When they got into the back of the car, the first thing Arthur noticed was a glass wall, separating driver from passengers. It was there to keep conversations in the back private. Of course, Arthur had been in this car before, as Tino had often given him lifts to college in the past, but this was the first time he was really, solidly aware of the wall's presence. It was also the first time he really resented it.
The car pulled into the streets. Arthur glanced nervously to Ludwig, who was looking out the window pensively, chin resting in his hand.
"The screen means the driver can't hear us," Arthur commented after a while. Ludwig frowned and directed his attention towards him. Arthur immediately regretted speaking at all.
"You never did say, how exactly do you know our alter egos?" he demanded. Arthur remained silent for a few moments.
"Ask Yao," he finally answered, folding his arms. "He knows."
Ludwig's frown deepened.
"Is that a fact?"
"Yes," Arthur replied. For a moment, he wanted to say more, but he felt that if he tried to speak any further, no sound would come out. He chose to fall silent again instead. Ludwig went back to looking out the window.
"Who are you anyway...?"
Arthur looked confused.
"You know now-"
"That's not what I meant." Ludwig snapped. "You've been manipulating us from the start. For months! You- you..." he trailed off. "... You're the Magician. But you're also..."
He was pensive again.
Arthur looked at him with the Sight. Ludwig was trying to figure out how Arthur and the Magician could be the same person. How it was possible for neither to be a mask. It was obvious, yet there were some aspects of both that contradicted... Could they really blend together into one?
Arthur sighed quietly.
"You don't have any questions," Ludwig suddenly said. "And that's not right. You're not stupid, there must be something you... don't... How do you know so much?"
Arthur hesitated for a moment. It was long enough for Ludwig to notice it.
"There's an information broker called the Whisperer. I get information from him," Arthur explained. He wasn't quite sure why he had just thrown Heracles under the bus, but then again, the Whisperer was a neutral. He shouldn't get into too much trouble with the Dream Team...
"That..." Ludwig started. "... Doesn't explain how you know where Allure will appear next. How you know where the next electric bolt is coming from. How you know where Inviso is when he's invisible. What are you?"
"I'm not a Super," Arthur managed to say.
"But then how do you know...?"
Arthur chose not to speak.
"What are you hiding?" Ludwig quietly demanded, leaning a little closer towards Arthur. Arthur instinctively distanced himself as best he could, inside a car that was suddenly feeling too small and too cramped. Ludwig was surprised by the reaction and leant back. When the shock wore off, the smallest of smiles escaped from his lips.
"Oh? So the Magician does get scared. I was wondering why you're so unusually tight-lipped."
Arthur shrank away as best he could. Ludwig went back to thinking.
"So how do you know?" he demanded.
Arthur shook his head, refusing to answer. The Sight was too precious for him to just give up like that. Arthur could feel the first strums of a headache in the back of his head. Ludwig's eyes narrowed, but he didn't continue. Arthur ran a hand through his hair, willing himself to calm down.
With the headache fading as fast at it had come, Arthur realised that his head wasn't the only thing in pain. His back was quietly throbbing. He hadn't taken any painkillers in a while and his bruised back still hurt from the recent misuse. He was lucky that the Great Dragon hadn't broken anything when he'd thrown the Magician around like a bleeding rag-doll.
Arthur glanced at Ludwig, who was looking back out the window, then grabbed his satchel and fished out some painkillers. Ah yes, his satchel was once again ever-faithful and gave him what he needed. He took out two pills and swallowed them dry. Ludwig's attention was back on him.
"Painkillers?"
"I told you, I'm not a Super," he explained. When Ludwig was still confused, Arthur began rolling back one of his sleeves and showed Ludwig his arm. "These bruises are from when the Great Dragon grabbed me."
Ludwig stared at them for a while. Arthur rolled the sleeve back down and then tried desperately to merge into his seat. Perhaps he'd spontaneously develop intangibility and fall straight to the centre of the Earth.
And die.
If only he were so lucky.
"Why put yourself at risk like that?" Ludwig asked.
"I'm a thrill seek-"
"No you're not," Ludwig said, interrupting Arthur. "Not any more. And that wasn't why you personally fought the Great Dragon."
When Arthur refused to answer the question, Ludwig frowned and the tense silence returned.
Again, Ludwig chose to break it.
This time, his emotions were clearly different. The patience was gone. The disbelief had faded. Ludwig glowered at him.
"Gilbert is right," Ludwig said. Arthur refused to look at him, folding his arms and looking at his shoes. "Even if you were trying to help New Pond, it doesn't change the fact that you threatened Elizaveta. With Red Blitz's identity. You claimed to be our friend, yet you didn't hesitate to- you attempted to kill someone! And you threatened children. You've freed a villain, whose murder count is in the hundreds. Thinking back, even the few good things you've ever done were motivated by selfishness! When the Magician- when you called America Alfred, you only went to comfort him to stop him from finding out who the Magician is!"
He paused, but Arthur continued to remain silent.
"Don't you have anything to say in your defence?!"
Arthur's fingers dug into his skin. He opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out. His throat was dry. Arthur suddenly had the desperate urge to get out of the car, to just throw the door open, and leap out. Who cared that they'd just entered the motorway or that they were driving at speeds fast enough to kill him if he got out now? He felt he could take his chances...
Ludwig was glaring at him.
"You can't name one good thing you've ever done, can you? Because everything you do is motivated by your own damn selfishness."
For some reason, that single statement broke through Arthur's internal panic and swirling fears, slicing it into silence. In its wake, something fiery and aggressive flared up, sparking and scraping its way to the surface.
Arthur's eyes narrowed and he shot a venomous glare at Ludwig. For a brief moment, despite the anger, the fear held onto him and Arthur found himself unable to think of a single good thing he had done. Nothing in his mind could remember one incident where he hadn't acted without something being in it for him. Even when he had helped others in the past, it had only been because they reminded him of... Well. Himself. (Right?)
What if he's right?
Then he remembered. The fear completely lost its hold on him and permanently vanished.
There was one thing in his life, the one light. The only thing in his life that was so infinitely precious to him, that he'd go so far as to give up his law degree. The one person he'd let ruin his very own villainous career and still bare no ill will against him.
"My brother," he stated. "I never did have a reason to take over guardianship for him. But I did."
There had never been a reason for Arthur to take Peter in. Peter didn't remind Arthur of himself. The two couldn't be more different if they tried, in Arthur's opinion. Ludwig gave him a very long, unnerving look. Then he scowled.
"You mean the brother that you've never mentioned before? The one you are currently not looking after? Seems to me, you abandoned him."
Arthur flinched.
Ah. Right. Arthur had unofficially given up guardianship of Peter. For his... villainous career.
There had to be something.
But the anger hissed.
"Perhaps you're right, perhaps I have never done anything someone like you would deem good. On the other hand, let's have a look at the Dream Team. You're so devoted to your vigilante justice, you gave up everything, friends, romance, a bloody social life. How many people have you hurt by pushing them aside? Not prioritizing them? Ignoring them, forgetting them?! It's rather telling that outside of the Dream Team, none of you have any normal friends. Because that's how someone like me can worm their way into such a social circle. I know I've been accused of being alone, but you? You're all stuck together in a lump that you can't escape! You're forced to stick together, or face being completely alone and isolated! Just look at Francis! And what good have you ever really done for society with your sacrificial dedication? Millions of dollars worth in property damage? Well, doesn't everyone love that?! A bit of over-bloated popularity for all of five minutes?! What else? Oh, I know, you and the rest of you bloody heroes willingly hand super villains over to a corrupt justice system! You know what will happen to them, but you do it anyway! Off to the gas chamber they go! No trial!"
Ludwig glared at Arthur and the Brit suddenly remembered that he was much smaller than Ludwig. And weaker. Well, he was weaker than the entire Dream Team, really, not being a Super and all...
"Property damage is caused by villains, in case you forgot," Ludwig snapped, about to launch himself into a defensive rant, but Arthur cut him off before he could continue.
"Oh yes! We all know how destructive Nepeta is, with those ever so devastating cat burglar skills," Arthur snarled. "Let's see, if it weren't for True Eyes' intervention, she'd be... Where? Oh yeah. Dead! Off to the hangman! Just like... Oooh, who is it now, oh, I know, Bizarro Geinus! Say, wasn't he one of your villains? Whatever happened to him? Ah, I remember! He was executed! What about Animalis? She was Inviso's villainess, right?! Also executed. Master Raider? Gassed! Toxiwolf! Firing squad! Want me to go on? Or shall I start listing villains who wouldn't have been executed, had normal laws applied to them?!"
"We're doing something about it now, ok?!"
"Because some non-Super brought it to everyone's bloody attention!"
"Stop pointing fingers! If you care so much about it, why didn't you do anything about it?!"
"I did!"
Silence.
"What?"
Arthur covered his mouth. He hadn't meant to say that.
"What did you do?" Ludwig asked.
"Forget it," Arthur snapped. It had never occurred to him to admit that he was True Eyes. But then, what good would that do? His true reasons for becoming the surprisingly famous anonymous journalist were sinister. He'd planned on turning everyone against Supers. That he'd ended up doing the reverse of that... was... Thanks to...
Arthur felt something in his chest break, and Arthur buried his face. He breathed heavily into his palm.
"So what you're saying is that being a villain is better?" Ludwig demanded.
"It's better than your hypocrisy," Arthur retorted.
"I don't think I have to tell you why villains are bad. Property damage is one of your lesser crimes. People like you don't take responsibility seriously. And when you're forcefully saddled with responsibility, most of you run away. The only person you think about is yourself. No one else matters, if someone else gets hurt, that's great to you. You don't care how your actions might be affecting society, you don't give a damn about the people that live in constant terror and anxiety because of you. Magician, you're the last person on this planet that gets to tell me what I'm doing wrong."
Arthur glared at him, but didn't argue back.
Silence.
It lasted considerably longer than before.
"You know what the worst part is about Supers like you?" Arthur asked.
Ludwig rolled his eyes, but decided to humour the Brit anyway.
"No," he stated.
"Late. In my experience, you've always, always been late."
"Late for what?"
Arthur hesitated for a moment.
"To save the day," he finally answered.
"We wouldn't need to save the day, if people like you didn't exist."
"Perhaps people like me wouldn't exist, if you weren't late."
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
"No. I suppose not."
Arthur looked out the window, as unwelcomed memories started resurfacing, ignoring Ludwig's frustrated glare shot in his direction.
How often had a Super been late? How many times...
The rest of the car journey was in silence, both men silently stewing in anger and pain from old and new memories.
After the car had pulled over, into the arrivals parking lot, the driver turned to them and the glass wall lowered.
"Sirs, I will wait here for the... Other young sirs," he announced. Arthur nodded.
"Thank you. We'll be back soon," he said, as he got out of the car. His voice portrayed none of the emotions that were still in turmoil inside him. The driver smiled politely and Arthur shut the door, resisting the urge to vent and slam it shut.
Ludwig followed suit and the two walked towards arrivals, politely ignoring each other and walking a considerable distance apart from each other.
"Why did you follow me here anyway?" Arthur asked, in a tone that made it clear that Ludwig was still, very much not welcome to be there with him.
"Francis knows you ran away from something in New York. You're a flight risk."
Arthur frowned. He wished he could say that wasn't true, but oh, what again had been his reaction to almost killing the Great Dragon? Oh yes. Running away. So instead, he ignored Ludwig and continued walking.
Once they reached arrivals, they stood next to each other, in tense silence. It was a slightly different silence though. Both had to play a charade. Not let anyone know why they were so angry with each other. They were now in public, there was no more freedom of speech. Neither could say anything about the other without revealing themselves.
Arthur looked at the arrivals board. It seemed that the plane had landed on time... But it would be a while until Berwald, Tino and Peter came through, since they'd only just landed a few minutes ago. The two waited.
Arthur looked at the clock in the airport and saw that several more minutes had passed since the two had arrived at the airport. And looking at Ludwig...
Unlike Arthur, he hadn't had a wink of sleep since two that morning. Now it was evening and being awake for so long was starting to catch up to him. Even Supers couldn't spend too long awake without tiring.
Ludwig was clearly starting to regret volunteering to follow Arthur. Oh, it had seemed a good idea at the time, as he felt there had still been... something he needed to say to the Brit (and of the three that had been present at the time, Ludwig had also been the least angry), but now...
"Perhaps one of us should get some coffee. We could be here a while," Arthur spoke up. It actually startled Ludwig out of his tired stupor.
"No thanks, I'm fine. We'll wait here. For your friends," he replied tiredly, stubbornly rubbing his eyes, as if that would make him stop feeling tired.
Arthur stared at him incredulously. He'd just given Ludwig a chance to... And he thought Arthur was actually coming up with an excuse to be alone? To try and escape in Ludwig's absence?! Well, in a way, Arthur was trying to escape. Escape from Ludwig's hawk-like attention. But he wasn't going to flee. Annoyed, Arthur took out his wallet, pulling a photo out.
"Look, I know I've never shown a photo of him before, but..." Arthur started irritably, handing the picture to Ludwig. On it were Tino, Berwald and Peter. "The boy is my little brother, and these two guys are my friends. They're real and they'll be here any minute. I'm not going to disappear while you go and get coffee."
Ludwig inspected the photo.
"I didn't know you had this," he commented, handing it back to Arthur.
"Surprise, surprise, I'm a private person," Arthur replied. He put the photo back in his wallet. "Believe me, I'm not going anywhere."
Ludwig eyed him suspiciously for a few moments, but the thought of coffee overruled the suspicion. He nodded in agreement.
"Fine. I'll be back in a moment. Don't go anywhere," he instructed. When Ludwig's back was turned, Arthur stuck his tongue out. He didn't care that it was childish, it was the least he could do without attracting too much attention. How dare he tell me what to do!
Once Ludwig had disappeared into the crowd, Arthur was alone and found that he could finally relax. It was so, so nice to finally, finally be free of the looming presence. Arthur suddenly felt rather tired though, only now realising just how emotionally drained he was.
He sighed and turned to keep a look out for the three...
There you are.
Arthur stood completely frozen, as the thought thundered across his mind. He felt like a train had hit him, his head pounding in pain, all caused by the sudden, intrusive thought. It sounded like him, but the throbbing inside his mind told him that it most certainly wasn't. He grasped his head and groaned in pain. What had happened? He looked up and stared bewilderedly at the masses. Where had it come from? That was someone else's thought, it had to be, so where had it come from? Why had it stood out from everything else? He had never heard thoughts before, only seen... He desperately searched the crowds for someone, anyone, listening intently, but his hearing was faded and staring at the people... It was as if the Sight was suddenly paralysed. He saw without seeing.
A hand on his shoulder. Arthur immediately knocked it off and turned to look at-
Ludwig.
"Arthur, what's wrong?" he asked, his voice somehow cleanly slicing through the aching numbness of his mind. Arthur stared at him for a few moments, his mind still recoiling from the abrupt chaos, before it finally calmed down and he could think clearly.
"Nothing. Nothing's wrong. Stray thought," Arthur replied. He blinked a few times and the Sight returned too. It was a strained use of the word returned though. It was unstable, flaring up randomly, then silencing against his will, with absolutely no warning.
Simply put, the Sight was out of control. It wasn't just being randomly selective now.
Arthur messaged his forehead, in an effort to ease the oncoming headache.
"You don't look like nothing's wrong."
"Considering what has happened earlier this evening, do you really think I'd be ok?"
"Given who you are, I didn't realise you cared enough to be bothered by it."
Arthur growled quietly, straightening up.
"They're not here yet," he announced. Ludwig held up a paper cup to Arthur. A little confused, Arthur looked at it, before accepting it. He inspected it, then took a hesitant sip, to find to his great joy that tea was within it.
"Thank you..." Arthur said quietly. He took another sip and it was good and soothing, washing away his current anxiety and turmoil. Ludwig sipped his coffee.
"Still not here yet?" he asked. Arthur shook his head and a silence fell once again. The two stood there, waiting. Neither wished to speak to the other, so their silence was only interrupted by the occasional sip. When they were about halfway through their tea and coffee respectively, Arthur brightened up, standing upright and his face lighting up.
"I see them!" he announced and started waving an arm. "Berwald! Berwald, over here!" he called. Berwald turned his head sharply in their direction, then began walking straight towards them in long strides. It was a little unnerving to watch, as he walked a direct path, without need of dodging or pushing anyone aside, despite the large crowds. Arthur couldn't believe he'd forgotten how eerie Berwald's movements could sometimes be. The Brit frowned when he noticed that Tino and Peter weren't following after him.
"Where are the other two?" Arthur asked once Berwald had reached him.
"Luggage claim," Berwald answered. His accent was still as thick as ever. That combined with his tendency to mumble made it difficult for anyone to understand him. Which was why Berwald resorted to saying only what was absolutely necessary. People generally understood you if you said few words.
"Ah, I see. So your luggage hasn't arrived yet?" he asked. Berwald shook his head. He suddenly stiffened when he took notice of Ludwig standing next to Arthur and realised that Arthur had not come alone.
Berwald seemed to eye Ludwig suspiciously, although it was very hard to tell with his... general lack of facial expressions. Ludwig gradually became more and more uncomfortable. He gently nudged Arthur to do something.
"Oh, er, Ludwig, this is Berwald. We used to go to college together. Berwald, this is Ludwig. A... We met a few months ago," Arthur introduced. Berwald made a gruff sound of acknowledgement and Ludwig nodded in greeting.
"I'd like to talk to Arthur for a moment..." he mumbled, although to Ludwig and Arthur it sounded more like "'d l'ke t' t'lk t' 'Rth'r f'r a m'm'nt". The two stared at him blankly, trying to figure out what he had said.
Arthur immediately perked up when he finally got it.
"Y-yes! Of course! Ludwig, keep an eye out for Tino and Peter for us, will you please?" Arthur asked, not leaving any room for protest. He grabbed Berwald's wrist and led him away from Ludwig, through the crowds. The attack of the stray thought had made him want to just have a quick moment to himself again. Perhaps get the Sight back in working order. And Berwald had thankfully given him that chance.
The two sought a secluded part of the airport and stood in a relatively hidden spot, so that they weren't in plain sight.
"What is it you want to discuss?" Arthur asked in a hushed tone, so that he wouldn't attract attention. Berwald gave him a stern look.
The two headed back to Ludwig.
"You were gone a long time..." Ludwig said curiously.
Both shrugged in sync.
"What did you talk about?" Ludwig asked.
"Nothing in particular," Arthur answered. Berwald glanced to Arthur and anyone familiar with Berwald would have noticed that he was looking guilty.
"They're still not here yet?" Arthur asked with incredulity, when he realised that Ludwig still stood alone. Ludwig nodded.
"I guess they're stuck at luggage reclaim-" he started.
"Jerkthur!"
Arthur didn't even hesitate when he heard that. He swerved around sharply on his feet and glared at Peter, easily spotting him in the crowd, despite not being able to find him with the Sight.
"Really?" he yelled, so that Peter could hear him from where he stood. "We haven't seen each other in months and that's what you call me?!"
"It's 'cause you're a jerk!" Peter yelled back.
"I am not a jerk!" Arthur snapped back.
"Yeah, you are! If dad had known how you'd turn out, he'd have called you Jerky McJerkFace!"
"You little..." Arthur hissed under his breath. "Don't make me come over there young man!"
"Whatever Jerkthur!"
Arthur's hands tightened into fists. He couldn't believe he'd missed Peter so much. How could he have forgotten what a little brat that boy was?
Peter finally joined them and Arthur couldn't resist smacking the boy upside the head. Peter yelped, although mostly out of surprise.
"What was that for?" Peter demanded, rubbing his head where Arthur had whacked him.
"Oh, stop whining. I didn't hit you that- OW!"
Peter, in retaliation, had kicked him in the shins. Of course. Peter was still the right height for that.
"You little blighter-" Arthur hissed, but cut himself off, deciding to shake the pain off instead.
"What you staring at creep?" Peter suddenly asked, looking at Ludwig, who'd watched the entire interaction, somewhat bemused and surprised. He'd never seen anyone get that kind of reaction out of Kirkland or the Magician.
"He's not a creep, Peter," Arthur lectured. "This is a fr... This is Ludwig."
"Ludwig? He's your friend?! Since when do you have friends?" Peter asked suspiciously.
"Peter..." Arthur said warningly. Berwald placed a hand on Peter's shoulder and lightly shook his head. Peter swallowed.
"Sorry, Ludwig. For calling you a creep," Peter almost instantly apologised. Arthur frowned. Of course Berwald was also better at handling kids than him. Of flipping course. Peter then suddenly wrapped his arms around Arthur. He broke the hug after a few seconds and muttered quietly, "I missed you, you jerk."
Arthur was too stunned to react. It had been so sudden and abrupt and out of no where... Peter stood back, by Berwald's side.
"Stop grinning like an idiot," Peter snapped, when Arthur retained a rather happy expression. It immediately fell with the comment.
"Where's Tino?" Arthur asked, looking out for him, but not spotting him anywhere.
"They lost a luggage cart or something," Peter answered.
"What? How do you lose a...?" Arthur asked, trailing off. Peter shrugged.
"It's ok, they found it now! It's why I'm here. Tino says he'll be here in a minute." he explained, mostly to Berwald by the look of things. Berwald nodded, appreciating the information. He then nudged Peter towards Arthur.
"Do I have to? Can't you?" Peter whined, looking uncomfortable. Berwald shook his head. Peter sighed deeply.
"Hey, um Jer- Arthur?" Peter asked.
"Yes Peter?" Arthur asked, trying not to let his curiosity surface.
"Well, um... I've been away for a while. Can we- Can I go back home now? Being in Europe was fun and all, but I missed y- my room." Peter finished. Arthur looked surprised.
"Well... I mean..." Arthur stuttered. He'd always assumed that Peter loved being with Berwald and Tino. The sudden request confused him, to say the least.
"I uh... I guess I see no reason why n..." Arthur then looked at Ludwig. He paused "I think you should really stay with Tino and Berwald, for a bit longer."
Peter looked upset, but Berwald's... Expression remained unreadable. Peter looked back and forth between Arthur and Berwald for a moment then focused on Arthur.
"What kind of answer is that?! Why can't I go home?!" he demanded. Arthur didn't reply, but he instinctively looked over to Ludwig again, to see what the German thought about all this. Ludwig looked uncomfortable.
Arthur looked back at Peter and noticed that the boy's eyes had widened. He'd seen Arthur's quick glance.
"You?!" Peter asked, pointing at Ludwig. "What do you have to do with this?!" he demanded. Ludwig opened his mouth to talk, but Arthur spoke first.
"It's just for a little while, Petey. Trust me, ok? Home's a war-zone right now. You wouldn't want to be there," he explained. "Once I've... Once I've tidied up a little, then..."
Peter glared at him.
"What kind of bullshit is that?!" he shrieked indignantly.
"Peter!" both Arthur and Berwald snapped. Peter covered his mouth, ashamed, yet still angry.
"Why can't I come home?! Do you just- do you just like being an old weirdo hermit or something?! Is that it?! Aren't I welcomed any more?!"
"Peter, no, I'm glad, I am very glad you're home again and of course you're still welcome! There's nothing you can do to... Look. I missed you a lot," Arthur hurriedly explained, then ruffled Peter's hair as an afterthought. Peter knocked his hand away.
"Yeah right," Peter moodily replied and turned his back to him. Arthur hesitated, feeling bewildered. He looked at Berwald for perhaps some advice, but all Berwald did was pat Arthur's back comfortingly.
Although that wasn't what Arthur had wanted, it helped a little.
"What's going on here?" Someone asked behind all four of them. They turned around.
"Tino! There you are," Arthur greeted, smiling.
"Hello Arthur! I'm so glad you could come to meet us. It's so much nicer to come back home to a familiar face," Tino replied. The two hugged each other in greeting.
"I'm glad you asked me to be that familiar face then. I hope Peter wasn't too much to handle..." Arthur replied, but his voice trailed off. Arthur wasn't one to use the Sight on friends. He almost never used the Sight on Tino, despite Tino being a super hero by the name of Young Santa. There was no need to, since the two weren't enemies in their alter egos.
But as the Sight had become uncontrollable since that stray thought had entered his mind, he couldn't stop the Sight from briefly flaring up.
Tino laughed nervously in response to Arthur's question, as he recalled the biggest events that had occurred over the summer and Arthur was horrified.
Arthur looked at Peter and could feel himself paling.
Peter...
Peter was a Super.
A known kid super hero.
Look, this chapter just... I know a majority liked last chapter, but it was a miss for a few readers. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to correct that with this chapter (in fact, I think I somehow made it worse, haha...) Either way I really tried to write this well, but whatever I thought I could achieve, I couldn't so... Let's just hope future chapters are better.
I tried to balance the argument, with Ludwig the clear victor (cause let's be fair, he's more right than our protag villain), but I think I'm too familiar with Arthur's background, causing me to subconsciously side with him. Oh well.
And yes. This story is sort of on hiatus, because I need to focus on uni right now... This basically means sporadic updates throughout the year.
ALSO, thank you so much for all those reviews last chapter! Every single one of them made me smile! I really appreciated them. :D (AnonRandomNumber, stop making accurate guesses...)
