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Cyran walked between the towering bookshelves in Serene Lyceum's library. Sunlight illuminated the inside of the building through the enormous window, reflecting back on his black hair. His head was kept upright, deliberately not greeting his peers who passed by. To the others, he looked intimidating. This impression was enforced by his black heavy robe.
Arriving at the second floor of the building, Cyran walked towards his destination; A secluded area behind one of the bookshelves. It has the same furniture in every studying area: one wooden table and four chairs facing each other. This one particular spot was popular for a reason. The reason being the person who most of their days inhabited this spot.
"Cyran! Did I keep you waiting?"
There was Merlin, standing with all of their glory. They smiled as they hastily tidied the scattered papers on the table. Cyran thoughtlessly smiled back before returning to a smirk. Merlin stared at him long before shaking their head. Even Cyran can tell that Merlin has their energy depleted.
How are they managing all of these while positioning first place in class, he wondered. Teaching students is bothersome. Not that Cyran has the experience, but he could tell from Merlin's encounters. Frankly, Merlin has offered him teaching help, but he firmly rejected their proposition. Nevertheless, what Cyran would do was help to review Merlin's teaching materials. After all, he has to make sure that the knowledge Merlin taught wasn't far above from what he knew.
"Any new teaching material?" There was an excited tone within Cyran's voice.
Merlin slowly blinked. "Not done yet. Oh, table's free now. Pick a spot."
Shame. Cyran has been curious for a long time now. The papers that Merlin had in hand must've been the old teaching materials. Now sat tightly, Merlin repeatedly tried to count the amount of papers, but their heavy eyes hindered their effort. Cyran took the papers from their hands and sat in front of them. Merlin tried to reach for the papers again, but Cyran shook his head.
Cyran whispered, "You're exhausted, friend."
"I'm not," Merlin whispered back.
Cyran didn't retaliate. He carefully counted the papers. There were the correct amount of papers combined. Merlin tried to count alongside him, but they miserably failed. They held their face up with their left hand, trying to compete with their drowsiness. A precious attempt, honestly.
Cyran slipped the papers towards Merlin. "Take it."
"Thank you."
Afterwards, Cyran stood up, then grabbed a book from one of the bookshelves. He had already finished half of the books that were available. This book wasn't one of them. With extra blank papers he has received from Merlin, he wrote some things he found interesting from the book. A few minutes had passed, Cyran felt Merlin's eyes all over him. While he loved all of the attention Merlin had given him, this was not the right time.
"Are you going to look at me for the entire day?"
"You're fun to look at, Cyran."
Is that an insult? "I beg your pardon?"
"It's—it's nothing." They looked out the window. "Nice view, isn't it?"
Cyran looked at what Merlin saw. Blue skies, white clouds, bright sun, and what else? Many trees? He can't identify what Merlin found 'nice' in this ordinary view that they've seen together many times. But what he could identify was Merlin's face: heavy eyelids, dark circles under their eyes, frequent blinking, and oh, they yawned.
"Having nightmares?" Cyran asked.
"Kind of."
"Tell me, then."
"Well …" They hesitated, then confessed, "The main part of my nightmare was I forgot who I am."
Merlin put their head on top of the table, using their hands as a cushion. They faced Cyran, who's still occupied with his book—eyes not looking at them. Cyran nodded as Merlin spoke, a sign that he is listening despite the divided attention. Merlin continued, "It was terrifying. My mind wouldn’t cooperate. It's like you exist, but you forgot why you exist in the first place."
Cyran frowned, it made Merlin chuckle, "And somehow, I had hamsters as pets."
"Hamsters?" He scoffed, then grinned.
"Yeah! They're cute. I sort of want them as familiars."
"Heh—Because they're cute? They're weak."
"But I'm strong." They flexed their hidden arm muscles, then carried on, "What about you?"
He whirred. "I'm not certain. I don't need familiars."
"I think a cat would be a fitting choice for Cyran."
What is that supposed to mean? Cyran only nodded in response. Though, if he had to choose, he would probably choose a snake. It's a weird coincidence. Snakes and hamsters have a predator-prey relationship. Will their bond ultimately become like that? There was something about imagining it that made Cyran feel funny.
"We talk a lot in the library, huh," they commented.
"Yes. You should stop talking."
As the silence grew uncomfortably, Cyran stopped reading, then looked at the person in front of him. Merlin's back rose and fell, their breathing was heavy and even. Mindlessly, Cyran fixed Merlin's hair covering their face—revealing a peaceful look.
Won't their life be much easier if Merlin didn't accept students? Cyran noticed how Merlin hasn't got the same peaceful look ever since they took in students to their study circle. Perhaps Merlin liked to help people, or perhaps they didn't want to disappoint people, or perhaps they're the same like him. Whatever the reason, Cyran hasn't figured it out yet.
Would they finally plummet from above?
Speaking of Merlin's students, Cyran has met several of them. Many times, even. Some of them are in the same classroom as Merlin and Cyran. All they did was boast over Merlin's perfection. No matter what they said, it flew out of Cyran's ear. After all, he knew everything about Merlin already, even their usual location, which was the main purpose on why Merlin's students approached Cyran in the first place.
The rising sunlight reached onto their face. Merlin's brows frowned.
Cyran sighed, his right hand then hovered over their head. His shadow blocked the sunlight.
Why would you face the sun directly? He murmured, "How careless."
There was a curtain rule in the library. If the sun is still up, the curtain shouldn't be closed. But Cyran clearly wanted to use his right hand to write, so he disobeyed the rule. There was no way he would lift his hand in their whole sleeping hours. Merlin liked to nap for hours, anyway. Better to be safe than sorry.
"Huh …" Merlin scrubbed their eyes. There was no one in front of them. It's quite dark. The curtain beside them was partially closed, so they opened it. Grey skies and dark clouds greeted them. They panicked. "Oh! Dura above, what time is it?!" They frantically searched for a clock, only to find Cyran walking towards them—holding a lit candle.
"You're fine, they called it off." Cyran slipped a candy, "Have some sweets."
"Thanks … Wait, why are they cancelling it?"
Cyran flicked his head towards the window. Figure it out yourself. He then added, "Ah. There was no one here except you due to the upcoming storm. We should leave now." He turned around before Merlin hastily grabbed their belongings, then rushed to walk besides him.
"Where did you get this candy?"
"Your students gave me those."
Merlin chuffed. "Haha! My students? They're your classmates too, you know."
Cyran humphed. Talking to Merlins’ students was awful. He doesn't want to remember that. Essentially, Cyran wanted to leave Merlin alone in the library. But, several hours later, he met one of the two Merlins' students who was supposed to come. They said sorry, talked about the weather, then gave a bunch of sweets as a form of apology. Afterwards, Merlins' student pointed out how Merlin always asked for an extra so they can share it with Cyran. Cyran was speechless and couldn't muster anything to say, so he turned back to the library, out of guilt.
"Cyran, can I grab at your sleeve?"
Cyran stopped in the middle of the stairs, causing Merlin to bump into him. He looked bewildered. "What do you mean?"
"Well, I can't see clearly in the dark."
"Didn't you like to travel around midnight?"
"Ye—How do you—No, nevermind," They shook their head, followed by a pat on his arm comfortably, "You're the one holding the candle, that means you're the leader now. Just get a move on."
Cyran gave a look at the sudden physical touch.
"Fine. You may. Just don't hold it too tight, I'm holding the candle after all." He felt a careful tug at the edge of his robes' sleeve, later continuing on walking through the stairs. The light produced by the lit candle showed Merlin's joyful face. "Can you see fine now?"
"Thank you." They grinned. "You've been good to me."
Cyran chuckled grimly. "Maybe."