Happy 2036

Adeline clutched her kite harder, keeping her eyes low. He was right. If nothing was wrong, she'd be able to keep walking with him on the way back. Coming up with some kind of excuse wouldn't work right now. It was too late for that, wasn't it? He wouldn't have any reason to leave her behind unless she could think of something or remember something that would be useful right now. Any deus ex machina or secret passageway that was hidden in the forest or anything. God, why was she so dumb? She should've figured he would be able to read through all of this and make it impossible to lie. All she could do was smile, no words planning to leave or voice themselves out. All she could do was look away and pretend he hadn't caught her red-handed in a criminal act.

She glanced downward to her leg for a few seconds, averting them to keep attention away from it. There wasn't anything that she knew how to do. Even walking seemed like a chore that she'd never be able to accomplish. What else was she going to forget how to do? Talk? See? Breath? It was only the inevitable. Racking her mind for something to say, they traced back towards the fact that all of her belongings were back at the closed up cafe. All of her belongings included her school bags and dorm keys... Oh, right. She forgot her keys again. Of course. Going to the office for the master key or to get a replacement would take too much time, but she couldn't ask him to let her stay over again. All the more reason to try and get him to go back first.

"I c-can't let you d-do that..." That sounded much better in her head; out loud, it sounded completely fucking stupid. Adeline bit her lip. Trying to drive him away was proving more difficult than she would've thought. Why couldn't he just leave her alone? It'd be better if he did. It'd benefit them both. It was advantageous if they went separately - she could spend time in Rosebury and grab her things first in the morning while he wouldn't have to deal with her and get the rest he needed. That, and she could check if she injured herself without him ever finding out, right? It's a complete win-win situation either way. Why was he being so insistent on having her continue with him. "I j-just... c-can't."

"Oh?" He said shifting his position slightly. "And why is that?" He said being a bit sassy. She didn't have control over what he did. He could do what ever he pleased. He could stay out here if he wanted to. His expression grew cold for a moment, before he chased it away. This wasn't his mother he was talking to. She wasn't trying to limit his freedom.. God he was an idiot.

There was something wrong, and she wouldn't tell Magic what it was. "Come on Adeline, just tell me." He wouldn't be angry. He wouldn't get angry. He might have been through some shit, but he swear he could take whatever it was. Even if it was just a sprained ankle.

She hated herself for flinching back the moment a glare covered his features and evaporated as quickly as it came. To see him get angry at her all because she was trying to keep him out of her problems... it wasn't fair of her to rouse him like this. Adeline didn't allow her smile to waver or fall away when he spoke back to her, not even making the effort to try and interrupt him or try and tell him otherwise. Just tell him? Did Magic think it was really that easy? He'd surely get mad at her for holding all of this in and never trying to confront him about it.

He already knew she didn't care if she died. What would he think if he knew she was taking the long way out of the gate? Wouldn't he get mad at her, knowing she had done something stupid to herself again? He already hated it when she healed him. He didn't even stop to think about whether or not that had any detrimental effects on her, did he? He just hated it because it seemed to make her weaker temporarily or lose consciousness. Gifts were flawed, but she was fine with it as long as Magic never found out about the long-term effects. It wouldn't hurt to tell him a white lie that had some truth to it. She already told too many.

Adeline found herself laughing halfheartedly again, albeit it was short-lived. "I'm s-sorry. I w-was l-l-lying to y-you." Wasn't that the truth? He didn't know a tenth of it. She didn't know why she was stating the obvious when there was little to no point in doing so. Magic already knew from the start that she wasn't being honest with him. "I d-did sort of... uhm... I c-can't r-r-really walk without... uhm..." She wasn't lying to him. There wasn't anything for him to detect that would seem like she was messing around with him. As long as he didn't know why she didn't say something earlier, then it was fine.

"I-I'm sorry..."

He knew there was more too it than that but he was going to give her the relief of thinking that he wasn't going assume anything else was wrong. "So you did hurt yourself jumping down from the tree. Honestly that is no big deal, I can help you get back to the school." He was pretty decent at covering things up. He let his calm demeanor return just for the moment. "Would you like me to help you?" He asked, just to make sure.

It is a big deal was what she wanted to say, but Adeline held the words back, refusing to let him hear that. There was way more to it than she was letting on and at least Magic seemed to have believed that much and didn't bother questioning her about it. Anymore and she would've found herself telling him things that weren't for him to hear. Even then, she didn't know if she actually hurt herself from that kind of leap. Or was it the height that did her in? That didn't really matter. If she had gotten a sprained ankle or something from that kind of thing - which would be lucky, considering the fact that it probably should be broken with her fragile disposition - then that was probably the thing preventing her from walking decently. To think that it was affecting her more than slamming into a tree from the force of sound. Perhaps she had better control of herself there, but the lack of support from one ankle shouldn't be affecting her this much... right?

When Magic immediately offered to help her, waving her hands in a dismissive gesture, the kite sinking into the snow once she let go of it. No, no, no. He wasn't helping her. That would be too much trouble and a completely unnecessary burden. She was the one that made the mistake. At least let her pay the price for it, but even then, how could she try and keep her balance if she couldn't feel where all of the pain was concentrated and making her fall?

Bending down, Adeline snatched her kite from the floor, the uneven placement of weight on her feet causing her to topple over. One hand caught her before she completely fell over, but standing up again was proving more trouble than it was worth. Her legs were too wobbly, as though she was learning to walk again for the first time, and she had to lean against the tree for balance once she managed to get up. She needed help, didn't she? At first, she had considered saying that she was fine and she could try to walk back on her own, but now that she looked at the situation fully, there was no way she could. "I'm s-sorry... I d-didn't want to tr-trouble you, but... I-I..." Her fingers readjusted her scarf, distorting and muffling her voice.

Carefully, she reached up, lightly brushing the white powdery snow off his head, clearing it from his disheveled hair with a smile. "I f-failed doing th-that, didn't I?" She was always troubling him with her problems and constantly relying on him. It wasn't fair that she could never do anything in return.

Magic gave off a sigh, then gave the girl a soft smile. "Adeline, It's not any trouble for me at all. I help you because I want to, I'm not looking for any return or some extra gain." He said as he watched her hand get rid of the snow on his messy hair. "And you can't fail at something you never did." Referring to her supposed failure in not causing him trouble.

For once he actually noticed her hair. Ever since he showed her how to braid her hair she seem to be wearing it like that more. He liked it. He was actually proud of his one hair related skill for once. "I like the braid by the way. Anyway, how would you like me to help you get back to the school? I could carry you, or I could help you walk or something." He said listing off some ideas. She probably didn't want him to carry her for the fear of her gift getting to him or something.

It was one thing for him to tell him that he would help her because he wanted to - that was kind of understandable -, but it was a completely different thing when he said that she hadn't failed at something that she never did. She never troubled him before? Seriously? If Adeline could travel back to the past and count each time she had to depend on him to help her, there would be too many to count. Scratch that, if she tried to count for everyone who wound up helping her because she was so goddamn weak, it'd be too large, it'd be too much, as countless as the stars in the sky. Even trying to prove to Kearn that she could do something on her own was a futile effort. In the end, all she did was lean back on another person who happened to be around and was willing to help such a sickly and fragile-looking girl. A parasite who fed off of others. That's all she really was.

Before her mouth could open and retort back to him, it immediately shut as he beat her to it. Her braid? It was still in one? Adeline glanced over her shoulder a bit and after awhile, she managed to register that it was tied back with the scrap blue ribbons from home. Rosy red crept onto her cheeks and she was silently thankful that it was too dark for Magic to actually see anything. "I-It's not really... uhm..." Taking a step back, the braids loosened themselves until her hair lie flat, unrestrained by an unidentifiable object. His compliment wasn't much... she wasn't really able to tie it that well and it was awfully loose in comparison to what it should be. She needed practice. Practice makes perfect, right?

Maybe she could do that.

If she had the time for it. No, it was selfish to use her own time to try and learn something trivial when she could be helping someone else.

... Now that Magic mentioned it, how did she plan to have him help her back? Wait, plan? No, no. This wasn't even what she wanted. She would've been perfectly content with staying out in the forest, but if Magic would be staying with her, he'd definitely get sick. It must be too cold for him to be out here for the rest of the night. Her eyes dropped back down to the one that she thought was the defective leg and her smile died a little. "Well... I-I...." Asking him to be a balance for her wasn't a good idea when she wasn't 100% sure which one was causing her to stumble. But to carry her back? That was... a bit much. That was what Kearn or her father always did when she was younger. It made her seem lazy, taking advantage of her weaknesses to make others do the work for her. It made her seem much more like a child. Everything she did was child-like.

"I d-don't know..." There was her dependency again. Asking Magic to make the decision for her; her self-confidence always wavered whenever she needed it the most. Her hand stuffed the velvet blue ribbons into one of her pockets, rubbing them between her fingers out of sight. What was she doing?

Magic frowned. He didn't want to make her uncomfortable by carrying her, but she was bound to be uncomfortable no matter what. Carrying her would probably only make it worse. He ran a hand through his hair shaking it free of any snow that might have collected on his head again. Well this was a bit of a predicament. Maybe this could work? "How about we just walk along, and you can use my arm for support whenever you need it." It was a simple solution, and probably the best on the uncomfortable level. Hopefully it would work.

Walk along and use for support whenever needed. Right, right... That was a good suggestion and Adeline would've been fine with it under different circumstances. The current predicament she was in didn't really allow that. There was a 50-50 chance of her choosing which foot was the injured one and which one wasn't, but she never was really good at guessing. Picking the incorrect one would lead her to fall even more than needed and actually break her leg instead of getting away with a silly lil' sprain. Ahaha, then again, broken bones weren't all that bad when you compare it to a few other things that happened here and there. Why was she practically made out of glass?

Avoid looking down to the floor, at least try and pretend to make eye contact and look at the horizon. Chin up a bit and try to think. Think, think, think. What was another solution they could do? Makeshift cane? Leaning on him? Wait, no, that was the same thing as using Magic as a support. No, no. Her entire thought process was degrading him to some random object that she could use and using him was the last thing she actually wanted to do. Adeline bit her lip, fidgeting with the ends of her kite.

If she didn't go along with this, he'd probably suspect more was up. After all, what normal person didn't know where they injured themselves? The searing and agonizing pain that shot through as your nerves sent the message to your brain. Magic wasn't the kind of person to keep pushing her for answers that she'd never give him until he found out on his own. It wasn't worth it to have him be concerned when he could easily be focused on something else. Taking a deep breath, Adeline shook her head. "I-I'm sorry... I don't th-think that'll w-work." Please don't ask, please don't ask.

She probably shouldn't be gambling with fate now of all times, yet she was clinging onto the hope that he wouldn't bother. "M-maybe I'm j-just making a big deal out o-of n-nothing." Maybe, right. She wouldn't know unless she tried to check.

He glanced over to her, kind of curious as to why it wouldn't work, but it was probably just another thing she was hiding from him. Something he would ask about later, get ignored, or she would try to change the subject or something just to avoid the question. Only for him to ask again at a later date and have her finally reveal stuff after a lot amount of time. That's how things normally were, wasn't it?

He shook his head slightly, discarding the thought. He let out a soft hum as he thought of what to do. There wasn't much to do. "Well we could find you a walking stick or something. Or I could carry you." Those were solutions. They weren't that great of solutions but they were solutions.

Adeline pondered on his words, trying to come up with the best plan of action. Those were the only two choices left, weren't they? Carrying would be far too uncomfortable for the both of them and by carrying, what was he implying again? There were a lot of ways that someone could be carried and on the front side was a bit too much. Bridal style... or something. That was reserved for newly wed couples and Magic would most definitely not do that. Not at all. Nope. Of course, there was also carry as in well... piggy-back. What little children asked their parents to do for them constantly or whenever they felt tired and needed the rest. While that was certainly not as bad as the first option, it was what kids did. The youth - one of the features that made them seem so innocent. But with her, that was only affirming her position as a child who needed someone to assist them with everything.

Walking stick was definitely a choice they could opt for, but considering her inability to walk decently, bending down to get one would be difficult. Magic would have to search for one and that could take awhile unless he used his gift to cut one or something; that would be a waste of his own strength. Besides, even with a walking device, he'd still have to help her, wouldn't he? She was just some burden in the end. This wasn't worth the effort to think about. It was such a headache that she was making a big deal out of a sprain of all things. Agh, someone shoot her already.

So if they weren't going to waste anymore time with this conversation and scavenging, that left only one option.

Her cheeks grew redder and if she could, she would've buried her face into her hands. A kite being held onto was not helping matters. Carefully, Adeline used the string to tie it slightly loosely around like a backpack, freeing her hands, which were now folded in front of her. "I d-don't w-want you to go o-out of your w-way to f-find one..." Or go out of his way to help her either, but at this point, saying that wasn't an option. And she involuntarily slashed out a decent choice, erasing it from existence. Why was she always troubling and bothering him?

Magic let out a deep breath, a swell of white escaping his mouth. "Well the only option left is to carry you." He crossed his arms as he thought about what would be better. It would be awkward to carry her bridal style, not to mention the fact they all the weight would be on his arms. If he carried her on his back it would be slightly easier for him, and maybe less awkward.

He turned away from her, and crouched down. "Get on my back." He said simply then realized she might want some explanation. "It's the easiest way for me to carry you." He said as a small explanation.

Well, yeah. It was rather blatant and that was the only real option left after she dashed everything else off the board like the stupid idiot she was. But for Magic to have been so straightforward with it made her a tad bit more queasy than she should've. Her fingers reached for her collar, pulling at it as though it would alleviate whatever simmering discomfort that was welling up in her chest. Wait, he was actually going through with it? Oh... oh... Before she could fully register one scene from the next, he was already crouched down and telling her to get on. Adeline blinked, fumbling for some sort of response to give him. A terse giggle passed her lips as she found herself unable to find the right words with all of them vacuumed back down her throat. There had to be some way to fix this situation and have him not help her, right? Maybe staying in the forest wasn't so bad. It wasn't like she was going to get sick or anything.

To have injured herself from jumping off a tree was one thing. To have injured herself and require help for it when it shouldn't have been that big of a deal was another thing. She should learn to make better decisions if she had the time to do that. Maybe a bucket-list or something would be a good idea to keep track... check it all off, live life to its fullest while she still could before fading away into nothing. She'd stop existing and be a hazy-eyed dream of the past. Heh, her decisions were always bad. What did she really want?

Oh wait, getting off-track. Mumbling a quiet apology under her breath, Adeline shot a nervous glance over her shoulder. There was nothing. Of course there was. It's not like some ghost or other creature would suddenly pop up out of nowhere. Ahaha... maybe she'd be given the honor of having God come down from his throne in heaven to spare her himself.

Swallowing her anxiety, she found herself reluctantly obeying after moments of deliberation, her arms wrapping themselves around his neck. Of all days to be around Magic, it had to be today. If she wasn't already embarrassed from before, then this might've done it. She practically looked like a twelve year-old, acted like a twelve year-old, and needed things like a twelve year-old. Hell, she probably weighed as much as a kid to him. Just how child-like could she get? How tense was she? As rigid and stiff as a wooden board? Her eyes remained glued to the ground, chin rested delicately on his shoulder. "I-I'm uhm... sorry..." You know what would be a good thing? If she just learned to shut her mouth already. Opening it was bad enough but the more effort she put into speaking, the more she seemed to be embarrassing herself or burdening someone else that happened to conveniently be there.

The trek back seemed to last an eternity and it probably took longer since he was literally being weighed down by her. It would be awkward walking through the courtyard and back to the dorms and... agh. It was awkward enough like this but it'd be even worse explaining to him that she didn't have her keys with her and could barely walk. Staying in his dorm that one night was one thing since there was nobody else around thanks to being shipped off to the Frontier, but with his roommates back too? Adeline bit her lip, burying her head into his back to hide away the crimson red that seemed to be crawling onto her cheeks. Maybe if she just closed her eyes and tried to sleep, she'd fall into an eternal slumber that would never be broken.

Sleeping Beauty. The princess that would never wake up because there was no prince that would ever come. It sounded cool, didn't it? Or maybe she was being stupid again. Adeline took a quick breath to dislodge the one hitched in her throat. Dear god, this was terrible. She shouldn't have asked him this at all and never brought attention to it. She was really bad at pretending and acting so how the hell did she manage to make it this far? Maybe it was because of Magic's gift. Couldn't it have been something else? Voice manipulation? Mimicry? Something that didn't let him hear every layer to her voice?

If only it could be that convenient.

... How much longer until they'd reach the towering metal gates that signified the beginning of the school? Any longer and she'd keep berating herself and overthinking silly things that would only lead to further embarrassment. Impatient much? She should at least be grateful that Magic was fine with taking his own time to help her... or wasting his own time. Or maybe she wanted it to last a little longer so that it was only the two of them. Alone. In a Winter Wonderland...

Please just let her melt into the snow and pretend nothing had happened. Not him seeing her in the forest or that awkward conversation or the kis--- Ahaha... Right. No way he'd like her like that. And there's no way she should like him like that either.

Magic stood up once she had a grasp around him, he used his arms to support her slightly so she wouldn't fall off. She wasn't that heavy, but he was right about the bridal style thing. If he carried her like that the whole way his arms would have fallen off. He made a mental note to start going to the gym everyday to work on his muscles slightly. He was slacking off too much.

When she spoke again her soft voice was right in his ear causing him to shiver slightly, he wasn't used to having someone speak while being that close to his ear. Not to mention it was slightly loud, but it wasn't uncomfortable. He didn't bother to respond to what she had, he just decided it was best to get started on the trek back to the school.

He took his time with getting back, because he didn't want to be in a rush, and rattle the girl as he walked. Instead he focused on having his walking be slightly smoother, so that meant going a little slow. It wasn't because she was weighing him down or anything. It didn't take as long as it felt to reach the gates of the school. When the reached the gates Magic listened around for voices to determine where people were. He didn't want to take the chance of running into drunk people even if it meant it would take longer.

He decided to pick up the pace slightly, but still kept his stride smooth. After that they reached the dorm building in a moment or two. He stopped at the entrance, and stood still. "Do you think you can make it from here? There is something I have to take care of else where.." He lied slightly. In truth, despite being tired, he wanted to go back out and avoid all the noises of the campus. There was no way he could sleep while this was going on. As far as he could remember he was never able to sleep on new years anyway.

He was looping around constantly and making the school seem more like a giant maze than it should've been. At first, she was wondering why and almost opened her mouth to ask about it, but the first time, he seemed to flinch when she spoke... Right, she was right at his ear. That must not be good at all for him. It was one thing to say that she wasn't thinking the first time. It was another thing to do it again, fully aware of his superhearing and how much of a headache it'd give him. Don't speak. Don't open her mouth, don't even try to do anything that would remotely cause an unnecessary amount of noise. If she thought about it that way, that probably meant she should stop breathing as well, but doing that would result in death or something along those lines. Adeline flirted with the idea for awhile, but decided against it.

Magic would think it was his fault if she suddenly died like that.

Somehow, she didn't understand why he would care or how she jumped to that conclusion, but it was lodged in her mind and she couldn't get rid of it. Blaming himself for something he didn't do might be a little more catastrophic than necessary. He had overreacted a bit when she told him she should die and that he should forget her. Ahaha...  overreacted a bit was a complete understatement, glossing over the situation and letting those unpleasant details slide away like ice. It was hard to imagine his reaction if she drifted to nonexistence now. Maybe he wouldn't react at all. Maybe he wouldn't notice. That was a bit wishful, wasn't it?

How would he react if she told him what really happened back then? About... Ah, never mind. That was for another day. No need to mull over the past now.

They must've looked silly coming back. The way it looked, Magic must've been using his hearing to avoid people, but the few pedestrians that seemed to be around and weren't enjoying the party were shooting them odd looks, and she certainly couldn't throw any fault into that. The famous-infamous Winter prefect was carrying someone who had a swallow-kite on their back with lights attached to its tail like glistening streamers whose face wasn't visible from burying it into his shoulders. Normal wasn't something that existed at this school, but... never mind, this wasn't that bad. Just weird and a tad bit interesting perhaps. She was silently grateful that everyone was too occupied with their party for New Year, but it probably didn't matter to Magic when he can hear it all anyway.

Maybe she should do it while she had the chance right now... he wouldn't notice the difference until it was too late. Mentally, she began to count to ten in her mind, and exhaled softly. Magic would get mad if it was permanent, but if she just held onto it for a few nights then it'd be alright. Temporary exchange... something new. The necklace hidden underneath her scarf rang with the dulcet melodies of a bell, glowing a slight red as she focused. A drain of time for how a certain organ functioned.

It was slow and subtle, something that was barely noticeable, like sand trickling down an hourglass, each grain falling through one by one in a single-file line. The volumes around her wavered and fluctuated up and down before escalating upward further and further. Time and seconds were increasing, amplifying her hearing. If she knew any better, she was experiencing a headache. An overflow of information that her mind wasn't used to processing. I'm sorry. Her vision seemed bleary and hazy for a few seconds, attempting to refocus itself as though it were the lenses on a camera.

Whispers, screaming, breaths, heartbeats. The yelling of people playing truth or dare or pressuring someone else into taking a drink. All of the commotion, music, noise that seemed to seep through the walls like intangible water - like air. Too much, but she couldn't go back on this. She didn't need the sleep like Magic did; she couldn't sleep anyway. Her ability to was lost some time ago.

By the time they had reached the Winter dormitory, Adeline hastily got off, leaning against the wall for support in a wobbly manner. A winged mark had embedded itself into her skin on the surface of her hand, signifying the success of the temporary exchange and she quickly stuffed said hand into one of her pockets. When Magic mentioned something else, she blinked, tilting her head to the side. With her free hand, her index finger rested on her cheek in questioning.

"O-oh... You're b-busy at th-three in the m-morning...?" What would he have to do at this time? A cheerful smile rose on her features as she tried to ignore the flood of noises. It was like a satellite obtaining too much information at once and threatening to burst and malfunction. Before he could answer, Adeline feverishly shook her head. "Ah, I-I m-mean... I-It's j-just that... uhm... y-you n-need the sl-sleep." She found herself lowering her head in complete embarrassment, her cheeks turning to a rosy red.

More chatter, whispering, screaming, hollering. The Autumn dorms were creating quite a ruckus, weren't they? She forced her arm to lay flat at her side to try and muffle it or anything. So much... a boombox right next to her ears. Or earphones plugged in and playing at full volume with multiple sounds going off - music, videos, games, calls, everything imaginable.

Softly, she uttered an apology. "I'm s-sorry for a-asking." Without another word, Adeline spun on her heel, fingers fumbling around to untie her kite until it was held in her hands and with a bit of care in her steps, she walked down the hallways towards her room from the entrance where the snow was glowing white, even among the darkness with the assistance of the stars above.

Five days. He'll have his hearing back by then.

Maybe she had an extra key somewhere in her pockets. After a bit of searching, she found tucked in her boot. Luck favored her today, didn't it?

Turning the doorknob and opening it, her smile died the moment she was out of his sight. Blue eyes glanced over at a particular cabinet in her room. Slowly, she sunk to the floor, her legs snapping like lead, and took a deep breath. Later, she told herself.

Later...

Right.