked away for a brief moment to notice two drops on the floor near him- one lavender, one deep purple.
“Really… coming together, isn’t it?” Darius mustered a smile, the others buying into it to varying degrees. A concerned Alador tried to reach a hand over to Darius’, but he was met instead with Odalia’s glove.
“Dari, you good?” cracked Eda. “You seem a little preoccupied there. Something on your mind?”
“I- no, it’s- it’s nothing! Just… taking in the atmosphere…” He chuckled and grabbed his shoulder, but lavender droplets still floated upwards between his fingers. He couldn’t let them know he felt like the walls were closing in on him. This was his moment. Nothing could ruin this for him.
“You know, Darius, if all this is a bit too much for you, you don’t have to stay!” offered Odalia with that treacly smile of less than pure intent. “Do what’s best for yourself, alright?”
“I- ah-”
Everything around him felt like it was melting into one. The colors washed together like wet paint, the sounds mixed and diluted into nonsense. He was quickly running out of ways to cover his bodily instability, so the only thing he could do was-
“I-I have to go!” he fretted, making a mad dash for the side door leading to the locker hallways. Odalia chuckled and squeezed Alador’s wrist tighter, but he yanked it free with resolve.
“You guys stay here. I’ll go check on him.” He followed the purple trail of droplets out the door, away from the rest of the chaos.
The halls of Hexside were lit only by the pale hints of moonlight, lined with locker after locker in practically endless rows. Devoid of people, the only sounds audible were the muffled music from the gym, and, upon listening closely, muffled crying and quiet dripping. Alador looked down at his feet and noticed a few stray drops of purple matter- far too shimmery to merely be remnants of a class project. He took a deep breath to try and iron out his shaking and briskly headed down the hallway.
The further he walked down, the louder the crying got, and the more matter covered the walls and lockers, growing from small puddles to blanketing the corridor. Jet-black eyes with glimmering emerald irises began to form on the substance, growing larger and more frequent. He had to step with increasing care as he moved down the hallway as it grew harder and harder not to step in any of the glittery matter. He came to a point where there was nowhere for him to step, so there was no delaying what he came here to do.
“Darius…? Are you in there?”
At the end of the hallway, what could almost have been two arms moved downward, revealing what he could barely discern was Darius’s body. The left side of his face was splattered with eyes, each eye and all the ones on the surrounding matter shedding tears onto the floor. Tendrils of matter stretched from his chin to his hands, and whatever was left of his body was melted into the surrounding matter as if he had been splattered against the wall. He covered what was left of his face with one hand and pushed outward with the other.
“Don’t look at me right now! I- I- please, just- just go back and leave me be!” His voice was warped and mangled, by tears and by strain.
Alador outstretched his own hand and interlocked it with Darius’, offering him a faint, patient smile. Darius gasped and swallowed back more tears.
“I’ll wait with you as long as you need, alright?”
“Alador, I swear, I’m fine-”
“Look at you. You’re covering the hallway like a slime mold. I thought I was messy, but, well, if you consider this ‘fine,’” he chuckled, holding Darius’ hand with both of his. They both softly laughed for a bit, before Darius let out a sigh.
“I- just- I- I really wanted tonight to go well. The music, the dance, the spectacle, I thought it would be a dream come true…”
He pulled Alador by the hands closer to his body, causing him to step in the matter that he had earlier tried to avoid.
“But- everything was- it was all so much more than I had anticipated! Too loud, too many people- I- I-”
“Shhh… it’s alright. I understand.” Alador reached out a hand to touch the vague approximation of Darius’ cheek.
“We’ll work on your sensitivities together, okay? You’ll be the life of the party you want to be before you know it.”
“Alright…”
“But in the meantime, just stay with me as long as you need.”
Alador leaned his forehead on Darius’ forehead, and Darius then pulled him closer, giving him a soft kiss. The two of them shut their eyes and let the world melt away, letting warm, smooth matter surround them. When Alador opened his eyes, Darius had congealed back into normalcy, and the two of them stood alone in the quiet school hall. Alador decided to close his eyes again and linger in the moment a while longer. When they opened their eyes, they kept their hands and gazes interlocked.
“Thank you, songbird…” Darius wiped away a stray tear and stroked Alador’s feathery hair. “I can’t imagine having to stay more disheveled than you forever,” he cracked with a wry smirk and a genuine glint in the eye.
“Stop it, you,” chuckled Alador, flicking Darius’ ear. “Come on, Puddles. We can’t spend all night here.”
“Puddles? Is that what you’re going to call me from now on?”
“Cute, right? If you get a nickname for me, I get to pick a nickname for you.”
“I- erm- alright, fine. ”
The two of them smiled at each other, holding hands all the way back to the gym.
Everything would be fine as long as they had each other.