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“Hey, no - you don’t do it like that. If you do it like that then the whole thing’s gonna be way too loose and it’ll just fall apart. Unless you want flowers to be sticking all over your hair that is,” Ruggie wasn’t quite sure how he had gotten into this situation, sitting criss-cross on the grass and leaning towards the Malleus Draconia to instruct him on how to make a flower crown of all things.
Except - Ruggie totally did know exactly how he had gotten into this situation. It was more that he couldn’t really comprehend how he was this close to the prince and not getting smited into the sun. (Or perhaps the moon was the better term, considering how it looked as though Malleus never even spent more than two days in a row out in the heat.)
He had been picking dandelions in the field, similar to when that creepy senior of his, Rook, had approached him and begun using his weirdo nickname for him. Ruggie was seriously annoyed at him that day. After all, what was a pompous silver-spooned bootlicker like him to judge what Ruggie had to do?
That day, Ruggie was collecting dandelions because there were certain .. troubles with his food budget that month. The specifics weren’t really important, nor did he even remember the specifics. It was just that on this very day, Ruggie decided to collect dandelions to use for his cooking. (Leona just loved getting him to cook up stuff at random, to his chagrin.)
What he hadn’t expected though was for the literal prince of Briar Valley to approach him from behind and comment on how ‘curious’ it was for him to be taking from the earth’s natural gift or whatever flowery language Malleus had used at that moment. Ruggie couldn’t exactly think of the details due to the fact that it hadn’t taken very long for his shoulders to hunch up in a flinch and for his head to turn in surprise.
(Maybe he had let out a bit of a yelp, a bead of sweat rolling down his cheek ever so slightly, but how was that anybody’s business, huh!?)
The two had shared a stare for a couple of moments, before Ruggie ended up letting out a sigh and letting his gaze drift back to the dandelions clutched in his hands. “Isn’t it obvious? You can make ‘em into salads, saute them, use them for tea..So obviously I’ll be eating ‘em! They’re so easy to find, and there’s no fee to pick ‘em. Not that you probably have any experience with this kinda thing.”
Silence stretched on, to the point where it almost made him stop to worry about if he was about to get magicked across the campus, but a small chuckle snapped him out of those thoughts. Ruggie’s eyes flicked up, looking at the still-standing prince.
And just like that - in the blink of an eye - suddenly Malleus wasn’t standing anymore. Instead, he was crouched close to the ground. His legs rested on his heels, and Ruggie had to laugh inside of his head at how he wouldn’t even fully lower himself to the ground.
“Mm, I suppose not. Weed-picking, and the similar flower-picking, aren’t exactly hobbies I’ve made myself a practitioner in. The most I’ve looked into the realm of flowers would be to study their meanings, as briefly mentioned in some tombs placed within my castle’s library.” The other murmured, placing a hand on his chin. (What a pompous pose.)
Still, Ruggie just shrugged his shoulder as he continued to grab at the nearby dandelions, “Eh - as long as they’re edible, then I don’t need any meaning to ‘em. Most people in the slums where I’m from agree, other than some naive cubs I guess.”
After he said that, the wind carrying only silence led him to believe that Malleus must have just teleported away or something, not caring to listen to the words of a lowly hyena, or whatever Malleus thought of him.
That was why when Malleus finally spoke up once again, Ruggie couldn’t help but flinch ever so slightly where he was sitting, “Hm. How curious.” He was somewhat reminded of the creep (Rook) with those words, though that was a thought he immediately purged, “And what would the opinion of said cubs be?”
Ruggie stopped what he was doing with his hands, turning to look at Malleus who was surprisingly now fully settled on the field - sitting as if he was planning to stay. And honestly? Having a tall fae with magical prowess way bigger than everyone else was nothing short of intimidating. His facial expression probably showed it too, but he couldn’t really care.
Still, it wasn’t as though Ruggie could really stop now. Not unless he wanted to gain the ire of the literal housewarden of Diasomnia and all the lackeys that just loved to surround him constantly (except for apparently now).
And besides, Ruggie didn’t really made a point to hide his origins to anyone at NRC. It was pretty obvious that he wasn’t exactly well-off from the way in which he acted as a right-hand for Leona in order to grab extra cash and other princely benefits. Plus, the uniform he wore was taken straight from what Leona outgrew (a fact that surprised Ruggie when he first received it, but now in his second year was natural to think about).
With that in mind, Ruggie spoke up, “That they’re pretty, I guess. Sometimes a few of them would want to make flower crowns, so I’d grab some flowers closer to the outskirts of where we lived and we’d make it our event of the day to just work on flower crowns for the afternoon.”
There aren’t really many people his age back there, and that was a fact Ruggie had accepted. However it also meant that Ruggie also had to care for a good amount of the others in the neighbourhood since they were children who obviously deserved better. It was just instinct to share, since they all were in the same situation of poverty.
Looking back at Malleus, he couldn’t help the bitter thought creeping into his mind about how someone like him wouldn’t understand such a concept. Still, he forced himself to shove it down. Knowing how freakily high Malleus’ potential was, Ruggie wouldn’t be surprised if he could just read emotions in a split second or something.
“I presume you are rather adept when it comes to the craft then, yes?” The other finally questioned, tilting his head ever so slightly as he did so. Ruggie couldn’t grasp as to why that was important at all, or why he even cared. Still, he slowly nodded.
Just like that, Ruggie could see the fae’s lips curl up into a smile - one that he really did not want to know the meaning behind. But at this point, he was so far in that there really was no way that he could see to properly get out of this conversation.
With that, he watched as Malleus clapped both of his hands together without a sound, “Bucchi. I would like to request of you to do me the favour of guiding me in the procedure of creating one of these flower crowns.”
Say what. Hold the phone. Rewind. Ruggie scoffed, starting to open his mouth in order to refuse because there was nooo way that he was going to play babysitter for someone who was probably just having a jolly old giggle making fun of some lowly hyena when suddenly Malleus cut in yet again saying, “I’ll compensate you for your time if you wish.”
“Compensation from Malleus-san? Heh, in that case I will do you this favour. Okay, grab some dandelions. We’re not using the ones that I already picked up ‘cause those are mine that I picked up and will be using later.” Ruggie exclaimed. It wasn’t often that the Malleus Draconia was in debt to someone, so Ruggie would definitely be doing whatever he could.
The other nodded, taking the command surprisingly well. That saved the hyena the trouble of getting annoyed whenever the other didn’t want to listen, he supposed. Still, with Leona it was .. different.
Leona was the kind of person who Ruggie could actually be harsh with, because they had grown used to each other. Despite his princely status, he didn’t seem to care about letting that sort of title hinder his relationship with the hyena, because they were both using each other anyway. Ruggie liked that.
But with Malleus, the thought of the other being a prince just caught him off guard. After all, there was no telling as to what he was thinking or planning to do. Docile as he seemed in the moment, he still didn’t really like the feeling of being near the other.
Still, watching as Malleus scooped up dandelions as if it was his ultimate mission was at least a little to calm his nerves ever so slightly. Ruggie being the teacher in this case definitely made it better to sit and just let himself be.
“Alrighty then. Ya need to take two flowers and tie the stems together to make a bigger line.” Ruggie commented with a nod once he noticed the housewarden looking at him with something like expectancy clear in his eyes. (Seriously, it was like a dog waiting for its master command. A look like that coming from someone like Malleus was just honestly kind of creepy..)
But watching Malleus craftfully tie the stems together, Ruggie had a realization.
…Malleus was kind of shitty at this. It wasn’t as though it was a bad tying job or something, it was just that it all looked way too loose - a surprise, considering who the man behind the job was.
“Hey, no - you don’t do it like that. If you do it like that then the whole thing’s gonna be way too loose and it’ll just fall apart. Unless you want flowers to be sticking all over your hair that is,” Ruggie instructed, leaning in to point at the stems.
“Ah - I suppose it’s a habit of mine to handle most fragile objects with caution in worry that I could break them.”
“Okay well don’t tear the flowers, but it’s not like they’ll break or anything if you tie them a lot-”
“Woahh! What a cray-zee duo that I stumbled onto! Mind if I join~?”
For once, Ruggie and Malleus seemed to have a moment of harmonized emotion as they both turned to the approaching boy with surprise clear in their eyes. Sprinting up to them, phone in hand as always, was Cater Diamond.
Ruggie didn’t really interact with the Heartslabyul junior often, though he does actually recall some moments in which he did have to drag Leona out of the garden because Cater had been asking him for some Magicam photos (in which Leona obviously argued no).
Still, the ginger didn’t seem deterred by their looks of surprise as he looked down at what was in Malleus’ hands, “Ohh, a flower crown? How chic! Never expected Malleus-kun to be into such a cute thing! But such a scene would be perf for a quick shot~..”
Ruggie watched from the corner of his eye as Malleus’s lips curved up into a smile that he was more familiar with - specifically the one that typically appeared whenever conversing with Leona (and Ruggie had the misfortune of having to stand next to the lion.)
“I shall not disapprove of your efforts,” was all that was said, but Ruggie could basically hear the denial of such a photo ever being able to be taken. He let out a small giggle from behind the hand that he raised up to his mouth.
“Whaat!? I can totes tell that you won’t let me! C’mon, is it such a crime to let Cay-Cay have a win?” The younger exclaimed, seemingly catching onto the message as well. Still, Malleus didn’t grant him a response.
As Malleus worked on tying his stems, Ruggie raised up a hand and addressed Cater instead, “I can guide you to where Leona-san is to take photos of him at the price of ten thaumarks a photo, shyehehe!”
Cater didn’t even pay any attention to the bait, instead whining, “But taking a photo of Malleus-kun is like part of my bucket list for junior year, yaknow..?” That was such a stupid bucket list, Ruggie bet.
“I dunno why having a picture of Gloom-and-Doom in your gallery is so enticing, ‘specially when Lilia-san and Silver-kun would probably be willing, but sure,”
At that, Cater let out a gasp of mock offense on the other’s behalf, even turning to the prince in order to snitch - just like a petulant child. Ruggie couldn’t help the grin that overtook his face, “Wh - Malleus-kun! Do you hear the stuff that he’s calling you!?”
To Ruggie’s surprise however, Malleus looked up at the standing Cater with a smile that wasn’t as devious or hating as the hyena had imagined, “I find Bucchi labeling me with such a title as to be amusing.”
Oh nevermind, maybe Ruggie was going to be killed.
“I believe this amount of connections would suffice, yes?” The fae spoke up yet again, resulting in Ruggie looking down to the line of dandelions in his hands. Finding that Malleus had already tied it to be a circle, he spoke up.
“Uh, yeah. Here, gimmie that.” Ruggie carefully took the crown, shifting so that he was sitting on his knees before leaning closer to place the crown on Malleus’ head, squinting his eyes so that he could see whether the crown was going to fall down. After a couple seconds of inspection, he nodded.
Ruggie leaned back, pointedly looking away from the fae so that he didn’t start breaking into a sweat as he spoke, “Normally before you wrap it into a circle, you try wrapping it around your head so that you can see if it’ll actually fit and stuff. But I guess in your case it was a lucky length,”
Malleus didn’t respond, and Ruggie almost started fidgeting in his spot at the idea of the two of them sitting in silence yet again, but Cater ended up breaking that by reaching out his arms - for the better or for the worse.
Suddenly, an arm was wrapped around Ruggie’s shoulder, forcing him to lean into Cater’s side - who was kneeling on the ground?? When did that happen!? Suddenly, a phone was being thrust up, and Ruggie had to blink away the flash of a phone camera.
“I’m not a toy to shove around, Cater-san!” He exclaimed, swatting the older boy away with an annoyed frown. Still, the ginger didn’t seem deterred considering the victorious grin on his face.
“But I got like the perfect pic! It’s totally #SpringTimes, you know!? Just look!” And just like that, Cater’s phone was being pushed into his face.
“Well - still! Keep your grubby fingers away - I can feel your grease in my hair already!”
“Whaaat!? Cay-Cay didn’t even touch your hair!”
“Your shoulder did!”
If Ruggie looked back at Malleus, he would have noticed the somewhat amused smile placed on his face. If Ruggie had seen that smile, he may have realized that Malleus really wasn’t as scary as he looked to be.
Instead, Ruggie stood up and let out an annoyed huff, fleeing from the scene with a ‘bye-bye!’ that was quite quick. Leona probably had stuff for him to do anyway.
“Ruggie-senpai!” The hyena blinked, seeing a familiar wolf-beastman sprint up to him - holding a bag of .. something, “Lilia-senpai from Diasomnia dorm had come and delivered these. They had your name on them.”
The hyena blinked, looking up at Leona in confusion. (While Leona didn’t have any answers - like he usually didn’t, it was a bit of a habit to glance at the other as if trying to share an experience.)
“Hah? I haven’t even talked to Lilia-san..” Still, he took the bag and looked at its contents. Once noticing exactly what they were, Ruggie gasped with wide eyes.
“R-Ruggie-senpai..?!” Jack exclaimed, probably doing that suck-up thing that he did to Ruggie oh-so often where he was weirdly invested in whatever the sophomore was doing. Still, he couldn’t bring himself to be too annoyed by that behaviour when his mouth was about to water.
He could feel Leona’s tail flick ever so slightly from behind him, eyes probably on the contents inside.
“Donuts! They look super fancy too..” Ruggie exclaimed with a grin, “Shyehehe .. that’s part of my food budget this month that I don’t gotta worry about at least..”
“Cater. It would do you well to pay attention,” The rose-haired housewarden commented, leaning forward to tap a finger on the table in an attempt to get the ginger’s attention. The older of the two let out a small, almost awkward, laugh.
“Aww .. Riddle-kun is so strict.”
“I’m simply trying to get you to focus on important matters!”
Cater let out yet another laugh, though this one was much more genuine with his humour, “Sorry, sorry~.. I’ve just been thinking ‘bout a lil’ something..”
In his lap, one hand held his phone. Thoughts wandered back to the photo in which Ruggie was beside him - pushed into his shoulder. Beside the second year was Malleus, surprisingly not blurry from any attempts to flee from the camera. And though the prince wasn’t smiley, it wasn’t all negative and pouty either! Which was a win!
Still .. he’d keep that one for himself. Such a picture felt like a private occasion, happiness being best preserved behind closed doors. Though admittedly, being able to be so casual near Malleus made him think that perhaps the fae wasn’t as scary and intimidating as he seemed.
And his junior was surprisingly cute too, with the whole flower crown making thing. Perhaps he should try approaching the two more.
Still, he didn’t voice any of his thoughts outloud, simply letting out a small hum as his lips curved upwards. What a fun time it was.
“Oh? Is that a flower in your book? I wasn’t aware that you were into flowers now~!” Lilia cheered, leaning closer to the table in order to look at the book Malleus was reading. From the opposite side, he didn’t try to stop the shorter one from doing as he pleased.
“I suppose I’ve grown favour for the ones in yellow hues.”
“Oh? And any reason as to why that could be?” Lilia hummed, crossing one arm across his chest whilst his elbow rested on top to let his hand cup his cheek.
“I’ve found a new admiration.”
“And would that admiration have to do with those donuts you had me deliver to Savanaclaw a day ago?”
“Hm.”
No proper answer was given, but Lilia still let out a small giggle. It was nice, seeing Malleus make good with other students. Perhaps he himself should chat with a certain beast more often.
Plus, his fellow Pop Music Club member seemed to be more open to the idea of Malleus, to his joy. What a curious thing that seemed to have happened.