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“I can never get his hair right…” Silver’s thoughts whispered in his mind.
The tip of his pen resting on the lined paper of an open diary. A small, messy but charming doodle of Ruggie Bucchi alongside all of the notes he was supposed to be studying. A cute ink circle with messy ruffled hair and big ears on top. A silly little smirk and sparkling eyes drawn to the best of Silver’s abilities. His pen doodled a few tiny hearts, a few clouds and singing birds. Wherever Silver’s head was, it wasn’t in Diasomnia. It wasn’t even in Twisted Wonderland anymore. This thing that has plagued Silver’s mind for days, weeks even. The warm, fuzzy feeling in his stomach whenever Ruggie passed him by in the hallways. The swimming in his head whenever he blanked on trying to speak to Ruggie. The heat in his cheeks whenever Ruggie leaned over and whispered some nonsense into his ear during class.
Sebek says it’s an illness. That Silver is sick and should probably take a few days off because if he’s sick then he could get Malleus sick as well. The last thing Sebek would want is for both his young master and his childhood friend to suffer from some horrible and possibly contagious illness.
Lilia says it’s a crush but that didn’t make much sense either. Ruggie was so small, there wasn’t any way that he could crush Silver. He could barely leave an accidental bruise on his knee in PE.
Malleus, well, he says that it’s something he doesn’t quite understand but surely Boris did. Boris makes references to a girl named Veronica he “fancied” (Malleus’s wording). Not sure what kind of advice Boris could offer, he never seemed like the kind of guy to…get involved romantically with others.
None of it helped Silver make sense of this euphoric feeling that came from simply being in Ruggie’s presence. But what wasn’t to love about him? To adore about the scrappy beastman? He was cute, for one. How could anyone disagree with that? Short, small, easy to pick up and carry in one’s arms. That ruffled head of dirty blond hair that made Silver a bit envious, wishing for that kind of hair color instead of the plain white locks he had. His cheeky grin and relaxed gaze, always calm and collected. And his ears and tail? Silver never wanted to pet something so badly outside of a baby deer. Silver’s heart grew heavy, filling itself up with rosy daydreams of his schoolmate. A warm, almost molten feeling built up in the pit of his stomach and slowly rose to his throat. A heavy sigh escaped his lips. His eyes put their focus back on his diary and they grew wide.
Both pages of the open diary were absolutely covered in doodles of himself alongside Ruggie.
“Fuck.” he choked.
Was this…mutating into an obsession?
Silver slammed the diary shut. Maybe all the studying was getting to his head, that’s something that happens, right? He was just tired. Well, he was always tired but today probably just took a lot out of him. Maybe it was an illness. Maybe Sebek was right and Silver was sick. Sick with what though? What kind of illness makes you absolutely smitten over someone else? The heat had his head swimming. He had to remove his tie and jacket just to feel a little bit of relief. He didn’t feel okay enough to walk over to his bed. His body didn’t feel weak but light. As if he could walk on air but if he attempted to do so, he’d fall over even with his cane. The knight decided to rest his head on his desk, the cool wood soothed him and the heavy heat. He slowly closed his eyes, beginning a dream a…rather odd dream.
When he opened his eyes, he was outside. The sky was a wonderful dusk, the pink and purple skies tried to push away the shining sun and make room for the stars. Few cotton candy clouds up above. Lush rows of trees were under him. He was seated on a branch of a much larger tree, a strong oak no less. His legs dangled in the air instinctively. He was no longer dressed in his school uniform or even his Diasomnia dorm uniform. Instead he wore a white flowy poet’s shirt with a drawstring chest, black trousers and brown boots. No sword, no cane, no weapon to defend himself. Perhaps he was meant to be at peace although no animals came his way. Birds could be heard chirping in the distance however, so the knight wasn’t sitting in total silence. It was an internal paradise by anyone’s definition. His head wasn’t entirely clear, still full of thoughts regarding Ruggie and all. He wished he could share the dream with him.
Not even in his wildest dreams could Silver escape the feelings of infatuation that consumed him whole. He was just alone with his thoughts in a fairytale landscape. Although this wasn’t like a Taylor Brave music video, it felt more like Mousealine Martinez with its soft atmosphere. Regardless, how was he gonna beat this Ruggie obsession? Avoiding him wouldn’t work. They have so many classes together that it would be near impossible. He didn’t want to push Ruggie away either because they both enjoyed the company of one another. The issue wasn’t really Ruggie himself, it was the way Silver reacts whenever he’s around him. He gets a warm fuzzy feeling in his stomach, like a tickling sensation. His heart would beat out of his chest and his face would become red almost instantly. Maybe Boris would have the answer? Malleus was the only one with useful advice even if the advice was “Go to Boris, he might know something. Meanwhile I’m going to pine after Leona”.
After a few hours passed by, Silver made his way outside of campus to Ramshackle. The dorm had a weird chilly air to it specific to it. He knocked on the repaired wooden doors. A few minutes go by and no answer. He knocked again, this time calling out to Boris.
“Boris? Hello?” he knocked once more. “Hato?” he knocked yet again. “Grim???” he shrugged. “Hello?”
Classes have been out for a while and even if they had clubs, their clubs took place in Ramshackle. He knocked one more time. “Hello?”
Damn. Silver couldn’t believe that the resident magicless mentor and his dormmates weren’t at his disposal. He let out a sigh.
“I know, I can’t believe it either.” Malleus' voice spoke from above. Silver assumed an alerted stance before tilting his head back to see his dorm head seated on Ramshackle’s roof. He waved his hand.
“Malleus,” the knight huffed, letting himself breathe. “You scared the shit out of me.”
“Apologies. I too am waiting for Child of Man to return so I may tell him my plights.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yes. I actually have no idea where he could be during this time of day.”
During the school week it would’ve been about the time when classes were being let out. Seeing as Boris, Hato and Grim lived off campus then it would be quite a journey. It was the weekend though and the trio would’ve simply holed themselves up in the dorm concerned with their personal hobbies of painting, training and…eating tuna. It wasn’t uncommon for Malleus to hang around so he found it unusual for Silver to come by.
“What did you come here for?”
Silver raised an eyebrow. “You suggested that I go to Boris for advice on my…Ruggie situation.”
Malleus’s eyes lit up, it wasn’t everyday that someone was taking his advice over that of Lilia’s. Granted, Lilia has been out of the dating game for literal centuries. “Oh?”
“Yes of course, I just need to figure out what exactly to do about such a situation.”
“Child of Man has mentioned that towards the girl he fancied, he didn’t make any ‘moves’. The girl actually approached him as he was simply minding his own business.”
“Am I Boris or the girl in this situation?”
“I would advise being the girl and approach Ruggie as he is simply going about his day.”
Silver put his hand on his chin in contemplation. He hasn’t been direct with Ruggie at all, more avoidant than anything and just letting the feelings get to him. “That’s…quite a good tactic.” he said but Malleus shook his head. His pointed ears twitched as a gentle breeze blew by.
“Don’t think of it like a tactic,” he suggested. “Think of it more as if it were…something to do in your daily life. You are around Bucchi often in class and other school situations so simply approaching him shouldn’t be that hard…”
“If you had this advice prior, why did you suggest I go to Boris?” asked the knight and Malleus’s face went blank.
“In all fairness, it’s not every day that someone listens to my romantic advice so this is as new for me as it is to you.” explained the fae.
Silver smiled, even chuckling a little. “I understand, and I guess I should get going then. I came here for answers and I found them. Thank you, Malleus.” he turned heel and returned to Night Raven College, waving his dorm head goodbye. Malleus returned the wave. After a few minutes, Boris, Hato and Grim walked up to Ramshackle all dressed in lab coats and covered in blue and green substances. Boris immediately noticed Malleus on the roof and waved.
“Hey Malleus, have you been waiting long?” Boris asked, removing his goggles.
“Not at all, I actually have something very exciting to share.” Malleus answered, wearing a confident smile.
“Can it wait?” Hato chimed in, “I’d like to wash my hair out first.” he tried pulling the substances out of his ash blond wicks.