Chapter Text
The first time Vil had worn heels, he had been 7 years old. It was a commercial for a jewelry manufacturer that leaned hard into sentimental marketing. The ad was meant to be cheesy and cute-he was playing a child who had gotten into his mother’s accessories and was playing dress-up. His fake mother would walk in on the scene, tearfully look on as he paraded around for her, and finally pick him up for a hug as the voiceover played – “Let us be your family heirloom”.
Painfully transparent. He’d thought, when he happened to find the script in the back of his closet years later. Still, he knew he had cried in his fake mother’s arms as the too-big heels dangled from his toes, still thinking of the beautiful shoes his real mother had been wearing in her casket.
He’d asked his father for a pair the next day, and Erik had, of course, obliged – though he’d had to settle on a pair that were clearly meant to be worn by flower girls. It turns out they don’t make designer stilettos for 7-year-olds.
But that didn’t matter, because the moment he put them on, he felt familiarity and warmth flooding his heart. They reminded him of her, and the many pairs she kept in her closet, ready to carry her wherever she wanted. The pain of her loss had dulled over the years, but he still smiled when he found a pair that he knew she would have liked.
Just like any child he’d gone through phases and changed his preferences, but the heels had been a constant. He had never felt right without them. (Though he wondered what his therapist would say every time he chose a pair for the day.)
So it made complete sense that he would feel uncomfortable walking the cobblestone streets of his hometown wearing a pair of obnoxiously practical snow boots.
He certainly hadn’t been slacking off, they were still high-quality, and the look he had come up with was masterful as always. A designer turtleneck with an asymmetrical skirt, all in white, and amethyst accessories adding a tasteful, royal pop of color. The ensemble was covered by sleek white coat, long enough to reach all the way down to the aforementioned snow boots. He was NOT going to be caught unawares and have a sloppy airport candid spread all around Magicam.
Still, he couldn’t help but think the Julietta Heeled Boots from Ténèbres' latest collection would’ve really pulled it all together. If only it weren’t for these damn cobblestones. He had gotten out a few blocks away from his neighborhood to escape his creepy rideshare, so as much as he hated these boots, at least they made the walk easier.
Travel is the eternal enemy of fashion, Vil thought, making his way up the long driveway. Despite being empty for the past few months, the house still looked immaculate thanks to the maintenance workers. The mansion looked untouched and idyllic like this, surrounded by stately pine trees and bright holly bushes. Like an illustration on a holiday card, perfect, picturesque, insincere, artificial, empty…
Vil shook his head. His incident had changed the way he thought about these things, but he still had trouble coming to terms with it. It was hard to spend a lifetime striving for an ideal only to have it smashed in front of you like a glass bottle of apple juice.
The yard didn’t require much attention due to the snow, but they had still cleared the path up to the front door. His suitcase hit a particularly large bump in the uneven stone, making him glad he had gotten the others delivered ahead of time. He stuck his key into the lock, but it didn’t turn right away. After a bit of annoyed jiggling it clicked into place, and the door opened.
Vil huffed as he entered the foyer, elegantly tapping the boots to dislodge bits of snow before pulling them off and tossing them on the hall tree to be forgotten. He left his suitcase by the door and made his way to the living room, swooning backwards onto one of the couches as dramatically as possible. Even though no one was around to see it.
As soon as he had escaped the suffocating atmosphere of the airport, he had had to climb into a disgusting sedan where the driver, a man older than his father, kept trying to touch his thighs. Gross. He pulled out his phone to leave a 1-star review on the rideshare app, only to find there were already several up that he hadn’t noticed in his desperation.
“Next time, I’m going to book a private cab at least two months in advance.” Vil groaned. He really should have known better. The holidays were always the worst time to travel, but it was apparently much worse this year. He could guess why.
It was all thanks to the havoc Malleus’ and Grim’s back-to-back overblots had caused, leaving the populous terrified. His father had felt the same way, insisting they reunite as soon as possible, lest they soon be parted forever.
Vil understood. He still remembered the fear that gripped his heart as lightning-laced thorns covered the sky, filling the air with enough static to choke on. Until a flash of silver tore a jagged hole in the ceiling of brambles, allowing Lilia to fly through with the Ramshackle prefect on his back. But things had calmed down considerably since then. Malleus had been mortified by the whole ordeal, (Grim had not been. Grim had been a little shit about it.) and had given them all a surprisingly tearful apology as the prefect stood by him.
None of them had forgiven him right away, but Malleus had been working hard, in his awkward way, to make up for what happened. And they had all experienced the same thing he had, so they couldn’t help but have some sympathy for him.
Vil and Malleus had even struck up a friendship of sorts, exchanging letters as they continued their studies in different parts of the world. The others now held a wide range of opinions, but as far as he knew they were at least civil with him. Even Leona had returned to his usual open hostility.
It’s not as if any of them could truly judge him.
Now that Vil had gotten to know the man, he could certainly see what Yuu saw in him. Though he sometimes wondered how things would develop once they finished their big inter-dorm project.
Crowley had proven himself to be completely useless, so they had to take matters into their own hands. Idia figured out a way to track Yuu’s unique signature through magical space, and that had led them to a general area to search. He and Leona worked together to construct blueprints for a portal that would compress the great distance and account for the movement of the planets.
Leona had looked so out of place, bent over the drafting table late into the night, trading theories and working out calculations with Idia in hushed tones. Vil doubted the man had ever gone so long without sleep.
Azul and Jamil leveraged their connections and “bargaining skills” to procure the materials, except for the necessary potions. Vil had brewed those himself. Riddle had taken care of the vast amount of paperwork, because of course there was paperwork.
Now it was just a matter of locating the exact planet they were aiming for and the exact moment they needed to enchant the device. Malleus, the other housewardens, and a handful of other magically talented students were on standby, conserving their energy for that final step.
It was the least they could do. They would all be dead if not for Yuu, after all.
Of course, from the student body’s perspective, the six of them (7 if you counted Kalim, 8 if you counted Ortho) had just suddenly gone crazy and started spending their free time building untested superportals with the guy who nearly destroyed the world.
He couldn’t really blame them. Aside from Riddle and Leona, most of their overblot ordeals had gone unnoticed by the average student. He still hadn’t told anyone about what happened at the competition, not even his father. His poor father.
Speaking of his father, wasn’t he supposed to be here by now?
Vil’s eye’s flicked to the time on his phone. It was 5:12 now, the late afternoon sun shining through the living room’s sliding glass doors. He was starting to feel uncomfortably warm, even with the heater still starting up. His father’s flight had been in the early morning, he should have arrived at around the same time Vil had.
He tried not to think of anything horrible happening like thorns tearing through the wings or poison mist filling the cabin or some terrible weapon vaporizing the whole thing and dialed his father’s number.
The phone only rang once before his father picked up, and he spoke before Vil could even open his mouth. “Vil! Are you home?”
“Dad?” Vil sat up, roused by the urgency in his father’s voice. “What’s wrong? Are you alright?!”
His father’s words seemed to cut in and out, sometimes garbled by interference. “Sorry. I was sleeping. The entire town has been locked down. I couldn’t even leave my hotel this morning. This is the first time a call has managed to get through!” He sighed in apparent relief, but Vil bolted up from the couch and marched back to the door.
“I’m going back to the airport. I’ll wait until it clears and take the first flight there.” He said, mouth dry as he shoved his feet back in the damn boots.
“Sweetheart, there’s no point. We’ve got a radio here, the experts are saying this is another one of those lightning storms. It’ll be at least a week before it clears up.”
Vil’s heart sank. Malleus’ overblot hadn’t just affected the campus. People had reported aftershocks all over the world, caused by the massive fluctuations in magical energy.
The storms only covered about 20 miles and were gradually growing smaller, but they would linger in one place for long periods of time. Constant lightning strikes made it too dangerous to go outside and the temperamental magical energy would tear anyone who attempted to teleport out to pieces. Residents of whatever town happened to be below one could only hunker down and wait.
If this is how bad it is months later, what would it have been like if they hadn’t stopped him?
“You don’t need to worry about me, Vil.” His father reassured him. “The hotel still has plenty of emergency supplies. I’ll be fine. Just bored. But you made it home, right?”
Vil sighed, running a hand through his hair. It felt unpleasantly greasy after everything he’d gone through today. “I’m… Fine. I just got back.”
“Good, good! Listen, I don’t know how long we’ll be able to talk,” The interference was growing louder by the second, “But I’m sorry about this. I pulled you away from your work for no reason.”
He rolled his eyes. Of course Erik would think he was upset about missing work. While he had always been grateful for his father’s support, his workaholic attitude often spilled over into their relationship. And Vil’s own relationships. “That’s not important, Dad. Just… Be careful, alright?”
His father laughed sharply. It was only a little forced. “Of course! I’d rather not get struck by lightning. It’d be awful for my hair.” Vil smiled ruefully.
“I should really hang up now, Vil. I need to conserve my battery.” His father’s usually boisterous voice softened, reminding Vil of the way he used to comfort him after a nightmare. “I’ll call you at noon every day, okay? I don’t know if it’ll go through, but I’ll try.”
“Alright. I’ll try from my end at 12:30. Maybe incoming calls will work.”
“Thanks, Vil. I love you. And… even if I’m not there, I hope you’ll try to enjoy the holiday. Go to a party or three!” Erik laughed, but it didn’t ease Vil’s mind at all.
He fiddled with the pendant around his neck, suddenly filled with nervous energy. “Yeah, I’ll do that. Love you too.”
They said their final goodbyes and Vil hung up the phone. As soon as he knew his father wouldn’t hear, he let out a loud, aggravated sigh.
“I suppose I should try to make the best of this.” He discarded his phone on the couch, pacing back and forth around the living room as he pondered what to do. As worried as he was about his father, the last thing he needed was to lay around his house and mope. He’d had plans fall through before, and he’d always made things work.
But it had been years since he had returned here, and it had never been a bustling city. It was a quiet little suburb, chosen by his father because he wanted Vil to have some semblance of a normal childhood when he wasn’t working. His neighbors were all normal middle-class families. It’s not as if any of his industry contacts were nearby.
What about his friends? Rook was off doing god-knows-what in god-knows-where, he had always been weirdly cagey about it when Vil asked. The other housewardens had returned to their respective homes, and the Diasomnia quartet had enough to deal with in Briar Valley. Leona would have just told him to go fuck himself, so he discarded that idea outright.
The prefect and their potato friends couldn’t afford to travel this far, and he knew they wouldn’t accept if he offered to pay. He texted a few members of his club, but they all had plans of their own, and Epel (His eyes widened in shock, a bit startled that he was now counting Epel as a friend.) had simply left him on read. He was probably with his family in Harveston, anyway.
That left only one person. It should have been obvious, but he hadn’t wanted to think about it.
Jack Howl.
But he just couldn’t make that call. Things had been… Awkward between him and Jack, lately.
In the aftermath, Jack was one of the many students who had rushed to ground zero. Most of the boys had just wanted to gawk, but he leapt into action the moment he saw others in need of help. Vil wasn’t surprised to find him carrying a couple of students on both of his shoulders. He didn’t even notice their group until Leona cut in with a sigh, taking one of the injured boys off him.
“Leona! You’re alive!” Jack’s tail whipped back and forth in joy.
“Ain’t just me.” Leona huffed, jabbing a thumb behind him. Jack turned and his face lit up with relief… Until he noticed the unconscious Malleus, propped up between Lilia and the prefect. (Grim was sleeping soundly on top of Yuu’s head.)
“What? The hell is he doing here?” He fumbled over his words, baffled. “I thought Silver was-“
Lilia shook his head. “We found a better solution. Speaking of which, I have to find him and Sebek. They’ll be relieved to know it worked out.”
Vil raised a curious eyebrow at the conversation. He’d clearly missed something while they had been trapped.
Their little group dispersed soon after that, all of them going off to search for their dorm members and friends. Vil looked over the remaining boy in Jack’s arms, a student from Scarabia, and gestured to set him down.
“He only has some minor injuries. No sign of head trauma, so he likely fainted out of fear or exhaustion. I don’t think he has a concussion.” Vil pulled a small box out of his sleeve. He opened it and was relieved to find that the emergency potion vials he kept on him hadn’t broken.
“You can tell all that? Damn, I need to pay more attention in potions class.” Jack said, holding the boy steady as Vil poured a potion into his mouth.
“You do, but that’s just first aid. We should still get him to a real doctor.”
Jack nodded and lifted the boy up again.
“Wait, I’ll go with you.” Vil reached out, placing his hand on Jack’s broad forearm. “I wanted to ask you about some things.”
“Shoot.”
“What was this other solution Lilia mentioned?”
Jack sighed. “You had to hit me with a hard one right out the gate, didn’t you?” Regardless, he answered.
“They had a plan. I guess Yuu didn’t like it, so they tried a new one. I just helped them out a little, that’s all. S’not my place to talk about the rest. You’ll have to ask Lilia.”
“I suppose that’s fair.” He had seen the desperation on Lilia’s face firsthand, after all. The ordeal had clearly been a personal problem for Diasomnia.
“I wanna know something too. What the hell happened after that?”
Vil paused. He looked up at the open sky. It felt jarring, seeing it from here. The building that had been in this spot a few hours ago was now in so many chunks and pieces under their feet.
“Good question.” Vil mused. “Malleus overblotted, but you know that part. Yuu was able to stop him, thankfully.” As they passed through the rubble, Vil had to carefully climb over the debris, making sure the uneven ground could support his heels. Jack simply barged through the mess, his gait steady as an ox.
“Then… Something happened to Grim. Something like an overblot. But I’m not sure what it was, really.” Vil shook his head. So many strange mysteries that he might never understand.
“…Come to think of it.” Jack mumbled, “Wasn’t Grim acting pretty weird for a while? Can monsters overblot?”
“Who knows. Maybe Yuu has an idea. I’ll ask them later.”
“Well,” Jack said, “I’m glad everyone’s… okay.”
“…I am, too.”
The cafeteria hadn’t been damaged too badly, so the health committee were in the middle of converting it into a temporary infirmary. The tables had been carried out and dumped in the courtyard to make room for hundreds of makeshift beds. Jack set the Scarabia student down on one, flagging down a frantic teacher.
The area was crowded with people sprinting back and forth, a tiny relief team trying to keep an entire school together. Vil spotted Riddle among them, his blazer discarded, and his sleeves rolled up to stop them being dirtied by blood and dust. It wasn’t helping much. Vil knew he should join them soon, but he had something he needed to do first.
He scanned the crowd and spotted Lillia. The boy (man?) was knelt beside a sleeping Malleus, gently holding his head up like a father cradling his child. He brushed a lock of sweaty hair out of Malleus’ face, his tense shoulders finally relaxing, and suddenly Vil felt like he was intruding on a private moment.
He should have turned around and left, but instead he swallowed the lump in his throat and marched up to the two Diasomnia “students”.
“Care to tell me what that was all about?” Vil leaned over them, sweeping his hand over Malleus’ prone body. Despite the sweat, blood and burns he was covered in, the fae prince slept soundly, his chest rising and falling with little difficulty.
Lilia twisted around to glare up at him. His eyes were cold and dull, the eyes of a man who had seen and lost far too much. Vil had never expected to see a look like that on that cheery little face.
“No. I don’t.”
“I think we deserve some kind of explanation, Lilia.”
“He’s right, father.” Silver marched down the row of beds towards them, his hand still gripping the hilt of his sword. “We put these people in grave danger. It’s a miracle that the casualties were so low.”
“Father?” Vil choked.
“Low?” Lilia hopped up. His childish mannerisms now seemed more and more out of place. “Silver, you’ve never seen what he’s capable of when he really loses control. You don’t know. There’s no doubt in my mind that thousands have died today. Do you have any idea how he’s going to feel when he finds out?”
“Yes.” Silver answered. “He’ll be devastated.”
“And that’s because we couldn’t do what he wanted. We could have saved those people. This is our fault.”
“Then you take this damned thing,” Silver thrust the hilt of the sword towards his father, his other hand clenched in a fist at his side. “And you do it. Go on.”
Lilia bared his fangs at the human boy, but he didn’t reach out to take the sword. It hung in Silver’s trembling fist, a heavier burden than he was equipped to carry.
Vil’s gaze swung wildly between them, suddenly regretting the decisions that had led him to this point.
“I… think you two have some things to talk about, so I’ll just be-“
“Don’t.” Lilia held his palm up to stop him. He sighed, his face scrunching up as he rubbed at his temples. It almost looked cute, if not for the blood and dirt he was caked in. “Silver’s right. We can’t… We can’t just ignore this and hope it goes away. Silver, where’s Sebek?”
“Searching the rubble for Malleus.”
“Of course he is.” Lilia turned to Vil. “Give me one day. Gather the other housewardens in the courtyard tomorrow morning, and we’ll tell you everything.”
“Fine.” Vil crossed his arms in resignation. Lilia gave him a half-hearted smile before leaping out the broken window and flying towards the hall of mirrors. Or rather, what was left of the hall of mirrors.
“So.” Vil looked Silver up and down. “‘Father’?”
“Adopted, obviously.” Silver glared at the sword at his hip. All the angry energy he had had earlier seemed to drain out of him. “I don’t know why I said that. He can’t even use the stupid sword. I’m the one who fucked up.”
Before Vil could ask what he meant, he had already turned and walked away. Vil didn’t follow him. Silver took up a guard position at the other end of the large room, watching over Malleus from a distance.
“He’s really beating himself up about it.” Jack murmured. He had just caught the last bit of that little scene, walking up as he wiped his bloody hands on a Mostro Lounge-branded towel.
Vil glanced at the blood and it finally dawned on him.
“Oh my god,” He said, “Silver was going to kill him.”
“Yeah. I dunno what the whole story is, but he couldn’t do it.” Jack looked down at Malleus. His eyes narrowed, the change in his expression so tiny that Vil almost didn’t notice it. “Might’ve been better if he did…”
Vil’s eyes widened and he turned on the other boy, his mouth wide open in shock. “Jack! How could you say something like that?”
“You didn’t see the outside, Vil.” Jack threw the bloody towel in a nearby bucket they were using as a wastebasket. “We got lucky. Us schoolkids could protect ourselves with magic, but the rest of the island? It was hell out there.”
“Still, that doesn’t mean he needs to die! I mean-You didn’t see-”
“Yeah, whatever you say.” Jack huffed. “I never got why people are so scared of the guy before today, but now…”
“Yes, he’s definitely dangerous, and he needs to face what he’s done.” Vil conceded. He extended a hand towards Jack. He wasn’t sure why he was trying so hard to appeal to the other boy, but he felt like… He had to make him understand.
“But you don’t know, Jack. You don’t know what overblotting is like-how much despair someone has to be in for it to even happen-”
How much it hurts. How your veins burn, how your flesh melts under inky liquid, how your bones splinter under the pressure, how your heart pounds so painfully you think it’s going to burst-
“What, and you do?” Jack glared at him. Vil almost said “yes”, but snapped his jaw shut at the last moment. Jack didn’t need to know. Nobody needed to know.
“No, but… What I mean is… I…”
For the first time in his life, Vil truly couldn’t think of what to say. The beastman’s eyes seemed to see right through him. He just stood there for second after agonizing second until Jack finally spoke.
“I should go see if anyone needs some muscle. You gonna help them out here?”
“…Yes. After I get some potions from the alchemy lab.”
“‘K. I’ll… See you later, then.”
Jack turned on his heel and strode away.
Things had eventually returned to normal, but he hadn’t seen Jack “later”.
Finals were cancelled due to the circumstances, and all the students had been moved up to the next grade by default. Leona was pissed as hell about it, but Vil was glad that he was finally progressing in his education (by force).
Yes, he was definitely happy for his good friend Leona, and not just feeling smug and reveling in his suffering.
Everyone had been too busy recovering to take part in much extracurricular work. Vil had temporarily disbanded the Film Club, encouraging the members to find a project to contribute to. The sports teams volunteered to help clear the rubble, so Jack had traded their usual morning jogs for that.
Vil was fine with it, of course. Jack was working hard. He had to conserve his energy.
The final casualties had been… grim. Most of them were laypeople, untrained in magic and unable to protect themselves when the air crackled with lightning and the ground split open into pits of thorns. He didn’t know how Malleus reacted; he hadn’t been around for that. But the prefect and his family were with him, and Vil supposed they must have helped him through it.
Then Idia had called them all at 3am ranting about finding Yuu’s home, and Vil had gotten swept up in their little project. They knew they had to work fast, since many of them were 3rd years about to go off to their 4th year internships, so he ended up devoting a lot of time to that. He’d spent the last day of his third year lecturing Idia about the proper storage of enchanting potions, then leaving to meet his father at the airport.
His studies since then had mostly consisted of shadowing cosmetic company CEOs and putting together his thesis. This winter break was the first proper one he was getting in ages, and damn it, he was going to enjoy it.
And he knew he would enjoy it if he spent it with Jack. He had spent winter holidays with them before, many, many times. He missed their impromptu skiing trips, their cozy little sleepovers, indulging in one of Mrs. Howl’s homecooked meals… He wouldn’t want to impose on them, but surely they wouldn’t mind a little visit, would they?
But he still didn’t know what to say to Jack.
So instead he buried his complicated feelings and left to get dinner.
The only problem was, it had been so long that he didn’t know what around here was any good. Sure, he could pull into any random family restaurant and… ingest calories, but the holidays were no excuse to overindulge.
No, he needed something healthy, wholesome, filling… And it would be nice if it was tasty, too. So he was going to buy groceries and make it himself, because restaurants are a scam.
Most of the time a personal chef took care of Vil’s meals, but he and his father had planned on cooking for themselves during this vacation. It wouldn’t be a problem-there was little difference between cooking and potion-making. When he was at Night Raven, he would occasionally cook in the dorm’s shared kitchen, and he liked to think he was pretty good at it. Yes, this was exactly what he needed.
But as he was loading his basket up with produce, he realized that he had made a huge mistake.
“Izzat little Vi?!”
Vil froze. He knew that voice. He’d heard it hundreds of times, the woman’s boisterous laughter more familiar to him than his own mother’s.
Across the produce section he saw Regna Howl, Jack’s mother.
The woman towered over him, and still would have if he’d been wearing heels. He wasn’t sure if Jack had surpassed her height yet, or if he ever would. The fluffy white ears she had passed down to her son were perked up in delight, and she was positively beaming at him.
“It is! I thought I recognized you!” She swept in, holding her muscular arms out for a hug.
As conflicted as Vil felt about Jack, he was genuinely glad to see Regna. She had always been a positive presence in his life. She was a motherly figure who he could confide in if he needed it, though she tried to respect his boundaries. Jack had inherited a lot from her. Her love of the outdoors, her kind demeanor, and her absolutely ridiculous height. If only he had inherited her fashion sense, too.
She was a boisterous, sunny person. The polar opposite of his own mother, but he liked to believe they would have been friends.
“Mrs. Howl, darling! How are you!” He stepped into her hug and braced to be crushed by her massive arms. Regna barked out a laugh, patting him on the back.
“None of that now, Vil! You’re a grown man now, you can call me Regna!”
She stepped back, looking over his outfit. “Or… Grown woman? Neither? Sorry, you know how Jack is. He never updates me on his friends.”
“Still male, Regna. Mostly. Just a paragon of fashion.” Vil replied with a smile. “I appreciate the consideration, though.”
“Huh, so this is what the kids are wearing? Jackie never wears anything besides muscle shirts now.” She shook her head sadly. “He told me all about how you dolled him up for that fairy thing, but he won’t show me any pictures!”
Ooh. That’s some blackmail material. Vil filed that one away in the back of his mind.
“Mom! Can I get a snack?” Vil stumbled forward as something bumped the back of his legs, catching himself on Regna’s cart. He looked around himself in confusion until he found the little girl who had just crashed into him. She seemed just as surprised to see him.
“Autumn! Don’t be rude! You just barged right inta him!”
Autumn stared at him, her left ear flicking once. Her hair had been styled into a cute little bob, decorated with a sparkly butterfly hairclip. She looked quite a bit taller than the last time he had seen her, and her normally silver-gray fur had turned white in the winter’s chill.
“S’rry mis’sr.” She mumbled, narrowing her eyes at him. She didn’t seem very sorry.
“Autumn, do you remember Vil Schoenheit? Jack’s friend?”
“No.” Autumn answered bluntly. She scurried behind her mother, warily peeking out to glare at him. Regna sighed.
“Sorry. She’s going through a shy phase.”
“It’s alright. I haven’t been home since she was… around four? It’s no wonder I’d seem like a stranger to her.”
“Hey! I’m not a baby, and I’m not in a “phase”.” Autumn huffed, but she didn’t step out from behind her mother.
“Nah, you are a baby.” Another voice added. A preteen boy shuffled up to them, barely looking up from the screen of his handheld game console. He was clearly experimenting with his style. Still wearing childish graphic tees of videogame characters, but he had pulled one on over a striped long-sleeved shirt and accessorized with a spiked collar and bracelets.
It was painfully middle school, but in an adorable way. His ears swiveled to take in the sounds around him as he played his game. Unlike his sister, his fur was still clinging to the last bits of his summer coat, unless… Was that hair dye?
Drew Howl’s eyes casually flicked up at Vil, then he did a double take. He looked the man up and down, confusion evident in his face.
“Vil?”
“That is my name, yes.”
“Why are you dressed like a woman?” Drew asked. He was staring at the hem of Vil’s skirt.
“Clothes do not have gender, and the sooner you accept that, the freer you will be.” Vil smirked at the boy, flicking his hair back.
“Why are you two like this.” Regna groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose. “All I ask of you is to be polite to people.”
“If he’s Jack’s friend, he won’t care!” Autumn protested.
At the mention of Jack, Vil froze. Oh no. If the other Howl children were here, then Jack must be…
“I can’t believe he didn’t tell me you were coming back! I’ll have to give him an earful when we get home.”
Oh thank god Jack’s not here. Vil felt the knot in his chest unravel and clear, finally giving him space to breathe.
“Did your dad get back alright? You two enjoying yourselves?”
Oh. Right. She wouldn’t know about that. Vil had been hoping to avoid this conversation, because he knew exactly where it was going to go. But he couldn’t lie to Regna. She would absolutely be able to tell.
So he sighed and told her the truth, that his father had been stranded in a town thousands of miles from the Shaftlands and he was now stuck home alone for the winter.
Once he finished the story, Regna brought her hand to her gaping mouth in both shock and sympathy. “Vil, you sweet baby! You’re going to be alone for the whole break?”
“He said ‘about a week’. He could be out before it ends.” I doubt it.
Regna reached out to grip his shoulders. “Vil. Honey. You have to come home with us tonight. And no, you don’t have a choice on this.”
Ah. There it is.
Vil tried to force a diplomatic smile. “I would love to, but I couldn’t possibly impose on your family during the holidays.”
“You think we care about that?! Don’t you remember how we used to keep presents for you under the tree? Far as we’re concerned, you’re an honorary Howl, and no Howl is gonna be left all alone on the winter solstice.”
“I don’t know this man.” Autumn piped up. Regna lightly swatted the back of her head without turning away from Vil.
Vil’s heart ached sharply at her words. As much as he wanted to take her up on the offer, he couldn’t help but think of Jack, and how awkward things were going to be. His family would surely notice, and then they’d get involved, and then all sorts of secrets would come tumbling out of him thanks to his damn sentimentality.
“Well, if you insist… I’d love to.” Vil smiled, but inside he was screaming at himself for being so stupid.
The three Howls followed him home in their minivan so he could return his car to the garage and grab an overnight bag. He climbed into the passenger’s seat, trying to ignore how Drew was glaring at him. It seems I’ve stolen shotgun from someone, he thought.
It was a quick ride, only a few blocks over. Vil glanced out the window at the passing houses. Many of them were already lit up for the night. He’d always found it charming how different the light displays would be from neighbor to neighbor, some classy gold and others a multicolored explosion of festivity. He wondered how the Howls had decorated this year.
…
They had inflatables. Of course the Howl family would have inflatables. A pudgy 12-foot-tall snowman bobbed in the breeze, tipping his hat to them.
The two younger Howl siblings piled out of the car, bolting for the door. Regna yelled after them to get their butts back here and help with the groceries. Vil chuckled and went around to the back with her, though she insisted she didn’t need his help, he was a guest, don’t worry about it-
And then the snow had crunched as someone walked towards them and Vil turned and felt his face turn bright red despite the below-freezing temperatures.
Jack stood by the fence, staring wide-eyed at him. He looked… Good. Someone (his mother, probably) had bought him a nice jacket, one that emphasized his broad shoulders and made his silhouette sleek and eye-catching against the pure white snow. Vil tried to lift a hand and wave gracefully at him, but his attempt was blocked by the heavy bag of canned stuffing he was carrying.
“Jackie, look who I ran into!” Regna crooned, oblivious to the panic that both boys were feeling. “Did you know he was coming home for the holidays?”
“No,” Jack answered simply, “He didn’t tell me.”
“Oh, I suppose you wouldn’t see each other as much now. You’re doing your 4th year internship, aren’t you?” Regna asked him, piling bags into her son’s arms. Jack didn’t tear his eyes away from Vil.
He is taller than her. Vil thought.
“Right. Yes. Yes, for cosmetics. My thesis is about, um, starting up a brand. Of. Cosmetics.”
If Regna had noticed his stammering, she didn’t acknowledge it. “Well! That sounds absolutely perfect for you, dear! You need to start thinking about what yours will be, Jackie.”
“Yeah, ma, I know.” Jack finally looked away. Vil was relieved, but he also felt a little… cold.
Regna trotted into the house with her arms full of bags. Jack followed behind her. Vil had frozen by the front gate, still holding the bag of stuffing.
Jack stomped up the steps, each loud footfall echoing through Vil’s head.
The boy paused on the porch and looked back over his shoulder. “You coming or not?” Vil could tell that he was trying to sound unfazed, but his slightly bent ears betrayed his sheepishness.
“Oh! Oh, right. I’ll be right there.”
Jack looked down at Vil’s shoes as he walked through the yard. “Why are you wearing those?”
Vil pouted. Really? This is the first thing he’s going to say after we’ve ignored each other for months? “They’re snow boots. I assume you’re familiar with them.”
“No, that’s not… I didn’t…” Jack sighed and reached up with his free hand to scratch the back of his neck. “I just meant… They don’t seem like your style. There’s no heels.”
“I don’t always wear heels. I don’t jog in heels.” Vil knew he was being childish, jabbing at him like that. But it was only a joke. He was definitely not mad about Jack skipping jogging. Really.
“We both know you would if you could.” Jack deadpanned.
“…Damn.” He whispered under his breath. Jack let out a strange noise at that. The larger boy looked away, his mouth twitching and air puffing out of his nose.
Wait. Was he trying to hold back a laugh?
Vil felt warmth filling his chest. Yes, this was it. This was him, the sweet little Jack Howl who used to show off for him, clambering up trees only to fall back down into his lap. The boy who tried so hard to be mature, not knowing that his childish side was what really made him special.
He hadn’t realized how much he had missed it.
“Can I expect that as a present, Jack? Some high-heeled running shoes?” Jack lost it and leaned against the porch column to laugh.
“Y-You would look ridiculous!” He managed to stammer out in between gasping breaths.
“I never look ridiculous, Jackie. I might even start a trend.” Vil stepped sprightly through the snow, a weight finally lifted off his slender shoulders. He joined Jack on the porch and gave him his best model’s smile.
“Dumbass. You are such a dumbass.”
“Now Jack, what happened to all that respect for your upperclassmen?” Vil feigned indignation, bringing his palm up to gasp into it.
“You’re barely my upperclassman now. I can call you whatever I want.”
“Just don’t call him late for dinner!” Regna called from inside the house. “I need those groceries, boys, you can flirt later!”
“M-Ma?! What the hell?! We weren’t flirting!” Jack yelled through the door; his face flushed.
He stomped into the house as Vil double over with laughter.
Malleus
SEASON’S GREETINGS, SCHOENHEIT.
Hello, Malleus. I see Lilia finally taught you how to text.
YES.
THIS IS VERY CONVENIENT, IT’S MUCH QUICKER THAN A LETTER.
BUT I AM SORRY MY WORDS ARE ALL CAPITALS, I DON’T KNOW HOW TO TURN IT OFF.
Tap the arrow on the left side of your keyboard.
oh! that fixed it.
wait, now all of my letters are lowercase.
this isn’t how you’re supposed to write a sentence.
You tap the arrow once to use 1 capital letter.
It will switch back after that.
I see, now I’ve got it. Thank you.
For what it’s worth, most people don’t mind if you type incorrectly when texting.
It’s supposed to be fast, after all.
I dislike that.
This human language was constructed this way for a reason.
I worked very hard to learn it and keep abreast of its changes over the years, so I would like to use it properly.
I completely agree with you.
Finally, someone else who cares about proper spelling and grammar.
I’m glad to hear that, but I didn’t contact you to discuss proper typing etiquette.
I understand that I’ve inconvenienced you again.
I’m not sure what you mean? We haven’t even been in the same room for months.
I am referring to the storm that has prevented you from reuniting with your father.
Oh.
Don’t worry about it, Malleus. It’s not as if you did it on purpose.
He’s safe, that’s all that matters to me.
It’ll blow over soon and he’ll be home in no time.
Yes, but I am still responsible.
So I wanted to say that I am sorry.
Well, if you want to apologize that badly, I’ll accept it.
How did you find out about that?
I heard about it from Lilia, and he said he “heard it from Cater, who heard it from Deuce, who heard it from Epel.”
Word certainly gets around fast.
I think you simply have too many friends who associate with Diamond, he’s always looking to get involved in something.
Sounds like Epel is the real problem here.
I’ll have to call him and set him straight.
If I text him he’ll just leave me on read.
What does that mean?
It means he read the message but didn’t respond.
That’s very rude of him!
I know, right?
I’m learning so much from this little device.
I will have to try contacting some other people.
You should send Yuu these characters:
:) and <3
What is that?
It’s a secret code for expressing your undying affection for that person.
Oh! That’s wonderful!
I’ll send it to them right away.
THEY ALSO WROTE ME A “:)” AND A “<3”.
Sorry, I tapped the arrow again.
They also wrote me a “:)” and a “<3”.
You two are too adorable.
You should try talking to Leona next.
I will not be doing that, thank you.
What is the opposite of the “:)” and “<3”?
:( and </3
This is how I feel about the idea of talking to Leona:
:( and </3