Archive of Our Own

“Ah. Yuu! You’re here now! Come, we need to discuss something.”

Mildly apprehensive, Yuu followed Crowley through the solemn library, a few stray students dotting the cubicles. He suddenly paused, and fixed Yuu with a look.

The past week and a half had been nothing short of a whirlwind. Everytime they got a piece of news, everytime someone needed their attention, it had managed to get them tangled up in another mess.

Yuu had hardly gotten a full night’s rest since waking up in a coffin with the cat-monster. Grim, as he liked to call himself, had found Yuu’s shoulder a comfortable home when they were out and about. He had tried to walk with them on two legs, and then on four when that proved too slow, but his new vantage point had allowed him to look straight at Ace and Deuce and better participate in their conversations.

Because he was a cat. Sort of.

They weren’t sure how they felt about that yet, and were actively trying not to think about it, just like they were actively trying not to think about the fact that they were stranded, in a land full of magic, but Grim wasn’t here because Crowley had only asked for Yuu to follow them, and they had been rapidly growing a soft spot for Grim big enough to let him laze the afternoon away.

“First of all, I would like to give you this.” Reaching into his jacket, a gloved hand handed Yuu a familiar-looking object, and with a pinprick of shock, they realized it was a phone.

“Well? Go on.” Crowley nudged the phone towards them, and Yuu took it. The sleek, black metal of the phone was cool against their hands as they turned the phone on, surprising Yuu with how familiar it looked.

“Thank you,” they said after a moment, realizing it was the polite thing to do.

“Of course,” said Crowley, head tipping back as he placed a hand softly on his chest. “My generosity is boundless, in this manner and in all.”

Yuu nodded their head slightly, knowing even after only being here for what felt like two hours, that it was better not to interrupt him.

“Secondly,” he said with a trademark pause, “there is a small project I would like to assign you to.”

“Like what?” Yuu didn’t like the sound of that.

“I have been considering, and I have recognized your abilities to connect with people as easily as others summon fireballs, or create vast swathes of ice. I would like you to lend your talents to the prom committee of the Night Raven College.”

“The… prom committee? NRC has that?” they asked curiously.

It was true, they’d been able to help with Riddle’s situation. Or at least, they’d felt like they’d helped. But Yuu didn’t know how that event could translate to this- a coed dance at an all-boys’ school.

And Night Raven seemed so stuffy. Yuu couldn’t imagine them in cheap rented suits sweating it out in a gym with sparkly, shimmery plastic in gaudy colors swaying in the AC.

“Well, sort of,” said Crowley, as he turned to continue to walk through the library. “We used to host a ball, but that hasn’t been around for a while. And we did have a prom, but only for two years a decade ago. No no,” he continued, “This is more of a personal project undertaken by a student of their own initiative.”

Yuu wondered what would possess a student to do a prom so much. “I’m happy to help,” they said, sort of lying, “but why me?”

They turned down a hallway, and Yuu saw a series of doors with names. Conference rooms? they thought.

“Hmm, how do I put this delicately… this student has had trouble retaining other members for the committee, but your status will ensure you are not intimidated. Ah, we’re here.”

Crowley opened the door, and at the end of a long table, Yuu saw a man.

He was tall, with a crisp uniform and black gloves. His eyes were sharp, as were the rest of his features, and he was crouching over the table, stacking some papers.

Upon hearing the door open, he looked up, and Yuu noticed his ears were pointed- and that he had a pair of large horns winding up from his head.

His mouth opened slightly as he put the pages down, but he didn’t say anything.

“Malleus! Meet your newest committee member. This is…” Crowley gestured towards them.

“I’m Yuu,” they said, stepping forward and giving ‘Malleus’ a little wave. Forcing a small smile, they continued, “it’s nice to meet you.”

Malleus straightened up, his mouth closing and his head turning up just a bit. “Hello,” he said without feeling.

“Well then! Why don’t you two get cracking on planning. I’ll leave you to yourselves.” He shoved Yuu forward, and left quickly.

Yuu looked back just in time to see the door shut. Turning back, they looked at Malleus for a moment in awkward silence before saying, “Ok! So, what do you have for ideas so far?”

It was small, but he closed his eyes for a moment and gave Yuu a small sigh, one that made them irrationally angry. “Come. I will show you my progress so far.”

They walked over, and Malleus presented a paper with some drawings to Yuu. “My idea for a theme is simple- gargoyles.”

Yuu looked at him, expecting him to say something else, but he continued on.

“The setting will be outside, surrounded by torn brick walls, and will be held under the bridge leading to Ramshackle, so the guests are able to enjoy the weather while allowing for a measure of protection.” He flipped the page. “Guests will be able to walk around and admire statues set up for this purpose, of which I will source myself, and that should be sufficiently entertaining so as to forego any other attractions.”

Before Yuu could say anything, Malleus continued.

“Everyone will have a candle, so as to light their way in the darkness, and as a way for people to truly admire the details of the gargoyle statues.”

They were rendered totally speechless, seeing the small stands with gargoyles on top of them sketched out on the page in Malleus’s vision.

In his defense, the sketch itself was not bad. He was clearly a talented artist, but his idea sounded nothing short of awful.

“Um,” said Yuu after a moment, apparently having permission to speak now, “well, uh, I’ve never heard of a theme like that.” They were having trouble coming up with nice things to say about the worst prom ever.

“Neither have I. But I am confident of its success.” He said this quite definitively and with a nod of his head.

“I’m just not sure how everyone would feel about being under a bridge. Outside. In heels.” said Yuu, watching his face drop.

“I don’t know why you’d think that,” said Malleus. “I have been underneath that bridge several times, and its slight dampness makes the area quite cozy.”

“I’m sorry- it’s wet, too?” asked Yuu incredulously.

“Yes,” he said, sounding somewhat annoyed.

“But people are wearing nice clothes. Won’t they get dirty?”

“Not if they hold themselves properly. There should be nothing to fear.”

Yuu shook their head. “But what about the food? Who will want to eat soggy, wet food?”

“There wil be no food. The risk of the gargoyles being spilled on is too great.”

“Uh-” WHAT?! “There won’t be any food at the dance?”

“No.” Now Yuu was sure he was annoyed.

“But it’s a dance,” insisted Yuu. “Are you even gonna have anything to drink, or is everyone just gonna starve for three hours?”

Malleus’s eyebrows tipped downward. “I dislike what you are implying. If you have something to say, why don’t you say it?”

“Ok. Quite frankly, this party sounds awful. Even setting aside the theme-”

“And what is wrong with the theme?”

Yuu couldn’t believe what they were hearing. “‘Gargoyles?’ It’s so barebones! And so specific, who is that gonna appeal to?”

“I,” he said, spreading his fingers on his chest, “happen to find the idea quite interesting.”

“Well, you’re not the only one going to the prom,” said Yuu with an eye roll.

He chewed his lip, his face twitching in anger. “If you dislike it,” he said coldly, a corner of his mouth ticking up, “you may leave.”

So that’s how he did things- make unreasonable demands and retain total creative control by de facto leadership. Well, even though Yuu hadn't been here so long, they didn’t think their fellow students deserved such a crappy prom.

“I'm sure you’d like that just fine, you arrogant ass,” they said angrily, “but you can’t kick me out, and I’m not quitting.”

He hadn’t liked the arrogant comment, but he said instead, “Oh? Well, good luck planning this yourself on such short notice. I have no intentions of helping someone with no artistic vision.”

“Fine! That sounds like a great idea, actually!”

“You honestly think you can come up with something new in a week?”

“I think I could come up with something better in three- wait, why a week?” asked Yuu.

“Because,” he said, patiently and condescendingly, “we have to submit monthly progress reports to the school. The first one is due next week.”

“Then I’ll be back here in a week,” they said, pointing their finger at Malleus, “and I’ll have a better idea than gargoyles. Something people will actually like!”

And, to give themselves the last word, they turned on their heel and speed walked out of the conference room through the library, eventually making their way outside again.

They looked around, feeling the air on their face, and tried to take a few deep breaths so they wouldn’t be scowling on their way back some.

Stupid ugly idiot, they cursed to themselves. That haughty half-smile and upturned nose made him seem seem more vile than he already was. He was clearly an overly-spoiled child hiding in a teenager’s body, doted upon by the student body for a reason that was not apparent to Yuu. Well, they wouldn’t be steamrolled. Their opinion mattered too, and they were going to make this into something better than it was.

Yuu puled their phone out of their pocket and headed home, realizing they hadn’t grabbed Malleus’s contact info.

Oh well. They’d see him in a week.

“Huh? But I don’t understand- how can no one care?”

Ace, Deuce, Grim and Yuu were sitting at lunch together. Yuu had tried to gather info from the students, asking them what themes they thought would be nice for a prom.

Going up to people unsolicited for a dumb question had been far from easy, but Yuu’s thirst for revenge fueled them. Their effort had borne no fruit, however, when most of the students seemed puzzled and had blown them off.

“I mean, it kinda just seems like another dumb party,” said Deuce, taking a bit of his noodles. “The Housewarden throws those all the time. Do we really need another one?”

“Yeah. All those sequins and flowers, bleugh. ‘Sides, where would you get a date?” Ace let his hand rest on his chin, picking at his food.

Yuu sighed, bowing their head. “Can you guys at least help me come up with themes?”

“Fish!” exclaimed Grim, munching on some sardines the kitchen had managed to find for him.

“Uh, a beach?” said Ace.

“Why do you need to know so badly anyway, Yuu?” asked Deuce.

“I’m on prom committee with this guy, and he sucks. He’s apparently run off everyone else who’s tried to get on the committee, and his ideas are terrible. He wants to do a prom outside! Under a bridge!”

“And that’s why nobody’s that excited,” said Ace, pointing with his fork. “That sounds awful.”

“Exactly! What am I supposed to do, just let that happen?” exclaimed Yuu.

“Who’s the other guy?” asked Ace.

Yuu racked their head. “Uh, I think his name was- Malleus, right.”

“Yeah, I guess all that stuff you told us makes sense. I’ve heard a bunch of rumors about that guy. He never comes to anything, even if invited, ‘cuz he’s too good for that stuff, he tends to get angry when things don’t go his way, which apparently doesn’t happen to often ‘cuz he’s good at everything,” said Ace.

“I guess that makes sense, since he’s the pri-”

An alarm sounded on Yuu’s phone. “Oh crap, I totally forgot we have our meeting right now! Grim, c’mon, let’s go.”

Grim flopped over. “Nooo,” he said, “please don’t make me go with you to the mean guy’s presentation.”

“If you want, Grim, you can come to Heartslaybul to study with us.” said Ace.

“Nyeh! A great wizard doesn’t need to study!” said Grim indignantly.

“Oh yeah? What about I quiz you then, huh?” said Deuce, cracking his knuckles, but with a soft smile.

Grim hopped onto his paws. “You’re on!”

“I’m gonna go, then, see you guys later!” They dashed off, sprinting towards the library.

While they jogged, Yuu mulled over what they were going to do.

Obviously, they couldn’t concede and let Malleus win. That would be a disaster, not to mention personally humiliating. It was disappointing that no one else seemed to care much, but Yuu wasn’t ready to throw in the towel after one week of defeat.

Pulling out their phone, they scrolled to their image gallery. It was a little generic, but “Underwater Farmhouse” seemed quite simple to design. Yuu had looked up prom theme ideas, and had decided to combine two of the most popular ones they’d seen, giving themselves double the inspiration. They had pulled together a moodboard, which should be enough to properly explain their vision to Malleus.

“No.”

Yuu supposed they couldn’t be too surprised he didn’t like their idea. He had probably rejected it solely because it wasn’t his own, because it was clearly a great theme.

“What do you mean, ‘no’?” said Yuu indignantly. “Why not?”

Malleus crossed his arms, looking down at Yuu with a sneer. “Are you having trouble understanding me? That’s the worst idea I’ve ever heard.”

“Oh really?” They said putting their hands on their hips. “‘Cuz I’ve heard of one that’s worse.”

His eyes flashed with rage. “Excuse me?! Are you suggesting my heartfelt endeavor to be worse than you slapped-together artistic mess?”

“Yes! It’s horrible and impractical! At least with my idea, people can eat!” Yuu glanced at the door, making sure it was closed, weary of the fact that they were in a library.

Malleus, however, was content to bring the roof down.

“It is also tacky and tasteless,” he spat. “Its memorability will come only from the fact that everyone’s eyes will be pained so much by looking at the teal and orange, their corneas will forever remember the strain!”

Restraint evident in their voice, they said, “They’ll definitely remember not being able to sit down for three straight hours with no entertainment!”

“Of course, your uncultured mind would be unable to comprehend the opportunity to walk through a specially curated exhibition.”

“Uncultured?!”

Yuu scribbled furiously on the posterboard, colored pencil nearly tearing the paper as they worked silently but fervently.

They were putting the finishing touches on their latest idea, involving a recurring sports motif. This would have a mass, broad appeal with the student body, drawing in fans of all kinds. Yuu had decorated the poster board with pictures of lacrosse racquets holding up tents, golf tees as decorative pins, and other various trinkets from all kinds of sports. They were especially proud of the bowling ball and pin border they had made.

“Is that really your next idea?”

Yuu yelped, suddenly brought out of their intense focus.

They look over their shoulder and make a face. “Yes, actually,” they whisper, gripping the posterboard, “what do you think?”

Malleus touches his hand to his chin, a sneer forming on his face. “What’s this?” he asked, pointing to a corner of the poster.

“Jerseys,” said Yuu. “I thought people could wear them for the theme.”

“Over their suit and ties?” said Malleus patronizingly.

“Well,” they replied, turning back to the poster, “I haven’t fully worked it out yet. Jerseys might work, or maybe varsity jack-”

Suddenly, they hear soft whistling behind them, and they looked at Malleus.

His shoulders were shaking, and he was clearly trying to hold back a laugh behind a fist.

“Are you laughing at me?!”

Malleus raises a hand, trying to compose himself. “Yes,” he said breathily, still gasping a bit. “That is the worst idea I’ve ever heard.”

“Ok, dick,” snapped Yuu, “show me what you’ve got.”

Malleus’s face morphed into a stony expression. “Come with me, if you can restrain your language for half a moment. He then walked off quite speedily, leaving Yuu to scramble to follow him.

When they finally caught up to him in the conference room, they saw a drawing on the chalkboard. Yuu thought it might have been a mockup of the grand hall, with something flying around the drawing.

On closer inspection, it was… birds?

“I am relieved to be finally graced with your presence,” said Malleus with a fake serenity Yuu could spot a mile away. “Now, allow me to present my idea to you. I only ask that you keep an open mind to my artistic vision.”

Yuu plopped themselves down on a seat with a glare.

“Thank you. Now, I have taken some of your suggestions and have decided instead that the party would be better suited for the roof.”

Yuu did not like the sound of this.

“My idea is a theme centering birds, where we decorate any potential stage as a birds; nest, and encourage people to dress up as various types of colorful fowl.”

At Yuu’s shocked expression, he said, “Don’t be like that. Where your idea lacks originality and memorability, mine is unique, offering glamor and freedom of choice.”

They couldn’t take it anymore. “On the roof?”

“Cease your wailing. It will offer an excellent view of the setting sun.”

“How are we going to get on any of the roofs? They’re all diagonal!”

“I-” He raised his finger, and then lowered it as he shut his mouth, not saying anything for a moment.

Yuu burst into laughter. Clutching their stomach, they said, “You forgot the roofs weren’t flat? How dumb are you?”

Malleus shot them a death glare. “At least my idea is a good one.”

“At least my idea is feasible. So we’ll go with that, and-”

“No! I refuse to sign onto this idea.”

Yuu rolled their eyes. “C’mon, Malleus, we need both of us to agree to this to get started. We’re already behind, what’s the worst that could happen?”

“I will not debase myself by putting my name on such a pathetic, lackluster theme.”

“Oh my gosh, you are so conceited!” Yuu burst out. “Your name?! It’s a dance, who cares!”

“If you think it’s so meaningless, then leave.”

“You leave! Throw your own party!”

“Why don’t you do this?”

“Ugh!” Gesturing at Malleus, they said, “You understand that if we don’t get this submitted, we’re not gonna be able to actually have a dance, right?”

“Of course, Yuu,” he said carefully, “but your idea is superficial and thoughtless. We need to try this again.”

“No! We’re not delaying this again because of your ego!”

“There is no way around it. We will do this right the first time.”

Yuu’s eye twitched. “Fine. But we’re not waiting another month.”

“Unfortunately,” said Malleus, “given the amount of research my ideas require, and the commitments I have, I will not be able to present any earlier than next month.”

Their head felt like it was going to explode. “One. Month.”

He smiled down at them, tilting his head slightly. “Have a nice walk back.”

Yuu was ready to put their head through a wall.

They had recently become acquainted with Leona and Azul, shortly before their twin overblots, and had also been balancing the incorporation of the Ramshackle Magift Team, a brand new addition to the school. Yuu was the only person they had to be a coach, but Grim was so happy to be the star player.

He had actually been the inspiration for Yuu’s best idea yet- a cat club, kind of like a cat cafe, where the decorations would be neon-colored and everything would have cat ears. Yuu prayed that Malleus, if he hated their idea so much, would have come up with something decently feasible.

But Yuu’s presentation had driven him into a rant that had started with “The eclecticness of this concept that could hardly be called an idea exists on a different plane of existence”, and was currently wrapping up with “My sensibilities and good taste would not allow me to join a project such as this one.

Yuu’s head was laying on the table, hands pressed on their head. “Is a library theme that much better?”

“Why not? If one becomes bored, they can pull a book off the shelves and read something interesting. And there is plenty of seating this time.”

Burying their head in their arm, Yuu closed their eyes for a moment, before feeling Malleus poke them.

“So, we will do my idea, then?”

“No.”

“Well then. I don’t know what to tell you.”

They breathed in deeply, holding it for a moment to try and regain some sense of control. “Maybe we should quit for the day.”

“If we cannot come to an agreement, that would probably be best.”

Yuu pushed themselves off the table, feeling their cheek unsticking from the wood. “What are we going to do?”

“Clearly not any of those themes,” said Malleus, voice dripping with resentment.

“This is as much your fault as it is mine. If you were more willing to compromise-”

“Your idea of compromise cheapens any possible artistic expression,” said Malleus, with a flip of his hair.

“It’s not that serious!” burst out Yuu, totally at the end of their fuse.

He sniffed. “I will not be disrespected in this fashion.” And then he disappeared.

One minute, Yuu was looking at Malleus, and the next, they were looking at the wall behind him. He had done that once before, and had explained earlier today that he simply was a talented enough mage to do something like that.

The first time Yuu had seen him disappear, they thought they had hallucinated the event. Their brain would not let them believe that had happened, but seeing it again made it real.

“AUGH!”

Yuu grabbed their papers off the table and stomped off in a huff.

Yuu was pretty content to lie on the couch and scroll until they found the bottom of Magicam, but a notification from their messages from Crowley wanted to change that.

Crowley: Please come meet me at my office, right now if you can.

It was Friday, and so Yuu was more than ready for a nice night in, catching up on all the rest they didn’t get while they were getting blasted into the desert and becoming the team manager for the disaster that was the Vocal Dance Competition, postponing their homework and playing a game Ace had recommended while Grim purred on their chest, but it seemed those plans would have to wait.

“Grim.” Yuu shook him awake.

“Wha-?” He blinked blearily.

“Crowley wants to see us. I don’t know why.”

Yuu: Omw

Grim stretched and yawned, and got on Yuu’s shoulder as they made their way to the main hall.

When they finally got to Crowley’s office, he was in front of the desk, sitting on the edge. Malleus was there as well.

They exchanged a look, Malleus’s telling them he knew as much as they did.

“So, whatdya need us for?” asked Grim.

“Ah- Grim. I had not realized you would be coming as well. This information isn’t pertinent to you.”

“Fga-!”

“This meeting concerns the activities of the prom committee.” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, pressing his palms together. “Unfortunately, we will have to shutter the committee for this year, and revisit it at a later time.”

“Woah, what?” said Yuu.

“I don’t think it will be successful with the current members, but look on the bright side! Now, you will all have time to pursue whatever other hobbies you enjoy! Isn’t that so nice of me?”

Finally. They were free from this torment. Yuu was ready to say thank you and go back home to relax, but then they saw Malleus.

He was looking down at the floor, eyes blown, and his hands were in trembling fists. His face was scrunched up just the tiniest bit.

“I am sorry, Malleus,” Crowley was saying to him, “but it just wasn’t working out. You understand why, yes?” Malleus nodded grimly, head barely moving.

“What’s up with him?” asked Grim.

Yuu wasn’t sure. A usual outburst of his would have included shouting and glares, but he seemed shocked and humbled. Was he afraid of Crowley?

“But why?” asked Yuu.

“You two haven’t turned in a single progress report. You’ve missed three deadlines, nearly four, and I do not have any confidence that if you two manage to pull something together, it will be a joint effort on both your parts.”

Crowley stepped towards Yuu, and leaned in minutely. “To be honest, Yuu, I’m fairly sure what happened. I had hoped you would be able to get through to him, but…” he trailed off.

Yuu looked back at Malleus.

They didn’t know why he had wanted this so badly. Yuu knew that he was fiercely passionate about art and aesthetics, but why focus his attention on the prom?

“Is-” Yuu started. “What if we finished tonight?”

“Hm?” Crowley said, cocking his head.

“We’re basically done,” they said, looking at Malleus, who had lifted his head. “Right?” They turned back to Crowley. “But we lost the list of requirements for this report, so what do we need again?”

“Well,” said Crowley slowly, “You’d need a presentation to show me. It needs to include mockups for the posters advertising the prom-”

“Of course, the posters! Right, yeah, um-” It was time to act like Vil was watching. “I forgot to tell you, Malleus, but I just put them up everywhere. Like we talked about. Sorry.”

Malleus looked at them with a blank expression. Tell me he has an acting bone in his body.

“Oh?” asked Crowley. “And what is your theme?”

Malleus wasn’t saying anything. The spotlight was all on Yuu.

“It’s a surprise! Until we give you the presentation- uh, when do you want that?”

“Actually, that’s what I wanted to talk about initially. I had wanted to move the day of the presentation up to tomorrow, as I have some other appointments, but-”

“Tomorrow! That’s just fine, I’m sure we can throw together a few slides from all the material we have,” said Yuu with a little too much pep.

Malleus stepped to their side, finally coming to life. “Of course,” he said, placing his hands on Yuu’s hips and pushing them into his side.

What was he doing?! That’s not what they were supposed to sell!!

Crowley eyed them. “Excellent,” he said tonelessly. “You shouldn’t have put out the posters, but if you only put them up today, we can quickly take them down before too many people see them. In addition to the theme, I suppose, you’ll also need to show me the plan for the social media campaign and the proposed student engagement opportunity.”

“Perfect!” chirped Yuu.

No one said anything for a moment.

“Welp, I guess me and Malleus-” they patted his shoulder firmly- “are gonna go head back to Ramshackle now so we can go make those slides. Should we meet you back here?”

“At 8 AM, yes. Alright. Have a good night.”

Yuu speedwalked out of there as fast as possible. Malleus caught up to them.

“What was that?” he asked. For once, his tone didn’t seem harsh.

They were standing on the steps of the long staircase of the main hall, the cool night air a pleasant reverie from the creeping heat of the day. Yuu turned around to look at Malleus.

“You,” they said with a start, finger pointed, “you have been so mean and so rude to me months. You are a nightmare to work with, and I do. Not. Like. You.”

“Yeah!” said Grim. “You tell ‘em, Yuu!”

Malleus opened his mouth, but Yuu said, “Wait! Let me finish.” They crossed their arms and retreated. “But,” they said after a pause, “I realize now I haven’t been the easiest to work with either.”

He tried to speak again. “No! Let me finish!” Malleus’s mouth clicked shut.

“Look, I don’t know why you want this so badly, but I wanna do this right too. So from now on, we’re a team, ok?”

Malleus considered their words, and then he reached out his hand.

Yuu took it.

“A team,” he said.

“Now c’mon,” said Yuu. “Let’s get walking.”

“No need.” He tightened his grip, and the world shifted.

“I love this building,” said Malleus, looking around the interior of Ramshackle. “So this is where you’ve made your home?”

“Yep,” they said, letting Grim down so he could scurry off. “So, it might not be the most convenient, but I can make a presentation on my phone. The tricky part is everything else. Posters, graphics, social media campaign, and the student engagement thing.”

Malleus nodded, and took a seat on the armchair. “I admit to a lack of familiarity with technology. I am loath to resign myself to a task due to inadequacy, but since we effectively have until the sun rises, I ask that you take care of the presentation and the campaign.”

Yuu flopped down onto the couch cushions, wrapping the throw blanket around themselves. “I’ve been wanting to ask, actually,” they said. “I’m pretty new around here, and I know there are students here from all around, so what I mean to ask is, uh, where are you from?”

“Ohoho,” he said with amusement, “you do not know where I am from? You know who I am, yes?”

Yuu shot him a look. “Yeah, I know who you are, Malleus.” they said. “Watch it. I was just starting to give you a chance.

He blinked. “Of course. My apologies. You are new here, after all.” He nodded. “I hail from the Briar Valley, a small kingdom of fae, with rich history and culture. We have found ourselves more resistant to the developing technologies of the world, as the magic of technomancy is quite common in my homeland.”

“Do you miss it?”

“In a certain sense, yes, but I am relishing in the freedom I have here and the opportunity to see the world, and interact with students of many places. Such as yourself. Where are you from?”

Yuu told him.

“Hm. Despite my studies, I’ve never heard of such a place.”

Yuu sighed. “Yeah, that’s what I’ve heard.”

“Do you miss your home?”

They nodded. “I like it here a lot. But I’d at least like the ability to go home.”

“Are there many troubles in your homeland?”

“Eh, not quite.” They didn’t feel like explaining their apparent universe-hopping, because it only reminded them that there had been zero progress made on their route home.

“Of course. Do you have any ideas for the campaign?”

“Right, yep!” They rolled over and pulled out their phone. “Oh shoot, I have to make the poster too, huh?”

“Oh? Must it be digital?”

“If we wanna print it out to make enough copies, yeah.”

“I have heard of a tool like a printer that allows for copies to be made of physical papers. If I draw up a master copy, would this be a viable route for us?”

“Yeah, actually, that would work great! Hang on, lemme go grab you some pen and paper.” They ditched their phone on the couch and dashed for the kitchen, where they’d left their extra posterboard, along with other tools.

“Sorry, I don’t have a lot of options,” they said as they reentered the living room.

“It is no issue. I will make it work.” He was sitting on the floor as he took the sheets of colorful paper, pen, scissors, crayons, makers, and glue stick, and began sketching out an idea. “Wait. What is our theme?”

Not this question again. Yuu’s heart dropped. “Uh,” they said, “I guess we gotta start there, huh?”

“It would be best.” He folded his hands into his lap. “If we can defeat this hurdle, I am confident we can finish this by tonight.”

“Ok,” they said, joining him on the plush carpet. “But we need ground rules. No yelling, no fighting, no name-calling. Got it?”

“I’m not a child. But I can agree to your terms.”

“Wait,” they said. “What do you like to do?”

He cocked his head. “I’m sorry?”

“Do you have any hobbies? That’ll help us think of ideas.”

He stroked his chin. “An intriguing question. I enjoy touring ruins, especially when they include gargoyles.”

Yuu’s lips twitched. “Really?”

“Yes. Is that an issue?”

“No,” they said, trying to squash any hint of a smile. “Well, I like cosplay.”

“Cos… play?”

“Yeah, when people dress up as characters and act like them.”

“I have never heard of such a thing. How curious. But it does sound intriguing,” he said hastily.

“So, what, you like torn down buildings and stuff? Like a vampire?”

“I’m not sure what that is.”

“They’re bloodsucking monsters who can transform into bats. They tend to live in old buildings.”

“Blood-sucking monsters,” repeated Malleus. “And you have encountered such foes?”

“Uh, no.”

“Hm. I suppose I can appreciate a building with character. Luckily, there are many such buildings at this school.”

“If we could somehow combine these ideas, we’d have each of our perfect themes.” Suddenly, Yuu had a brainwave. “What about a costume ball?”

Malleus’s eyes widened. “A costume ball! An exciting suggestion!”

“It’s a bit unconventional, I guess, since proms are usually quite formal,” said Yuu.

“No. It’s perfect. Soft lighting and bouquets of roses. The classics work for a reason.”

“Awesome. We need a name to tie it all together.”

“How about, ‘Love s in the Air’?”

Yuu shook their head. “Too aggressive. In case everyone leans towards a party instead of a date night, we gotta make it work for both.”

“‘By Any Other Name’?”

“I don’t know, I’m still not quite sold.”

“How about,” he said, “we add more greenery and call it, ‘Forest of Enchantment’?”

“Yes!! I love it!” They grabbed their phone and started a new slide, quickly titling it, ‘Forest of Enchantment’.

“For color scheme, green for the shrubs?” Yuu pulled up the color picker and showed Malleus a light green.

“No. We need a nice, smooth, dark green, to contrast with the deep red roses. You may use silver as an accent color if you need one.”

They got to work. Malleus got Yuu’s approval on a poster design, and Yuu made sure their slide colors matched up with what he was doing.

“Ok, wait,” said Yuu half an hour later. “Just letting you know, I’ve started a separate Magicam account, and I’ve requested a bunch of people I know. When we have the poster, I’ll take a photo and post it on there.”

Malleus nodded, not looking up from his work. “And the ‘student engagement opportunity’?

“That’s easy. Prom king and queen. Prom couple? We’ll keep it gender neutral to be inclusive.”

“A king and a queen?”

“Yeah, you know.” His silence told them he didn’t. “It’s common to vote popular kids as the prom ‘royalty’. I mean, usually you elect them to prom committee, but we’ve got that covered.”

“‘Royalty’, hm? An elected monarchy. What are their duties?”

“I guess we can have them take some photos with a crown and sash.”

“What ineffective rulers. A good king must be ready to lead, at whatever personal cost.”

“I guess.”

They got back to work, exchanging commentary and banter as the night went on. Malleus’s perfectionist nature and artist’s eye had to be reigned in when he threw away a third draft of the poster as the night soared through the sky, but eventually, they had a slidedeck and a poster. Malleus had even managed to make a bigger, more informative version they planned to hang up in the cafeteria.

“Oh, no,” said Yuu. “The library’s probably closed by now!”

Malleus smiled, the corners up his lips turning up pleasantly. “If you are willing to bend the rules a bit, I can teleport us past the locked doors.”

Yuu didn’t hesitate as they grabbed his hand. “Let’s go.”

They appeared in the library, Yuu thrown slightly off-kilter, nearly tripping over their feet as they jogged towards the copier.

“C’mon!” they said to Malleus, who followed them, posters in hand. Yuu took the small one to lay on the screen and began to press buttons, trying to figure out the machine.

They hit the ‘Copy’ button once the machine was awake, and jumped at the loud noise the copier made as it booted up.

“Are you afraid?” asked Malleus, concerned.

“I hope no one’s in here,” whispered Yuu. “How many posters do we need?”

“How many can we make?”

“Good question.” They bent over to check the paper tray. “At least a hundred.”

“We want to inform as many people as possible. Fifty would be enough.”

Yuu nodded, and typed out ‘50’ on the keypad.

The copier whirred, and Yuu noticed Malleus watching it intensely.

“You’ve really never seen a copier, huh?” asked Yuu.

“No,” said Malleus. “As I have mentioned, modern technology is largely a mystery to me.”

They thought of half a dozen cheap shots they could take, but decided instead to lightly punch Malleus’s arm. “Thank the Seven you’ve got me here then, huh?”

He gave them a genuine, vulnerable smile. “Yes, I am.”

Once the copies were done, Yuu took a roll of tape off a table. “We should put one here, right?” They ripped off a piece of tape and stuck it on the wall above the copier. “Where else?”

“The cafeteria, and the halls surrounding it. Perhaps within classrooms?”

“No, the teachers might not like that. Safer to put them right outside, where the students gather.”

Malleus offered Yuu the crook of his arm. “Then, allow me to transport us.”

Yuu hit the ‘Off’ button on the copier and took his arm.

It was thrilling to run around the school at night.

Malleus asked why Yuu was so energized all of a sudden, but Yuu couldn't explain the sudden manic energy that had infused them.

“Hahaha!” they said, as they ran down the hallway uninhibited, arms outstretched as if trying to catch the wind.

“What are you doing?” said Malleus, though more in an affectionate tone than anything else. Yuu stopped, seeing a good place to stick a poster. They ripped off some tape and stuck it right outside of the science lab.

Malleus caught up with them. “Shh,” said Yuu.

He laughed a bit. “Was it not you who was laughing so loudly?” he pointed out.

“Oops. You’re right. I need to keep it down. How many do we have left?”

“Of posters? Just one,” said Malleus, holding it up.

“Is there anywhere you can think of that we’re missing?”

“The other history room.”

Yuu took Malleus’s arm. “Take us away!”

With a laugh, he transported them to the history room entrance. Yuu, once more, stuck a poster on the wall.

“Aw. I’m kind of sad to be done.”

“But now, we can prepare for the presentation.”

“Right, it’s in- it’s already 7?! How is that possible, it’s still dark outside!”

“The season. The sun is now rising earlier and earlier, but it will still continue to rise somewhat late for at least another month. And I do remember someone got quite distracted testing the echo of the buildings.”

“So did you. Anyways, it’s not even worth it to go back, is it?”

“We can sleep for a bit, and you can charge your phone.”

“Right.” Grabbing his hand, Yuu asked, “Can you take us back?”

“Of course.” And just like that, they were back in the living room.

“Phew,” said Yuu, pulling a pillow and the blanket off the couch. “You’re welcome to sleep on the couch. I’ll stay next to my phone and set an alarm.”

“Thank you.”

Luckily, they had left a charger down in the living room, and so they set an alarm for 45 minutes- the short nap made them cringe- and closed their eyes.

Yuu could hear Malleus shuffling around, and wanted to offer him a blanket, but the exhaustion was greater than what they had anticipated.

The next time they woke, they happened to beat the alarm.

Groggily, they blinked, seeing the sun still hadn’t risen. More interestingly, a huge weight was leaning on them, and turned to see Malleus’s entire body propped up against theirs.

Why was he here? Was the couch not good enough for him?

They took a moment to take in his appearance, just slightly haggard, mouth open, drooling just a bit-

The alarm went off and it scared the hell out of Yuu, who jolted quite harshly against Malleus. He snorted and woke, holding his mouth.

“Did I hit you? I’m so sorry, Malleus!”

He held up a hand. “It is alright,” he said. “I will still be able to present. Ow.”

After gathering themselves together, they teleported to Crowley’s office, and waited as the clock struck 8.

Yuu looked at the door. “Should we wait outside? I don’t wanna scare him.”

“Do not fear. I have done so multiple times.”

“Oh, but wait, we haven’t practiced,” said Yuu, just as the door opened.

“AH! Oh, it’s just you guys,” said Crowley/ “Are you ready to present?”

Yuu looked at Malleus, who said, “Allow me. Yuu, would you set up the presentation?”

Crowley had allowed Yuu to access his laptop, and Malleus took his place.

“I would just like to begin this presentation by thanking you for allowing us this opportunity,” said Malleus. “Our theme, ‘Forest of Enchantment,” he said while gesturing to the slide, “aslo thanks you.”

Crowley’s chest puffed up a bit, and Yuu proceeded to the next slide.

“We intend to create a feeling of wonder and amazement, by transporting the students, metaphorically of course, to a transformed version of the grand hall, covered in the sweet greenery of a mystical forest, dotted with flowers of all kind.”

Yuu clicked to the next slide. “The student body will be encouraged to dress up in a nostalgic, reminiscent style that allows for a variety of tastes to be encapsulated in one theme.” They hit a button to reveal a photo. “We intend to offer a variety of inspiration such as with this costume.”

Malleus performed beautifully. He needed only a glance at the slide to spin a dream of a tale that offered the promise of beauty and glamor, and Crowley seemed engaged.

“Wow,” he said after Malleus was done. “I have to say, I’m impressed.” He stood up and brushed off his pants. “But I have to say no. I’m sorry, you two have clearly had a breakthrough, but I cannot trust this inconsistency.”

“But we can do it!” said Yuu. “I know we can!”

“Again, I apologize. We’ll figure something else out. Thank you again for your work.”

Once they were standing out in the hallway, Yuu sighed. “I can’t believe we did all that work for nothing.”

“Not for nothing. We tried. We have loved and lost.”

“I’m sorry,” said Yuu. “I know this meant a lot to you.”

“It is not your fault,” said Malleus mildly. “If it is, it’s mine as much as yours.”

“Still.” They stood in silence for a moment.

“I will teleport you home,” he said, offering them his hand. They took it ,and found themselves back at Ramshackle.

“Well, it was nice to work with you on the prom committee, even if it didn’t last.” Yuu stuck their hand out, and Malleus shook it. “Now, go get some sleep. I feel so dead.”

“You as well.”

Before he could leave, though, Yuu said, “Hey!” He looked back at them, sun breaking over the horizon.

Yuu smiled. “See you around?”

“I would like that.” And there he went.

Yuu dragged themselves up the long stairs, and flopped down onto the bed without another thought.

In far, far too short a time, Grim was shaking them “Yuu. Yuu, wake up. Your phone is ringing. A lot.”

With a groan, they fumbled for their phone, seeing a full screen of notifications, They hardly had a moment to process that, though, when they suddenly got a call.”

“Hello?” they said hoarsely.

“Yuu!” It was Crowley. “I have some exciting news. We are going with your plan after all. I need a list of vendors you’d like to order from by the end of the week.”

“Huh?”

“The prom committee is undissolved! Rejoice in my magnanimity!” The line went dead.

They looked at their phone, seeing that the notifications were mostly from Magicam. Specifically, they were connected to their prom account.

There seemed to be a lot of likes and comments, but not from any post they had made. Instead, @VilSchoenheit had apparently made a post a couple of hours ago.

Under a picture of Vil absolutely glowing in the fresh morning light, looking out the window in a full face of makeup, hand covering his mouth, warped delicately in a shawl that complimented the shimmery dress he was wearing, the caption read:

‘You’ll vote for me, right? @NRCPromOfficial #PromQueen #ForestofEnchantment #NRCprom2023 #twstpromcollab2023

Vil. Yuu gripped their phone and thanked the Great Seven for crafting the perfect human.

“Eh? What is it?” asked Grim?”

Yuu could do nothing but fall backwards with a smile.

After every disaster, every fight, the boutique accidentally forgetting the flower arch, it was finally here. The ‘Forest of Enchantment’, as it were.

And Yuu didn’t have an outfit.

This thought had struck them when they were writing out the invitations after tallying all of the votes and wondering what the ‘royal couple’ would wear.

Or a date, for that matter. Yuu’s gut had been right, and people were more eager to go in large groups than as dates, but some people were still making it a romantic event.

Eventually, and with a hint of shame, they had wondered if Malleus might be open to going together. In their little investigation, he had seemed receptive, but over catering brochures, he made a declaration.

“One day, I hope to confess my true feelings to Lilia.”

So that was that. Yuu put their expectations to bed.

Anyways, there was absolutely no time to source an outfit. Nothing in the Ramshackle closets would work, but they shook this thought off as they tried not to blot ink on the delicate invitation cardstock.

“Yuu! Where’dya say ya wanted this?” shouted Epel, carrying the flower arch with Jack.

“Right over there, near the entrance!” said Yuu. The two carried off the arch.

Yuu blew on the invitation ink to dry it. “Ooh,” said Ace, leaning over his ladder to get a peek. “Are those the winners?”

They picked up the letters and held them to their chest. “No looking!”

“Ace, don’t lean over!” said Deuce, who was holding the ladder.

“Aw, but I wanna know if I won!” he said.

“I can tell you that much. You didn’t win.” Ace glared at Yuu playfully.

“I wish Malleus could help us out here,” grumbled Ace. “It’d be a lot easier.”

“Apparently, a lot of Diasomnia students had last minute costume problems.” Yuu shrugged.

After thanking their friends for their help repeatedly, they all went off to go get dressed.

Sadly, Riddle and Vil had insisted on coordinated costumes, so it was impossible to do their own group costume. Leona had been more flexible, but Jack had said he was going to join Epel, leaving Yuu alone.

“Yuu, what are we gonna do?” he asked on their shoulder.

“I don’t know,” they said as they walked through the Ramshackle doors. “We’ll probably just have to wear something nice.”

“Awww! But that’s so boring!”

“What’s going on?”

Yuu turned to see Malleus, decked out like a dragon, scales and all.

“Hey! You look great!” exclaimed Yuu, hands held out to feel his costume.

“Thank you,” he said. “Will you change now?”

“Oh, uh, I actually don’t have a costume,” said Yuu.

“Tut-tut. Allow me.” Malleus waved his hands, and light began to swirl around Yuu.

Beams of light surrounded them, encasing them in a bright glow eventually dimming to reveal a witch’s costume.

A wide-brimmed hat with a point and a buckle, a sweeping cape, and yes, Grim was dressed as they were.

“Woah, Tsunotaro! You’ve got some skills.”

Malleus looked at Yuu. “Tsunotaro?”

“Heheh. We’ll talk about it later.”

After a night of dancing, laughing, eating and drinking (nonalcoholic beverages), it was finally time to announce the royalty.

“Hello everyone! I’m Yuu, you might know me,” they said, trying to gesture for Malleus to get onstage. He shook his head.

“I’m one of the members of the prom committee, and I’m really glad to see how this night turned out.” They were greeted by cheers and whistles from the audience.

“But now, it’s time for what you’ve all been waiting for!” On a small table next to them, they picked up the two envelopes. “The first half of the royal couple is…”

The hall grew silent, as if holding its breath.

“Leona Kingscholar!” The hall erupted in applause as some people gave Leona a few slaps on the back. Yuu gestured for him to come up to the stage, and they could see he was actively fighting a smile.

He bent down to allow Yuu to put the crown and sash on his head, the Savanaclaw kids whooping again once he straighted back up, and he tossed the crowd a smile in his forest green suit.

“One more to go!” said Yuu. “Your other prom royal is…”

This time, people were murmuring amongst themselves, the stakes higher than ever.

“Vil Schoenheit!!”

The cheers were even louder this time as Vil gasped and clapped a hand to his chest. Yuu could see tears in his eyes glisten as he made his way to the stage, gold clicking, matching perfectly with the deep purple gown draping elegantly along the floor.

“Thank you, thank you,” said Vil to the rowdy crowd, snatching the microphone out of Yuu’s hand. “I think I speak for everyone when I say this was an impressive showing from our prom committee.” He looked at Yuu, starting a round of applause.

“I know Leona and I are very honored to be your prom royalty. This couldn’t have happened without you, so thank you all again.” He grabbed Leona’s and they took a bow together, before they began to pose to allow people to take photos.

Yuu could hear Rook’s DSLR clicking.

They were able to give Vil his rightful crown, noting his usual one was absent from his head, and the pair went off to take more photos.

“Come with me.”

Malleus and Yuu were in the crowd, and Malleus had his hand outstretched.

Yuu took his hand, and they found themselves on top of the roof.

“Woah!” they wobbled a bit due to the angle, but Malleus caught them.

“Can you believe it? Leona?”

“I can,” said Malleus, trying to set Yuu down gently.

“Why are we up here?” they asked.

He waved to the large valley that made up the campus. “Watch,” he said.

Suddenly, a whistling sound filled the air, and the sky was alit.

Yuu gasped. “How did you get fireworks approved?”

“I made a compelling case.”

Yuu thought the rest of the students had heard the noise, because a few of them came outside to sit on the lawn as another firework shot up.

It was truly a crowning moment in their adventure, and Yuu leaned into Malleus closer and closer as the fireworks boomed.

Before they could get any further, Yuu asked, “What about Lilia?”

Malleus looked confused. “What about Lilia?”

“Weren’t you going to ‘confess your feelings’?”

“Yes,” he said eagerly. “Lilia is my attendant. He has always kept me at arm’s distance, but I hope to confess I find him a father figure someday.”

Yuu shook their head. “You really should not say it like that.”

“Oh,” he said softly, before Yuu grabbed his head and kissed him.

His lips were soft, and though the kiss was chaste, it was tender, Malleus’s hands reaching to grab their waist. It was anything Yuu could have wanted.

“Wait. Attendant?”

“Ace, I can’t believe you didn’t tell me who Malleus was!”

“You two are made for each other.