Veronica Roth // Charlotte Eriksson

Veronica Roth // Charlotte Eriksson

free

sua lumina, sidus.

Angela Carter, from The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories; “The Erl-King,”

𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐈𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐒𝐀𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐔 𝐓𝐎 𝐌𝐀𝐊𝐄 𝐇𝐈𝐌 𝐑𝐄𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐓 𝐀 𝐏𝐄𝐀𝐂𝐄 𝐎𝐅𝐅𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆. Lowering his guard around the young prodigy was his first mistake --- of course Satoru would fight dirty. This was his best friend, after all ---- a boy that always had to get the last word in every heated discussion ( much to Suguru's frustration. )

Suguru practically yelped in surprise as Satoru yanked him down, his eyes impossibly wide as gravity made sure that he landed almost directly on top of the other. He scrambled to get away before things got even worse for him, but apparently Satoru had planned his full blown sabotage exceptionally well, leaving nowhere for Suguru to go other than locked underneath Satoru's weight.

❝ H-hey! ❞ Suguru sputtered, his eyebrows furrowing as annoyance forced his lips into a frown. His hands gripped at Satoru's arms, trying to shake him off or at least knock him off balance ---- unfortunately to no avail. Suguru's bangs were now in his face, blocking some of his vision as he angrily stared up at the other. He blew them to the side, disgruntled, before reaching upward to flick Satoru's nose. ❝ Has anyone ever told you that you're annoying as hell? ❞

Now it was his turn to pout.

𝐁𝐎𝐋𝐃 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐒 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐒𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐖𝐇𝐎 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐉𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐍𝐀𝐈𝐋𝐄𝐃 𝐇𝐈𝐌 𝐁𝐄𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐄𝐆𝐒; "I didn't want to actually hurt you" -- pfft ! Satoru audibly scoffed, but then laughed -- he couldn't actually be mad at Suguru, though the dull ache that remained was a tempting factor to allow to tip the scales. It felt almost nice to get... not coddled, but concern(?) thrown his way, even in the lighthearted weight Suguru wielded now. he never really got into situations where him getting hurt was a possible outcome, so this exchange was certainly new.

He was less hunched inward now, reaching out to grasp onto Suguru's offered hand after a moment spent contemplating it. His more mischievous, bratty side had a flare of desire... to use the friendly gesture of sportsmanship against Suguru. And honestly? He caved to it, despite its initial spark being a 50/50 coin toss of 'play nice' and 'fight dirty' ------ so Satoru sought to yank Suguru abruptly onto the ground with a whipping grab and harsh pull, hopefully leading into a messy tumble and subsequently a pinned down Suguru. Maybe he'd manage to wind him a bit on the way down to fully make them square.

❝ ---- GOTCHA ! ❞

They could illegally drink and watch some twisted horror movie or something more up Suguru's alley after this, he just wanted some payback first.

𝐒𝐀𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐔 𝐖𝐀𝐒𝐍’𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐎𝐍𝐋𝐘 𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐆𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐒, 𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐋𝐘 —- though he was certainly the more obvious of the two.  Suguru had grown accustomed to the sensation of the Six Eyes ability, watching him… that strange omnipresence sliding over his jawline, and the nape of his neck like the caress of a ghost.  It was an inexplicable feeling, though one he found himself oddly comforted by. 

Despite feeling Satoru studying him quite openly, Suguru never made it known that he was aware of the other’s burning gaze.  He felt the flutter of butterflies in his stomach, all the same —- his skin prickling as he forced his expression to remain neutral, to not give it all away. 

The right corner of his mouth had twitched upwards anyway, betraying that calm, collected demeanor Suguru so often hid behind. As Satoru threw an arm around him, pulling him into an excited half-embrace, Suguru left out a lighthearted chuckle, leaning into the touch without even realizing.

❝ Skipping out on the report, huh?  How unexpected of you~ ❞  the curse user replied with the slight rolling of his eyes.  The world around them carried on as usual —- crowds of people rushing into subway stations to get to their destinations while pedestrian lights blinked at intersections, vehicles frozen in time… billboards illuminating the glass windows of the buildings around them —-- the chaos of Tokyo a stark contrast to the subtleties of young love, still unspoken, unacknowledged…

❝ Fine, fine — stop that! ❞  Suguru playfully swatted at Satoru’s finger, still poking and prodding at his cheek.  ❝ You don’t have to convince me, I was on board the second you mentioned food.  Can we get soba though? It’s been a while and I have a craving…❞

He couldn’t help but smile at the mention of bubble tea. Of course Satoru wanted to stop somewhere for something sweet. A predictable pit stop, but the idea of going somewhere that made Satoru so stupidly happy made his own heart sing. 

❝ You and that sweet tooth… still on the brown sugar kick, or are you planning on switching it up? ❞

𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐈𝐑 𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐀𝐍 𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐘 𝐒𝐔𝐂𝐂𝐄𝐒𝐒 -- 𝐓𝐎𝐎 𝐒𝐈𝐌𝐏𝐋𝐄 𝐀 𝐓𝐀𝐒𝐊 𝐆𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐘 𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐒𝐓. Geto Suguru was at his side, impressive as ever with that calculated approach to even the most mundane and boring missions... he snuck a peek over at him whilst they trudged along, glancing away the moment he figured it'd become too obvious that he was gawking at the guy while thinking things over. The little flutter in his heartbeat was wholly ignored.

They had, essentially, the entire rest of the day to themselves -- he fully intended on lying and not submitting a report that the deed was done solely to avoid getting sent off again in such short notice. Instead, Satoru grabbed onto Suguru's arm, obnoxiously pulling him closer to then throw himself onto the guy's shoulder with a half-embrace, grinning ear-to-ear, a whim inspiring him ---- or maybe he just felt good right now, like they were unstoppable and could do whatever the hell they wanted. He wasn't wrong.

❝ Hey, let's go get something to eat, I'm starving -- my treat ! ❞ There were several good restaurants in the area and Satoru had no budget in mind. Maybe he'd take Suguru somewhere really fancy, and there was enough time left in the day that they could catch a showing of one of those monster movies that came out recently. They bickered more often than not, but truthfully -- he really didn't want them to part ways just yet. Having missions with Suguru was fun, the whole idea that someone was out there in the world of sorcerers who could keep up with him was an exciting thing. Suguru didn't treat him like he was some freak.

❝ I'm thinking someplace nice -- we don't get to treat ourselves very often, right ? Shoko's not here to groan at us for slacking a little so we can go all out. Hell, we could go to an onsen too, that'd be niiiiice ~ ! ❞

Was he glowing a little ? Maybe. He felt radiant right now, eyes bright and demeanor sparkling. He couldn't help but smile, fully assuming Suguru couldn't possibly turn down his offer because obviously he made it a really good sell. His heart felt full and stupid, excited akin to a dog when 'walk' was mentioned. He poked a finger against Suguru's cheek while simultaneously smooshing his face closer, awaiting the inevitable 'fine' reply.

❝ ---- oh ! And then there was that one boba place I wanted to try... ❞

@svgurugeto is being dragged into a not-date date, pre-Hidden Inventory.