Chapter Text
For as long as I can remember, the TV glowed.
I didn't know what it meant, but I liked it.
The air always felt colder after prayer.
Not the kind of cold that bit, but the type that lingered with you no matter what you did. Settling into the walls and old wood until the whole place seemed to breathe slowly, as if it were remembering something it didn't want to forget. Light broke into the building through the hall windows in fractured streaks, spilling across shapes that never really stayed the same.
Rows of wooden benches emptied as the students who had once been in the Holy Sanctuary—where prayers were held each morning and night—slowly filed out, talking with friends. The candles still shifted under the pressure of the atmosphere, but soon went out when a teacher blew all of them out, the light that was once there dimming.
It was always the same at this hour.
The same quiet as students filed out.
The same lanterns illuminating the corridors.
The same waking up of the building around them
Two Time walked through it without thinking much, bare feet against the stone, robe brushing against their ankles as it shifted with each subtle movement, footsteps quiet enough to disappear into the walls. The noise in the hall was muffled, as if time were moving faster than it was supposed to, and everything around them was just frozen.
"Timey! Wait up!"
Normally, they would've kept on walking, but something about that voice and nickname made them turn.
Two Time stopped.
Then, they saw it. Something warmer spilling into the hallway, it was faint but impossible to ignore, like sunlight had learned how to walk. Suddenly, the world became louder—voices no longer muffled around them, heart pounding so hard they were sure others could hear it. Faint blush painted their cheeks as a soft smile grew while they stood there.
It was their best friend.
Their beloved Azure.
Azure's smile brightened immediately once he saw them, the sun catching his hair that seemingly made him glow brighter. The flowers lying on his hat flowed and shuffled faintly, making him look more alive than they ever could be. He picked up the pace before wrapping his arms around their back, holding them tightly.
They giggled softly, running a hand through his silky curls. "Azure—! You're going to crush me..."
A dramatic gasp escaped his mouth, patting their back once before he let go, smirking faintly. "My apologies. Are you going to the multipurpose center after?"
"Mhm. I'm just going to dress comfortably," they smiled gently, picking at their gloves.
"So, you wouldn't mind if I came with you?"
"Not at all."
So, their walk towards the east dorm started. While Two Time watched the little insects crawl on the stone path, Azure talked about the new flowers he had been studying for a bit. It felt easier this way, having someone you admire teach you new things as you do mundane little things. They liked Azure a lot for that; all of his small traits were nice.
He was nice.
The outside air was softer than the sanctuary’s halls, but still carried that lingering cold from the stone beneath it. The path curved gently past the side garden, where wild growth pushed through gaps in the old architecture as it had always belonged there. Vibrant flower beds lined the path forward, all types of pretty and meaningful flowers sprouting into the green soil as Azure watched them with quiet curiosity.
Azure slowed slightly as they passed it.
“Oh—wait,” he murmured, like the thought had caught him mid-step.
Two Time glanced over, staring at him before their gaze landed on the beds.
He had already turned toward the garden, eyes lighting up in that quiet way he always got when something caught his attention. The sun slipped between the branches above them, breaking into pieces across his shoulders. For a moment, it looked like the light was resting on him instead of simply falling, almost like he was glowing.
“Look at these.”
He knelt carefully beside them, brushing aside leaves with the kind of gentleness that made it feel like the plants might answer him back. Nestled between the stone cracks were small blooms—Viola tricolor, their petals layered in soft purples, yellows, and whites, like someone had tried to paint a feeling and forgot to make it simple.
Azure’s voice softened significantly, so much so that it was impossible to miss. “These ones are strange,” he said, expression suddenly becoming emotional. “They’re not really one thing. People think they are, but…” he tilted his head slightly, smiling to himself. “They’re kind of all of them at once.”
Two Time crouched beside him without fully realizing it. The flowers swayed faintly in the breeze, brushing against their sleeve like they were also curious. “All at once…” they repeated quietly as they brushed the petal gently.
“Mm,” Azure hummed. “They don’t seem bothered by it.”
The words settled somewhere strange in their chest, and it felt heavier than it probably should've. Without another word, Azure stood up, brushing the dirt off his shawl to avoid getting scolded by his teacher. Two Time looked up, noticing the hand in front of them, freezing for a moment. But slowly, cautiously, they took it before being lifted off the ground.
The touch was warm compared to their cold, pale hand.
A gentle breeze passed through the garden then, and the cherry petals on the trees nearby shifted.
One of them drifted upward.
Then another.
Before Two Time could start walking once again with Azure by their side, a few had caught in their hair—soft, light touches of color against the dark strands of their messy hair. They froze slightly, hands lifting instinctively as if to fix it. “Oh,” they murmured.
Azure leaned closer almost immediately. “Wait—don’t move,” he said gently.
His fingers brushed into their hair carefully, slow enough that it didn’t feel like an interruption, rather more like a continuation. He lifted the petals out one by one, letting them fall back into the grass instead of crushing them. Two Time didn’t speak—they didn't need to when it was Azure, he always seemed to know everything about them anyway.
But, still... they weren’t sure why their face felt warmer than the air.
Azure paused for a moment longer, one last petal caught near the side of their head. It was stubborn, clinging like it didn’t want to leave.
He hesitated, then smiled faintly. “This one’s really determined,” he joked, voice slightly breathy from the closeness.
Two Time let out a quiet sound that might have been a laugh or sigh. Azure finally freed it, letting it fall into his palm before flicking it gently back into the garden, watching as it blew away to its next destination. Just then, the wind shifted again, and the sunlight moved as the clouds made more space for it. The rays of sunlight hit Azure fully then—not suddenly, but like it had been waiting for him to step into the right place. The glow of it wrapped around his outline, turning the edges of him soft, almost unreal. His hair caught the light differently now, brighter than before, like it had been quietly borrowing the sun all along.
For a moment, he looked less like someone walking beside them… and more like something the world had been trying to show them all along.
The brightness caught his smile perfectly. It was almost like he was an angel.
Two Time blinked.
Their thoughts didn’t form properly.
Just a feeling.
Quiet and unnamed.
Azure stood, brushing dust from his knees. “Alright,” he said lightly, as nothing had changed at all. “Shall we keep going?”
Two Time nodded too fast, but their eyes lingered on him a moment longer than they meant to—on the way the light still followed him no matter which angle he was at, the flower in the garden that seemed to lean slightly in his direction as they passed—faint bits of blush appearing on their face, and they silently hoped that Azure didn't notice.
The rest of the walk blurred after that, not in a sudden way—more like the edges of things stopped holding still. There was the stone path, quiet steps that the world around them swallowed, and Azure’s voice still talking about flowers that survived in places they weren’t supposed to or simply the ones he'd been studying for a while now.
Two Time nodded when it felt right to, but their thoughts kept drifting back to the garden. They couldn't pull away the thought of the way the Viola tricolor had looked up at them like it recognized something, the petals had tangled in their hair without asking permission, how Azure had touched them so carefully, like they were something worth not breaking.
And to the sunlight.
The way it had chosen him.
They didn’t notice when they reached the dorm hallway at first. Azure opened the large door easily, as if he belonged there in a way that didn’t need asking. Warm air slipped inside immediately, softer than the courtyard outside, carrying the faint scent of herbs and wet stone. “Here,” he said lightly, stepping aside.
Two Time entered slowly.
The hallways were loud with students' footsteps echoing off the walls as they ran around or talked impossibly loudly with each other. The two quickly made their way to Two Time's room, where their door was decorated with small music and insect stickers, topped off with a window box overflowing with newly placed orchids, bougainvilleas, and daffodils. A nice combination of pink, white and yellow.
Azure opened the door for them once again after they pushed the key into the doorknob. The room was simple, a nice couch in the corner of the room next to a shelf of books that Two Time couldn't even read, a kitchen where Azure usually cooked for them when they didn't feel like going to the dining hall and a bathroom where they'd stare into the mirror for a few minutes before snapping out of it.
In their room sat folded uniforms stacked neatly, spare garments hanging along wooden hooks. Everything was arranged in ways that made decisions feel already made for you.
That was what the place always did.
It decided things before you could.
Azure moved toward the clothing rack without hesitation, fingers brushing over fabric as if he could read something in it. “You were going to change, right?” he asked casually.
“Mm,” Two Time replied, but didn’t move yet.
There were always choices here.
At least, they were called choices, but they never felt like them.
Their eyes drifted across the hanging garments—something simple but nice. Trousers, heavy fabric and straight lines, then something softer. Layered cloth, looser, falling differently when it moved—they stared a little too long at the two pieces of fabric, unable to choose.
It was a feminine uniform.
And the other was a masculine uniform.
But for some reason, they couldn't help but feel drawn to both of them.
Azure noticed, of course. He always did in a quiet way, like attention wasn’t something he took—it just naturally fell toward him. "You don’t have to pick fast,” he said.
Two Time hesitated. “I just…” their fingers curled slightly at their sleeves. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to wear.”
The words came out smaller than they meant to.
The room didn’t respond, but Azure did.
He stepped closer, not touching yet—just there. “That one doesn’t belong to anyone in particular,” he said, nodding slightly toward the softer fabric. “Neither does the other, really. They’re just clothes.”
Two Time looked at him, really looked at him instead of simply glancing. In their mind, he was still glowing faintly from the garden, like the sunlight hadn’t fully left him yet. Or maybe it wasn't the sunlight.
“But people will—” they started.
“People will always decide things,” Azure interrupted gently, not sharp, not dismissive. Just certain. “That doesn’t mean they’re right.”
Maybe he was the sunlight himself.
Silence settled between them. Two Time's eyes widened, and behind his eyes, they could see how determined he was for them to see his point. That not everything that has to be separated because of gender. Beside them, the cloth on the hook swayed slightly, like it was waiting too. Then, finally, Two Time’s hand lifted before they fully decided to move it.
They touched the straighter, pale, dark blue fabric first. It didn’t feel like a decision, instead it just… felt less wrong than the other option.
Behind them, Azure hummed softly. “That one suits you,” he said, like it was obvious in a way they hadn’t learned yet.
Two Time swallowed. “I don’t know what that means,” they admitted.
“You don’t have to yet,” Azure smiled faintly.
That should have made them feel uncertain, but it didn’t. Instead, something in their chest loosened—just slightly. Like a knot they hadn’t known they were carrying had shifted without fully undoing itself.
Maybe they'd found out what they really want now.
They held the fabric a little closer, and outside, sunlight moved across the window, shining brighter than it had before. And this time, it was reflecting onto not Azure and for a brief moment, it looked like it leaned toward them too.
They'd found their glow.