"Are you satisfied yet?"

Patch pressed his hands carefully against his brother's bare ribs, performing an amateur but sincere search for any cracks or breaks, before finally relenting his full ten-minute exam.

"Okay, you're not hurt."

Crim rolled his eye, pulling on his pajama shirt. "And do you want to cross-examine me about my and Elf's day anymore?"

"No, I think I got it." Patch sat on Crim's bed next to his brother, scowling, and his elder could tell that he was resisting the urge to give him a worried hug. They had stopped being physically affectionate around the time they hit puberty, but that didn't mean that they never wanted to share a little contact. They were all each other had in this place, after all.

Crim bridged the gap by giving his brother a little one-armed hug around his shoulders. "Don't worry about me, Little Brother. It's supposed to be the other way around."

He clapped his hand on his brother's back and waved him towards his bed. "Get moving. It's almost Lights-Out."

Patch smiled, going over to his bed obediently.

"You know, the shrew's cooler than I thought."

Crim felt another pang of jealousy, but he kept it off of his expression. His brother treated girls better than he did. It was better if he was interested in Elf—at least she'd get some of the attention she'd deserve. (Though admittedly, his brother had a tendency to be a bit lecherous.)

"Yeah. She is."

Crim shut off the lights, settling under the covers. He wondered what Elf was doing now. Probably going to bed too.

"Do you know if she's really a girl yet?"

Would he still be into her if it turned out she was a guy?

Crim wondered for a moment, bringing up the image of those violet eyes. At this point, he really should be questioning the steadfastness of his sexuality.

"I'm sure she's a girl. She lives in the girls' dorm, right?"

There was a moment of silence from his brother.

"That's good enough evidence for me." Patch laid back, staring at the ceiling. "She's actually pretty cute, in a weird way. It's probably the pointy ears and eyes."

"Well, if you want to go for her, you have to keep in mind that she's not your usual type. I bet she wouldn't even let you go for a kiss until after a few weeks."

He thought that he had kept his feelings out of his voice. But Patch, instead of going on about her, just glanced over at his brother with an odd look in his eye.

"Rest up, Big Brother. I'll wake you up for the rap tomorrow."

"Thanks."

Patch fell asleep a while after that, but despite his exhaustion, Crim stayed awake, remembering the heat of Elf's fire warming him up. It would have been nice to talk to her a little more.

Their was a jerk in his gut, craving the feel of her skin, the warmth of her lips, the… things that he hadn't felt on any girl before. He really wanted to touch her. He cringed in disgust at himself. She wasn't that kind of girl. He shouldn't be thinking about that stuff. It was… demeaning.

She had been right. He wasn't any different from any other guy.

He pushed away his teenage cravings, trying to shake it off. He wasn't shallow like that. He was interested in her for more than her body. He didn't think of her as one of those… girls like Demon. The girls that you never talked to or laughed with or hung around. The girls that you only came to for the sex.

He privately shuddered a little. As uncomfortable as he'd be admitting it to another guy, he wasn't ready for that kind of thing. Making out was all very well and good, but sex sort of scared him.

No, he definitely wasn't interested in Elf like 'any other teenage boy'.

He would be happy if he could just be around her. He didn't need the kissing and touching. The fire was hot enough for him to just be near and stay warm. So he made a promise to himself.

She and his little brother could go out if that made them happy—he would deal with it.

He drifted to a fitful sleep.


"And he carried you across the Lethe?"

"Yes, Red. I've retold the story three times."

"And he stitched up your arm? He didn't screw it up or anything?"

"No." Elf subconsciously touched the wounded arm, wincing. She wouldn't have objected to some pain killers, but it wasn't a frightening pain. It was the pain of healing stitches, not ones that were shoddily done. She was surprised. Maybe Crim had had medical experience in the past.

"And you didn't give him a kiss?"

Elf's ears perked, and she glanced across the dark room to the red-haired human. "Excuse me? Why, by the gods, would I kiss him?"

Red cocked her head, smiling bemusedly. "Seriously? Not even a peck on the cheek?" She crossed her arms. "When a guy does really brave things for the sake of a girl, the girl usually gives him a kiss to thank him."

"That is the silliest thing I have ever heard."

"It's not like you're supposed to give him a free BJ, Elf." Elf wrinkled her nose in disgust at the implication, scowling. "It's just a kiss. Not even on the mouth if you don't want to. It sounds like he's into you anyway."

"I doubt that, Red. I am not girlfriend material." Elf self-consciously smoothed her hair, keeping her voice low to avoid Ms. Feelgood or Sirius catching them. "He would not appreciate a kiss."

"All guys like kisses. It makes them feel manly." Red hugged her knees, letting out a girlish grin. "And why don't you think you're girlfriend material?"

"I am uninterested in romance and am not attractive." Elf pulled her nightgown down, fiddling with the hem. "Crim is probably interested in Demon at any rate. All the boys are."

"Well, that's because she's a slut." Red lay down on her bed, fluffing her pillow. "I bet he likes you. He and his brother are actually really hot for goblins, so I think you could have done worse. And if you don't want him, I'll take him."

"He doesn't like me."

"You're a pretty girl, Elf."

"I'm not." Elf ran a self-conscious hand through violet hair. "Good night."

Red sighed. "Good night."

Elf shifted, gingerly stroking her bandaged stitches, and lay down, falling into a fitful trance.


"There you are."

Crim's muscles were clenched and the sinews in his neck were thick ropes, his claws digging hard into the wooden library floor. Elf understood. She had been the same way after her first rap.

"I take it you didn't find it fun."

"It was like a nuthouse!"

Elf sat next to him, giving a small smile of sympathy. He struggled to relax himself, but the tension in his body was frozen there. "Everyone was just screaming at each other and Ms. Feelgood started ripping into me for not crying or saying anything. It was like a special circle of hell! I was lucky that I came out intact!"

"Your next one is on Tuesday, correct? Four o'clock?"

He grimaced, nodding.

"Then we will be together. Perhaps having an ally during one of those 'therapy' sessions will make it easier to handle." Elf ran a pale finger across the spines of the books in front of them, pulling a couple out.

"That… that sounds good." Crim smiled, but his muscles and sinews were still taut.

"And I must apologize. It has come to my attention that I breached etiquette and didn't thank you properly for helping my arm."

He blinked in surprise, raising his head a little. "What? Oh, don't worry about it. I'm glad to hel—"

Elf leaned in, concealed shyness to the motion, and gave a feather-light kiss on his cheek. "Thank you."

Blood rushed to his face and his muscles melted, all tension flying out. She pulled back, trying to hide a blush, and opened one of the books, flicking through the pages to find something relevant to their project.

"…I should help you out more often."

Elf relaxed a little, smiling with badly concealed relief before she looked up, violet eyes twinkling a little with humor. "Don't get any ideas."

"If I carry your books to class, you think I'd get another?" he ribbed, grinning.

"I said no ideas." Elf kept smiling, giving him a gentle nudge. "Stay on track. We have a project to do."

Crim hid a shy smile, looking to all the world save for the elf next to him like a lovesick teenager. "One last thing, though. You should have your stitches checked and re-bandaged. You want to let me do that afterwards?"

"That would be appreciated, thank you."

Elf showed him one of the books, pulling a new notebook out of her bag and making a note in it. "And I passed Coal and Demon glued to each other's faces between the bookshelves. Have they…"

"…Been there since I got here? Yes. Apparently, Coal came after Doppel. It feels a little like I'm trying to work next to a brothel." Crim shrugged, looking through the books again and taking out a small pile that looked interesting.

"I thought that all the boys liked her."

Crim shook his head, rolling his eye and flicking one of the books open. "Like? I guess so. Guys just like girls who readily put out. I'm not into that kind of girl, personally. No one respects her."

"So you wouldn't go straight to her the moment Coal is gone?" Elf asked skeptically, crossing her arms.

"Gods, no." Crim frowned at her, jotting down a few notes. "Girls aren't the only ones who sometimes want things to be special and who don't feel ready for certain stuff. Making out is nice and all, but if it's with someone who you don't know, I don't see the appeal. It sounds awkward to me."

He didn't see Elf's smile.

He also didn't see it fall away before she smoothed her clothes self-consciously.

"But anyway, my brother said he'd pick up our notes from the shrine. I think the librarian also said that they had some books we could use here, too…"


"Hey, your name's Red, right?"

Red looked up from her homework, squinting through the glare of the sun at the shadow standing above her.

"Yeah. Want a seat?"

He sat beside her on the grass, and now that he wasn't in front of the light, she got a good look at him.

"Oh, hey, Patch." Red grinned, hugging her knees. "How are the lashes?"

"I can sit down again, which is nice. You?"

"Same." Red subconsciously rubbed her thighs, grimacing, before flipping her binder shut. The electric fence crackled a few feet behind them, but nonetheless, she preferred to stay near it. The closer to the fence one was, the less likely one would be harassed by teachers. "We're going to need to show up for more punishment tomorrow."

"How bad can it be, really? I'll make sure they don't hurt you too badly. I'd hate to see a pretty girl get beaten again." Patch winked and nudged her playfully, provoking a soft giggle and a smile.

"Well, with any luck it'll turn out like that. Skipping it is out of the question, I guess—whatever they do to Elf will be a lot worse than they do to me. Dragon and Ms. Feelgood really have it in for her."

"Oh really?" Patch rolled his eye in exasperation, tired of Dragon's and Ms. Feelgood's blatant favoritism, and shyly sidled up so their shoulders were brushing against each other. "Why? She seems pretty smart to me, and I never see her causing trouble in class."

"I don't know. I think they have a problem with her and your brother working together."

Patch frowned quizzically.

"Yeah, it doesn't make sense to me either. I dunno, maybe they both did something to piss Dragon and Ms. Feelgood off in another life."

Patch shuffled a little, hugging his knees. "It was actually Elf and my brother I wanted to talk about. Did she tell you about where she was the other day?"

"That they were tramping across the Lethe and the Orchard before she needed to get stitched up like a ragdoll? Yeah."

Patch gave a nervous chuckle. "Yeah. That wasn't fun. But I wanted to ask something—do you think she has a thing for my brother?"

Red's eyebrows went up before she shoved him gently. "Are you kidding? It's against the girl code of honor to start blabbing about each other's crushes."

"Because Big Brother definitely has a thing for her." Patch tore up the grass a little with his claws. "I want to make sure the feeling is mutual before I start trying to badger him into asking her out."

She frowned thoughtfully, lying down on her stomach. "Oh really? How do you know?"

"I'm his brother. I know when he's interested in a girl." He shrugged. "And I don't blame him. She was one hell of a trooper through the stitches."

Red thought for a moment, trying to weigh the pros and cons of telling. "Alright, then. I'll tell you what I know." She curled a strand of red hair around her finger. "Elf's a closed book. She really is. It's hard to tell, but she got really flustered when we started talking about him and her. And this afternoon when she was going to meet him, she was fussing with her appearance. I don't think I've seen her do that once here."

Patch grinned, his ears twitching gently. "Then badgering him is a go?"

"Yeah." Red looked up at him, arching an eyebrow. "You know, I thought that you came here to ask me out or make out a little."

"I was going to ask after the 'screwing with my brother's love life' thing." Patch cocked his head, propping it on his fist. "You want to meet up in the dining hall at eight? I know a nice little place in Forget Me Thicket that isn't hooked up to cameras."

"Sounds good."

Red hid her blush, grinning, and nudged him playfully. "Maybe we can hang around here for a bit while we wait."

Patch smiled, nudging her back. "I'd like that."


A/N: Yay, more posts! Anyway, before people start talking about how there were out-of-character moments here, it should be pointed out that the characters are teenagers here, and thus have all the painful teenager-y awkwardness that makes highschool miserable for everyone. Everyone's insecure, everyone (except for those lucky few, obviously) is shy about dating and sexuality, and everyone is trying to find themselves in the mire of puberty, adolescence, and other kids taking their insecurities out on everyone else. So yeah. Enjoy this jaunt in memory lane.