Chapter Text
Kalego growled at the students blocking his way as he thundered down the halls, not sparing them a glance as they muttered their apologies. The anxious crowds parted as he passed by, no one daring to get on the wrong side of Babyls’s strictest teacher. He made his way to the teachers’ lounge without interruption, putting all his excess negativity into slamming his briefcase onto his desk, ignoring the staff murmuring around him. He paid them no mind as he pulled out final exam papers from his case and started to grade them, barely a minute after said exam was over. He’s done this for a few years now, it's a stressful routine but it’s the only thing that works for him. He would hate nothing more than having to delay his vacation to catch up on paperwork.
The teacher was not having a good time, nobody was. It was the end of yet another term at Babyls, tensions were running high for both students and teachers alike. It has been a very cold and terrible winter so far, making the semester seem to drag on for too long, and Kalego was starting to feel it. His body was sore, his eyes blurred the edges of his vision and every pulse of his headache threatened to turn into a wicked phase. Kalego cursed the weather.
A mug softly clinked on the top of his desk, and without looking, Kalego thanked the only staff member brave enough to approach him in his terrible mood.
“Thanks Shichiro,” He brought the mug up to his lips and let the calming aroma of hell grey tea wash over him.
“Don’t mention it. At least you aren’t a homeroom teacher. Unlike them, we can leave as soon as grading is over.” Shichiro chuckled as he walked over to the desk beside him and began to silently work on his own pile of exams.
Kalego huffed, taking a breath before going back to his own work. It wasn’t easy being a teacher, but Shichiro was right. He hasn’t yet been assigned a homeroom position in his years of teaching so he’s never had to deal with the extra workload. While he hadn’t bothered to ask the headmaster why this was the case exactly, Kalego has a feeling it might be because of just how much the students, and staff, fear him.
As he got through more and more exam papers, he wondered if Balam slipped a healing potion in his tea. His headache ebbed away, giving him a chance to hone in on getting these papers graded. Kalego didn’t notice just how much time had passed until he turned to the stack of exams and noticed that none remained. He looked around the now empty lounge, setting his red pen down.
Kalego stretched out his stiff muscles, a symphony of cracking followed his every move. Had he really been hunched over these papers for that long? He packed up the papers and set off into the sunset. Normally, he would properly leave the building before spreading his wings, but with how shitty he felt, leaving the office through the large windows was the better alternative.
It was cold, his coat did its best by keeping the worst of it away from his body, but his face and wings were not spared. He felt worse and worse until the headache had returned in its full force. He cursed the weather once more.
He landed with a quiet thud right before his bedroom window sill, pinching his forehead between his fingers to keep the worst of the ache away. On autopilot, he got inside and changed into more comfortable clothes, noting how empty his closet was. Kalego checked his laundry pile, finding most of his clothes there. Ugh, he needed to catch up on laundry. He hung up his professional wear neatly, even though his head pounded with every move. Kalego didn’t want to ruin them and add a trip to the cleaners to his never-ending list of chores. He ignored the issue for now and headed to the kitchen, hoping to find something decent to eat.
The fridge was empty too, in a worse state than he would have liked. He needed to take a trip to the markets soon, another chore added to his list. Kalego found the beast meat that had been marinating for a while, it would spoil if he didn't use it soon. Still, it was a monstrous amount. He thought of a recipe that would use a large portion of it.
Maybe a stew could work. With his mind settled, Kalego took around half of the packets of the meat out and plopped it on the counter along with very few other ingredients from the sparse fridge. He really needs to go shopping… but not today. Kalego left the kitchen and approached the backdoor taking a deep breath to combat his aching head.
Just seeing his gardening apron made the headache ease up. He grabbed it off its hook and tied it loosely behind his back, remembering to take a basket with him to bring the harvests in. Kalego took a deep breath of the cool winter air, perfumed by the variety of nature around his estate. He approached the very full garden, keeping an eye out for what he could harvest for dinner.
It’s hard to imagine how at the beginning of the term, all these planters were empty. He doesn’t quite remember how he got into gardening in the first place, but it was the single most effective anti-wicked phase activity he could do. Was Suzy who suggested that he planted something every time he got stressed during the semester? He should thank her, maybe a bouquet of his homegrown flowers would do.
Kalego waded through the shades of purple, blue and green, peering into each of the planters for what was ready to be picked. He edged towards the very start of the garden, the section just below his kitchen windows where the first planter box he worked on lay. This planter hadn’t been touched in so long, the foliage was growing over his low fence and sprawling out into the forest. Well, it’s not like the fence was supposed to protect his property anyway. It was more so for aesthetics. No being alive or dead would dare try and eat the fruits of his labor regardless of whether or not a meager fence was involved. Kalego kneeled down in the dirt and pushed aside the foliage to see what he had planted.
A quick count showed there were six teary-layer fruits, a bush of bitter greens, a suspicious mound of unidentifiable dirt that had broken through the planter and extended to the grounds beyond his home and twelve car-rots in this particular planter. He plucked out three of the car-rots and one teary-layer fruit, trying not to let the bitter smell get to him. These two were essential vegetables for a stew, and he was lucky to have found them in his overgrown garden. He placed them in the basket and turned his attention to the dirt pile, trying and failing to remember what this was. He pulled out his gardening gloves from his apron pocket and began to uncover it.
Kalego was impressed, but also a little frustrated with the size of the patato. These root vegetables grow by absorbing the negative energy in the air. Kalego could faintly remember Suzy handing him a single small patato seed at the beginning of the semester. He sighed, digging very deep into the earth to try and loosen the vegetable enough to harvest it.
Damn it. Why couldn’t he get into a hobby that wasn’t so mana sensitive?
He was barely able to carry the thing back inside, holding the patato against his torso with one hand and balancing the basket in the other. Luckily, he could use magic to open the doors for him. He placed the basket and the patato on the kitchen counter gently, worried that if he did it too fast, the counter would break. The patato was larger than a child at this point. He washed his hands and switched to his cooking apron, ready to start yet another anti-wicked phase activity.
Ignoring the massive veggie, Kalego carried on with making dinner as he usually would, starting with the less time consuming parts of cooking first. Kalego had to rummage through a few cabinets to find his favorite stew pot, but got it out nonetheless. He washed the pot and filled it with water, setting it on a high flame on his oven to boil. He then turned his attention to the ingredients. As he does with every harvest, he prepared a large vat of water to very thoroughly wash the vegetables, not wanting to eat dirt. Kalego learned that lesson the hard way, rubbing extra hard to get any remaining dirt off.
All that was left to wash was the patato. His sink basin wasn’t nearly large enough to hold it, and even if it was, Kalego didn’t want to risk breaking the porcelain and adding yet another task to his chore list. His quick thinking gave him an idea.
Kalego carried the patato into the bathroom, gingerly placing it in the tub. He picked up the shower head and set the water to the highest pressure it would go. His plan worked great. Within moments, all the dirt stuck to the patato blasted off, leaving the veg squeaky clean. It was a great idea, but seeing all the dirt splashed around his bathtub made him regret it. He begrudgingly added yet another task to his chore list.
Back in the kitchen, Kalego set the now clean patato on the counter. He fumbled in his knife drawer for the largest knife he had, but nothing he pulled out was large enough. Not even the butcher’s knife he used to skin and prepare the beast into tonight’s meat. It took a bit of thinking for Kalego to come to a solution. Since his kitchen knives weren’t large enough… he could use a knife not meant for the kitchen, right? Kalego marched into his armory, looking for the best weapon he could use to slay the vegetable.
These damned mana-absorbing plants were too sensitive. If he used even the slightest bit of magic on them, they’d explode. They reverted even the most powerful demons into pathetic, magicless imbeciles forced to do manual labor.
Battle axe in hand, Kalego got ready to slice the patato into a more manageable size. He swung the axe over his head, but right as it was about to cut the thing, the bubbling of the pot of water caught his attention. He lowered the flame so the water wouldn’t completely evaporate on him. Looking back to the patato, he realized that his vegetable-to-meat ratio was off. If he cut the patato up now and cooked everything as is, he’d have only patato, and barely anything else.
He frowned, putting the axe down, wondering what to do about it. He couldn’t just save the rest of the patato for another day. Once those things are cut open, they leach out all the negative mana they've been storing up and unless cooked, would continue to shrink until they revert back to a seed. Kalego couldn’t let the patato shrink to a usable size because all the negativity would seep back into his already stressed life. It wasn’t like he could leave out the patato from the stew either, there can’t be stew without patatos…. He would have to make more stew than he thought. It was the only solution. Thinking about it a little more, he did have a good amount of meat still in the fridge… and maybe the extra food could serve a second purpose.
Kalego pulled out his phone, letting it float by his ear as he grabbed the rest of the marinated meat from the fridge.
Within two rings, Shichiro picked up, starting with a heavy sigh.
“Are you okay?”
“Yo Shichi.” Kalego said, a hint of a smile in his voice. “-Beast stew tonight. Want some?”
“You’re making stew? I didn’t realize you were that stressed.” Shichiro sighed as Kalego rummaged through his spice cabinet for the best spices and herbs for the beast meat, pulling out vials and mixes he barely remembers buying. “I’ll be over soon. I’m trying to finish grading at least half the exams before I stop.”
“Wow you’re really getting old. How are you not done yet? It’s only 500 exams, Shichi.” Kalego teased. “You’ve seriously aged.”
“You finished grading?” Shichiro mumbled something Kalego couldn’t comprehend. Kalego worked on chopping the meat into stew sized cubes. He turned over to the boiling water, to add a whole bunch of stuff to make it taste good as a stock. “We need to bring up the idea of handwriting classes to the headmaster. I couldn’t read half of what’s on these pages.”
“Tell me about it.” Kalego washed his hands and pulled out a second, larger pot to cook the marinated meat and eventually the whole stew in. A glimpse at the produce showed that the meat-veg ratio was off once again. He then left the kitchen and switched to the gardening apron, bringing the basket out with him once again. “I think a student answered their demon history exam with a mathematical equation.”
Kalego headed into the garden once more, bee-lining to the edge where he’d been not too long ago, thinking about the exam sheet. “... could it be a pathetic, failed attempt at cheating?”
“Maybe. It does seem like an answer-switching spell, although I didn’t invigilate your exam hall today. None of the papers I’ve corrected so far did something like that, but I still have quite the pile to go. Not to mention yesterday’s exams… wait where did I put those?”
Kalego could hear a loud thud, followed by the sound of a stack of papers flopping over. Balam cursed, mumbling to himself even more. Kalego returned his attention to the vegetables, kneeling to pick the rest of the car-rots and teary-layers for the stew. He picked the layers just fine, although the smell emitting from the large amount of them stung his eyes this time.
When he turned his attention to the car-rots, Kalego paused.
His house was in the center of one of the Netherrealm's most dangerous woods, but since he was the most powerful and dangerous being around, it was safe and entirely peaceful. Long ago, when he left the Naberius home and started working at Babyls, he had to secure his own housing. With the help of Cerberion, asserting his dominance over this region was easy, and from the very day he moved in, no one ever dared to bother him. No beast, pest or demon. None.
Imagine Kalego’s surprise when, instead of the expected nine of car-rots waiting to be harvested, he only found seven. Kalego stood, looking around his garden for any signs of where the car-rots could have gone. It’s not like two of these vegetables decided to grow legs and leave. Some of his plants did, yes, but not these ones.
“-lego? Kalego? Is everything okay? Kal say something.” Shichiro’s voice came through once more, drenched in worry.
Kalego, still confused, barely answered, but it doesn’t seem like Shichiro heard.
“I’ll be over soon. Please don’t tell me your wicked phase started oh plea-”
The line cut. Kalego stayed in his garden for a little longer before the chill of the cold winter air set in and snapped him back to reality. He’ll deal with this later. He grabbed six of the car-rots, hoping to solve the mystery with the one remaining, and headed back inside to continue his dinner.
Shichiro usually knocks. This time, Kalego only heard his front door slamming open and the furious flap of wings, Balam’s ramblings reaching him before he even saw him.
“- so I got you everything I could think of but most of the stores were closed so I couldn’t get the wine you like but I found a substitute but I don’t think you’d like it as much and-” a very frazzled Shichiro made it to the kitchen, barged in carrying various supplies and bags in his hands. He paused at the sight of Kalego in his kitchen apron flipping over some delicious smelling meat by the stove.
“But… your wicked phase?”
“You can set the wine down in the dining room. Come peel the rest of the teary-layers. My eyes hurt.”
Balam flushed, moving to help Kalego with the request. They had to open up the windows as they continued to cook, with stinging eyes and smelly hands. The stew came together fairly quickly after that, the aroma of meat and vegetables and seasoning permeating the air and gently leading outside. The warmth of the kitchen was a stark contrast to the harsh winter outside, Kalego looked away for some reason when Shichiro took his coat off. When all was done and it was time to let the stew cook on a gentle flame, Kalego dragged Shichiro to his garden.
“I don’t know if I've gone crazy, or if something dared invade my land.”
“What’s going on Kal?”
Kalego led him to the patch where the car-rots had been, gesturing to it.
Balam looked between the one remaining car-rot in the soil and his friend, wondering what he’s supposed to be looking at.
“I planted car-rots, teary-layer fruits, bitter greens and a patato here.” Kalego explained, pointing a sharp finger at each of the spots. Balam nodded for him to continue.
“It has been a while since I’ve checked up on them, but before I harvested them, I counted twelve car-rots.”
Shichiro nodded once again.
“I initially took three inside, and when I realized I needed more because of that good for nothing patato, I came back and took six more. There is only one left now.”
Shichiro frowned, the scar he never hides from Kalego contorting around his teeth. “But then you’d be missing two.”
“Exactly,” Kalego growled, headache returning. “Where have my car-rots gone?”
Balam knelt by the dirt to take a closer look, inspecting the last car-rot. Using his long nails, he dug in the earth and inspected it.
“Hmm… no sign of devil worms or anything. Could it be a pest of sorts?”
Kalego felt rage. How could someone or something steal from his yard right under his nose without him noticing?
“I wonder… has anything else gone missing from your garden?”
“I-I didn’t even consider-” Kalego was fully fuming, vibrating with anger. His mind spiraled with the possible implications.
“Hey, hey no, come on now. Don’t send yourself into a wicked phase Kal.” Shichiro pat Kalego’s hair, trying to pull him back to normal. “By the way, do you smell that? Something smells very good out here.”
Kalego took a deep breath, both to calm down and to see, or smell, what Balam was talking about. “Mmm… the stew?”
“Right, we left the windows open still, we should probably close them right? Or your house will get even colder. Let's go check on the food. We can deal with the garden and the pests tomorrow okay?”
“Tomorrow? I have to invigilate in the morning session, plus I have my own exam to-” Kalego trailed off at the pitiful way Shichiro looked at him. Even though Shichi looked kinda cute all worried and with his feathers ruffled, Kalego took the time to rethink his schedule.
Kalego sighed. In all the stress, he hadn’t been keeping track of the days as much as he was counting the tasks. “... tomorrow is a weekend isn’t it.”
Balam smiled sympathetically. They two headed back inside, greeted by the warmth and delightful aroma of the stew. Shichiro suggested making bread to go with the stew.
“Totally just to go with dinner, and not because you’re on the edge of a wicked phase and I know the school won’t be able to split up the rest of the invigilators for the exams.” Balam explained to a weary Kalego.
“Fine. Do you have any suggestions? Bread can take days to make, and if we’re having it for dinner, we have maybe an hour before it’s overcooked and starts burning.”
“Actually, that's more than enough time to make fizzy bread.”
“What in the hell is fizzy bread?”
“You see, the secret is a fizzing poison powder. It leavens the bread in a very short time. Damn it, I didn’t think to bring any with me. I should have seen this coming.”
Kalego cut Shichiro’s frustrations short. “Actually, I might have something that could work.” Kalego thought back to the spices he used for the meat.
The pair worked on making the unplanned bread together, slipping into a comfortable conversation as the kitchen smelled of meat and bread.
An hour later, they had a pot of boiling hot stew and a steaming loaf of bread to go with it. They moved into the dining room, Shichiro pouring the wine he brought into two glasses as Kalego lit the fireplace. They sat across one another at Kalego’s surprisingly cozy table and clinked their glasses in a toast.
“To an unexpected dinner,” Shichiro laughed.
Kalego just smiled, unable to think of a response that wasn’t unbearably sappy.
Before they could get to the part where they tasted the stew, the door knocked, and all the tension of the day rushed back to Kalego. Could this be a distraction from the crime? Was it an attempt at taking over his home?
“I’ll get it,” Shichiro said, leaving and taking whatever remained of the light atmosphere with him.
Kalego didn’t have to simmer in his worries for long. After a creak of his front door and mumbling he couldn’t make out, Shichiro returned with a guest. Kalego stood from his seat, chair squealing against the floor as he did.
“O-Opera senpai.”
“Yo,” the cat demon saluted from behind Shichiro. They walked around him and over to Kalego, causing the demon to take a few steps back in reaction.
Opera sniffed him, his clothing and the air around him. Kalego could only stare.
“Wh-what are you doing here?”
“As much as I would love to spend time with my kohai, I am here on a mission.”
Opera straightened up, more serious than they had been a few moments ago, their face barely shifting, but their body language more than telling. Shichiro took his place by Kalego’s side.
“Sullivan-sama has gone missing.”
Kalego was tempted to roll his eyes. One of the three most powerful demons in the entire underworld took a day trip without telling his security. So what? It’s not like Sullivan was known for his diligence anyway. Still, something about the situation rubbed Kalego the wrong way. It was Shichiro who asked for more details on the matter, a touch more worried.
“What? What happened? Where could he have gone?”
“I began chasing his scent before dawn and the trail has only now led me here.” Opera shrugged nonchalantly.
Kalego looked over at the clock on the wall, calculating just how long Opera has been searching.
Opera took a few more steps forward, sniffing the food.
“Mmm… beast stew and fizzy posion bread. My kohai can cook really well.” They hovered around the dining table, waiting, tail swaying side to side
“Um… would you like to join us?” Kalego asked, wishing the answer was a no.
Opera’s ears twitched. “Why, my kohai are so generous and kind.” They sat in what was Kalego’s seat, drinking from his glass of wine.
Kalego mutely sighed and grabbed a bowl and some silverware from the cupboard. Shiricho sat across the cat demon, already pouring Kalego a glass.
“When did the headmaster go missing?” Balam asked, barely sparing Kalego a glance as he sat beside him.
“I am unsure. Sullivan-sama requested that I not bother him a few days ago. The last traces of his mana lead me here. Do my kohai possibly have more information on the matter?”
“As far as I remember, we saw Sullivan right before exams started. Right Shichi?” Kalego said, tossing the conversation away from himself so he could enjoy the food. He wasn’t worried about Sullivan at all. Nope. Not one bit. No one could be a threat to such a demon… but then again he never thought something would steal his property before today.
“Right, Shichiro began, “he gave us a pep talk on the last day of teaching. He did sound a little rushed. Like he had somewhere to be… not to mention how different the exams have gone this year.”
Opera perched their head on their hands, ignoring the food to listen intently. “How so?”
“Well,” Shichirio put the spoonful of stew back into his bowl. “I remember last term, his speech went on for a whole hour. He kept encouraging us to do our best and stay strong. He promised us a lot of perks and time off once exams were over. He even gave us tickets to Walten Park when his lecture was over so we don’t get our wicked phases.”
Shichiro stirred his spoon, meat and veggies swirling around as he talked. “I noticed that this year was a lot more stressful than last year, I only realized why today.”
Kalego paused, the dots connecting to him as well. “The headmaster usually provides for us during exams. But this term, we’re stuck with twice as much work than we used to have.”
Opera’s face barely shifted, but their ears twitched in a way that Kalego had learned to fear over the years.
“Uh, well I don’t really, uh-” Kalego stumbled over his words, not wanting to anger Opera by insulting the man they serve. “What I meant to say is, usually, the headmaster would bring catering to the staff during exams to keep us positive and whatnot. We didn’t have to manage chores and food and such while exams were taking place. This year, with him being gone and nothing to replace his very generous efforts, we’ve been feeling it,” Kalego chewed a very large chunk of soft patato, “severely.”
“I see.” Opera nodded, getting up. “Coming here was very beneficial. I should make visits more often.”
“No, please don't.” Kalego grumbled, covering his words with a spoonful of stew.
Opera picked out a last piece of meat from their bowl of stew and left with a curt ‘goodbye,’ leaving the pair alone. The food tasted great, but what Opera told them left a sour taste in Kalego’s mouth. He picked at the remaining food still in his bowl, lost in thought as his headache returned.
The pair ate side by side in awkward silence, only broken when Shichiro asked to take over the clean up duty. He left while mumbling to himself, carrying their stacked bowls and the rest of the stew leaving Kalego to sit in the dining room alone.
Kalego sighed, grabbing the wine and the two empty glasses as he moved into the living room. He set the things onto his coffee table and lit up the fireplace there. He sprawled very crudely across his sofa , trying to get his head to stop spinning. No wonder he felt so awful, stupid Sullivan always had their backs. He made sure the staff had nothing to worry about during exams. Kalego should have hired a cleaning service or gotten a Naberius Family butler to serve him for a few weeks but for some reason he just didn’t ask for that kind of help.
In what felt like only a blink, Shichiro came back from washing the dishes and other chores. Rather than taking a seat on his favorite armchair, or any of Kalego’s other sofas and loveseats, he chose to sit on the couch Kalego was occupying. The couch dipped as Shichiro settled by Kalego’s head, grabbing the glass to pour himself another drink.
“No wonder we were all on edge.” Kalego mumbled into the couch cushions. “I didn’t realize how important the headmaster’s help was. I thought it was unnecessary even. All the complaining about being pampered... Can you imagine?”
Shichiro sighed, hand resting Kalego’s back absent-mindedly. “Mm, he was a real help. I wonder where he’s gone off to. I think he would have told Opera at least if there was something important. He might have told us if it involved the school. Then again, we don’t know much about the headmaster.” Shichiro began to rub Kalego’s back, accidentally brushing against Kalego’s very sensitive wings.
Kalego shivered before straightening up, escaping Shichiro’s reach. He sat on the far side of the couch, getting a better look at him as they talked. Kalego began picking at the sofa’s cushions, picking at the fabric to give his hands something to do.
“I need to figure out what pest stole my car-rots.” His head pounded, he closed his eyes in focus. “And I need to go shopping and do laundry and sort out my garden and work on the other exams and-”
“Hush now,” Balam placed his hand on Kalego’s, distracting him and putting an end to the picking. “You’re tense. You can get started on your to-do list tomorrow. You’ll worry yourself sick at this rate.”
Shichiro didn’t move his hand away, rubbing Kalego’s gently, and Kalego didn’t try to run away from the intimacy this time. The pair continued their idle conversation, sipping their drinks until the bottle was gone, talking until their eyes could no longer open.
Kalego only realized he’d fallen asleep when he stirred awake, cozier and warmer than he’d been in quite some time. It took quite a bit of effort to force just one eye open. He found himself in the darkness of his living room, with fire no longer burning, the only source of light he could use to see was what little moonlight seeped in through the windows. Kalego somehow ended up tucked into Shichiro’s side, the gargoyle’s massive arm around him acting as his personal blanket. What could have woken him from such comfort?
The clock croaked twelve times, signaling midnight. His cozines slipped away, replaced by anger when he heard the gentle knocking that woke him. Kalego, now fully awake, realized that it came from the kitchen. He got up, letting the arm around him fall to the couch to follow the origin of the sound, moving with silent speed to catch the knocker in the act.
The kitchen was dark, barely illuminated by the soft light shining down from the moons coming in through, bringing his attention to the one open window. Had Shichiro forgotten to close this one when he cleaned up? There was nothing out of the ordinary beyond the windows, just the usual scenery of his garden and the woods, but he still walked closer to check. Kalego shivered, the chill making its way into his core. He reached up to close the window, only then noticing the little flower on the counter.
“What the fuck?” He whispered to himself in disbelief, still holding onto the window frame. After debating it, he let go of the frame and gingerly picked up the flower with only his nails.
As a teacher at Babyls, it was almost mandatory for Kalego to be well-versed in all the fields of study the school offers, and botany was no exception. However, none of his skills were useful at this moment for one reason. The petals were closed.
Petals were a very important factor in determining the type of plant you’d be dealing with, but with the flower closed, it, and all the attributes that are revealed with it being open are gone.
This can’t have been an accident, this is a threat.
Kalego’s head pounded.
He gathered his thoughts and focused on analyzing what he could. Aside from the 5 pale petals, the plant had a lengthy stem with a few long thin dark leaves. At the base of the stem there was a good amount of dirt-covered thick roots.
Kalego thought long and hard, trying to place exactly what plant this is, but there were too many similar plants and none came close at the same time. It once more struck him just how useless the plant-identification classes they offered were. How were the next generation of demons supposed to survive in the wild when they haven’t been fully educated on what lies beyond the boundaries of their school and home? He needed to bring the topic up at the next staff meeting.
Drifting back to those roots, it seemed like the flower had just been dug out of the dirt and was ready to be planted. No patches of dry soil or tangled roots to be undone. Did… did the plant come here on its own? Surely not. Netherworld flowers are not polite enough to do so without breaking his house. Someone brought him this flower. Someone wanted him to plant it.
Kalego finally slammed the windows shut.
“-lego? Kalego? Are you okay?” Shichiro’s voice called out to him, echoing down the halls.
“...kitchen,” he barely replied, too dazed to properly speak.
Balam somehow heard and ran to him, hair even crazier than usual with eyes wide in panic. “You okay?” He grabbed Kalego by the forearms, inspecting him for any possible injuries.
Kalego was a little too distracted by how Shichiro’s stomach poked out from under his ridden-up shirt to respond. “Uh.”
He raised up Kalego’s hands to his own face, finally noticing the plant still between his fingers. “How do you have a Nosiop Flower?”
“You recognize it?”
“Of course.” Shiochiro sounded excited. “The stark white petals look like a beak when it’s sleeping. It’s the only flower native to this part of the Netherworld to do so. That and the green leaves with red veins are not a common sight.”
Kalego sighed. “Right, gargoyles can see perfectly in the dark… I don't know how it got here.”
“Well, you should know that they’re really tasty. Culinary demons across the realm would kill to get the smallest taste of it. A single spore of the Nosiop can improve a dish’s taste by 1000 times.”
“Are you suggesting that I keep this thing?”
“Definitely. No matter how it got here. See, the curious thing about Nosiops is that they only grow around the most dangerous predators. Wild beasts love the taste of it to the point where it is the only known plant to start wars among normally docile beasts.”
Kalego could only blink in response. Shichiro gently took the flower from his hands and rotated around in the moonlight, trying to get the best view.
“Strong beasts would allow the plant to grow while protecting it from other creatures or pests trying to eat it. That's why it's so rare. It's so well protected, you can’t even try to hunt it down. The Botanist Annual marks it as one of the hardest plants to find in the entire realm. With your rank and reputation, you can easily become the only consistent provider of Nosiop in the entire realm.”
The more Shichiro explained, the worse Kalego felt about the entire situation. “I feel foolish for assuming this was merely a pest. Only a creature of intelligence can do such a thing. To leave such a valuable item in my home…” Kalego gazed out the window, “only a demon would do such a thing.”
For some reason, Kalego could sharply hear a heart beat faster, a low growl penetrating the air. He frowned, squinting to get a better look at his friend. Some of what Shichiro has done tonight made no sense to him… unless he was the one stressed to the edge… “Shichi, are you-”
“Come on.” He interrupted Kalego to grab him by the hand, tossing the flower on the counter. “It’s late. We can deal with everything tomorrow.”
Kalego was dragged out of the kitchen towards the stairs, and he offered no resistance. Even in the dark, Shichiro knew the way up to the bedroom by heart. Kalego was even carried at some point when he wasn’t walking fast enough for Shichiro’s liking. He wasn’t let down when they got to the door, Shichiro opting to open the thing with one of his vines.
After getting gently dumped on his own bed, Kalego could only watch as Shichiro headed over to his closet and searched. He picked out a folded set and tossed them over to Kalego, expecting him to wear them. Shichiro then opened a low drawer and pulled out clothes much larger than what Kalego would wear.
As Shichiro stripped, Kalego’s remained mind blank. It slowly dawned on him that his guest was changing into the spare clothes Kalego had stored away for his friend when he came over. Even with the realization, Kalego couldn’t look away. He watched as the gargoyle took off his skin tight shirt, revealing his back and exposing his wing roots to Kalego for a few moments before his hair fell back down to cover it.
Kalego forced himself to look away when he moved to take his pants off. He busied himself by changing into the clothes Shichiro picked out for him. When he looked back, Shichiro turned away very quickly, like he had gotten caught doing something.
“Uh,” Shichiro mumbled, “you done?”
“Yes.” Kalego went to bed, tucking himself under his blankets to hide his blushing face.
Shichiro joined Kalego on the other side of his very large bed. Neither of them really talking about what just happened. Kalego didn’t wonder why his friend was sharing his bed instead of taking his usual guest room.
Whatever, Kalego thought. Who cares? His head hurt, he was tired, and having Shichiro around eased the pain in his head.
He’ll deal with the pest and all the other bullshit tomorrow.