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Jamil Viper was currently a man on a mission.
After getting an urgent text from Silver saying something had happened to Kalim during alchemy class he found it hard to contain his anxiety. He tried to get more information out of the boy but he was only met with a simple, It’ll be easier if you see it in person.
Thanks to that, he had no choice but to ditch the basketball club to check in on his charge.
After his…incident, the two of them promised that they would be equals. Kalim in particular tried his best to be more independent.
But old habits die hard for the both of them.
And so here he was, sprinting to the alchemy lab, eventually coming across a crowd with faces plastered with concern right outside the door.
What did that dolt do this time?
Jamil navigated through the hoard until he spotted a familiar silver haired boy conversing with Professor Crewel and quickly marched up to the two.
“Silver, I got your message,” Jamil said impatiently, holding up his phone, “Now, do you mind filling me in on what happened?” The aurora eyed boy turned to Jamil with guilt written on his face. The brunette only raised an eyebrow in response.
“Ah, Jamil, well you see, Kalim and I were doing an assignment in class when-” Crewel snapped his whip causing both of the boys to jump, “This pup fell asleep in the MIDDLE of making a potion causing it to explode all over his partner.” He finished.
Silver brought a hand to his forehead with shame, “Yes, that.”
Jamil could already feel the onslaught of gray hairs he was about to get just from this interaction alone, taking a deep resounding breath, he inquired, “What kind of potion was it and how serious is the situation?” Depending on their answer, hopefully this predicament wouldn’t be as strenuous as Jamil thought and maybe he would have some peace for the evening.
Crewel sighed, bad sign, and stared at Jamil before stating, “It was originally supposed to be a simple reversal concoction, turning plants into seeds and bugs into larvae,” Jamil physically shivered. Crewel massaged his temples, another bad sign, “What it ISN’T supposed to do is revert human beings back into children.”
Well out of all things, that..didn’t seem so bad. Babysitting Kalim was nothing new to him after all.
“Well, if that’s all then I’ll just pick him up and take him back with me to Scarabia until he changes back.” And with that Jamil began approaching the two wooden doors, ready to see his master in his childlike glory, before being forcefully pulled back by his wrist. “What the-” Jamil was cut off with those same aurora eyes staring into his soul, concern evident in their glossy surfaces.
“Jamil, we believe the damage runs deeper than that,” Silver stated seriously. His lips were slightly pursed and worry could be seen etched all over his face. Crewel only looked to the side, but there was a hint of agitation in his sharp features.
Damn it.
Letting go of Jamil’s wrist, Silver’s posture went back to being rigid and pristine before tentatively beginning, “Kalim has been acting..off. Compared to how he usually is, it's quite the cause for alarm.”
Off? What did he mean by that? “As in he's having mood swings?” Jamil questioned carefully.
“As in he’s..” The silver haired boy hesitated, taking his time to find the right words. Time that Jamil didn’t have the patience for.
“Oh for goodness sake, just let the pup see for himself,” scoffed Crewel, before promptly opening the twin doors, revealing the alchemy lab inside.
————————————————————————————————
Overall everything appeared to be relatively the same. All the cauldrons were still filed in rows, the sun reflecting on their dark surfaces. The countless tables held papers with instructions for the bygone day. The only difference was the young child teetering off a chair, trying to climb out of a window.
“KALIM!” Jamil shrieked, and time seemed to slow as he ran to the young heir with his arms reaching out as far as they could, Silver right behind him. The small child violently jumped at the sound and looked as if he saw a ghost, before immediately increasing his efforts to escape the lab.
Kalim was inches from success before his whole body became encased in Jamil’s arms and quickly taken away from the ledge.
What the hell just happened.
The brunette held out the boy in his arms incredulously. “Kalim, are you crazy!? Even as a kid you should know to never try such dangerous-” But Jamil was cut off by the look of sheer terror on the white haired child’s face.
“I-I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” sputtered Kalim as he shut his eyes closed and raised his tiny arms in front of his face defensively.
Oh. Jamil’s anger dissipated as quickly as it came. He’s at that age.
“Please, I’ll be good, I won’t do it again!” The child rambled on, “please don’t hurt me!” He was full on panicking by now.
“Kalim, breathe. It’s just me, it’s just Jamil.” the grey eyed boy said soothingly, attempting to calm down the shaking child in his arms.
At that, Kalim slowly opened his eyes and scanned the older boy fearfully. “Jamil..?”
“That’s right. You must be pretty scared right now, ” Jamil whispered softly. He started to caress the young heir’s white pearly hair, “Don’t worry, you’re safe with me.”
In all honesty Jamil was only reusing the same reassurances he’s used countless times before, but hey if it works, it works.
The child fell silent, and stared at the ground wistfully. “What’s..happening?” He whispered, sparkling garnet eyes on the verge of tears. “Where am I? Why do you look like that? What’s going on!?”
Now full on bawling, Kalim gripped onto Jamil’s uniform like it personally owed him money. Only then did the taller boy register that he was being watched by both Silver and Professor Crewel.
Standing up with the still crying child in his arms, Jamil coughed, “Silver, you didn’t mess up the potion. At this age, Kalim was a lot..different from how he is now.” Then turning to Crewel, “I’ll be on my way then, please let me know if any updates occur.” Both men nodded, and with that Jamil took his leave.
Well…he’s a lot younger than I expected, he thought as he briskly walked down the halls, uncaring for the many staring eyes, but I’ll just get him to sleep for now.
Entering the Scarabia mirror finally allowed Jamil to breathe. The familiar heat on his skin and the smells of home let him relax just enough to finally acknowledge the cause of his absolutely soaked uniform.
“Kalim, I’m going to take you to your room so you can sleep this nightmare away, does that sound good?” The tears had long since ceased, but the white haired child still sniffed as he replied with a simple, “Yeah.”
Jamil quickly got to work at getting both him and Kalim changed into their sleepwear, albeit he had to use magic to shrink Kalim’s clothes by quite a bit, and even though he tried, he couldn’t get the small child to properly eat anything.
After promptly tucking the heir into his massive bed, Jamil was getting ready to take his leave before small hands tugged on his arm with all their might. The owner looked up at the brunette with giant piercing, pleading eyes, “P-Please don’t leave,” he whined, “I’m scared.”
Oh right, Jamil mentally cursed at himself, of course he’s afraid right now.
“I’m not going anywhere,” he reassured, and to really sell the point home he brought up a chair next to Kalim’s bed and sat on it, alert. The small child only stared at him as he did this.
Time passed in silence, as the sun quietly set, darkening the young heir’s room, up came the pearly moon, shining a small light over the desert.
Jamil was used to skipping out on sleep for Kalim, whether it was after an assasination attempt where he needed to be alert, or the aftermath of a poisoning, as he quietly helped nurse the garnet eyed boy back to health. This was nothing new.
After a couple of more bouts of silence, a small voice finally broke out, softly asking, “Where are we?” Jamil turned to the small child, who was now staring at him with huge curious eyes.
Crossing his arms, the brunette simply replied, “Night Raven College,” after a pause, “I’m not sure if you’ve heard of it yet.
“And…you go here?” the young heir asked, genuinely curious.
“We go here,” Jamil corrected. “We’re both in our second year and are the housewarden and vice housewarden of Scarabia. That’s the dorm we’re in right now. That makes you seventeen years old.”
The small child looked nothing short of ecstatic at this information, “Oh,” Kalim leaned back into his pillows, smiling for the first time that evening,
“So I made it to seventeen after all.”
“Rgk..!” Jamil freezed up and could only stare as the child looked up contentedly at the desert night. Quickly regaining his composure, Jamil coughed, “That’s right, and you make many new friends here, so look forward to it,” he finished with a small smile. (Well as big of a smile he could muster.)
Before he knew it, Jamil was suddenly being analyzed by the young heir, who quickly climbed out of his blankets to stare him down. “Kalim..?”
“Jamil, you grew really big.” Kalim bluntly stated, before something else lit up in his garnet eyes, “Wait, you’re still here! With me!” He smiled the same smile Jamil had been subjected to over the course of his entire life, and for once, he was relieved to see it.
“What do you mean by that Kalim?” he entertained, fully facing the child in front of him.
“You’re still here with me! You didn’t leave!” Kalim finished, beaming.
Jamil knew the implications of that sentence, after all, he had witnessed first hand just how many nannies and so called “family members” betrayed Kalim one way or another throughout his lifetime. So for now, he would play along.
“Of course I didn’t, I would never betray you.” Jamil stated the same sentence he had said countless times before, ignoring the lump that seemed to lodge itself in his throat. Before he knew it, he was being embraced by the small child. Eyes widening, his hand found its way to the heir’s back, awkwardly patting it, until he felt a familiar dampness on his sweater.
And with that Kalim was asleep. Jamil sighed before quietly tucking the child back into his bed. After making sure that the child wouldn’t wake he slumped back into his chair with a heavy sigh and swept his hair to the side.
That was WAY too much trouble for one day.
Jamil gazed back at the small child asleep in his covers. This was the Kalim who had just been introduced to Jamil. The Kalim who at only a couple of years old, already experienced more trauma than most adults did their entire lives, and the same Kalim he had betrayed with his own hands.
Jamil didn’t necessarily regret his original plan. Yes, some of his actions were..renouncable, but at the end of the day, he was still a servant bound to the Asim family. He just couldn’t continue in that stifling environment. But looking at the small child sleeping soundly in front of him, maybe it wouldn’t hurt to understand him, just a little bit more.
Jamil woke up in Kalim’s bed with a start. When in the world did I get here? Looking around, the brunette noticed he had a bigger problem.
WHERE THE HELL IS KALIM!?
After practically stumbling out of bed, Jamil sprinted throughout the halls of Scarabia, urgently calling for the small child, only to find the boy in question standing in the kitchen.
Only he was a lot bigger.
Kalim turned around sheepishly, raising his hand to scratch his cheek, “Hey Jamil! I heard you had to take care of me again last night. Sorry bout that.” The garnet eyed boy then revealed what exactly he was doing in the kitchen, “So as an apology I made you some masoub!”
Jamil only stared at the sloppy dish, before taking it in his hands with thanks. “It wasn’t that bad, nothing unlike how you usually act,” Jamil replied flippantly.
“Hey! I’m not that immature!” Kalim protested for a moment before pausing, “Oh wait, maybe I am,” he finished with an airy laugh.
The grey eyed boy only shrugged as he took a couple of bites of the breakfast before handing the plate back to Kalim. He stared at the now seventeen year old boy intensely, “I guess I prefer this version of you.” He simply stated before walking off to change.
Kalim stood fixed in the kitchen, dirty dishes in hand.
“What the heck does that mean!?”