hi, I get horrible seasonal depression and basically take a writing break every winter without meaning to...this has happened three years in a row now ;w; anyway, I'm back for now! not sure if it'll be back to a weekly schedule yet, but I'll be trying :D

thank you to everyone who has stuck around despite me vanishing for months ;w; I hope you keep enjoying this! I've missed these boys!

Morning comes and goes with no sign of Judal, but it's a comforting return to their normal routine. Hakuryuu looks up when Judal walks in, and tries to hide his smile when he really should be chastising him for coming in so late. Instead, he's comforted by their return to the normal routine; it's nice that Judal is taking what he said to heart and has stopped pushing himself to be something he isn't. He finally looks well rested and properly put together, his eyes sparkling with makeup again, but he looks annoyed.

"Good afternoon, Judal," he says warmly. "Is something wrong?"

He groans. "I've got pests outside," he says, before laying on the counter dejectedly.

Hakuryuu pats his head. "Do you need me to call an exterminator?" he asks, assuming they're dealing with some kind of bug infestation from Judal's attitude. It shouldn't be too difficult, but he knows how much Judal likes to overreact to minor inconveniences to get his point across.

"What?" Judal angles his head to stare at Hakuryuu with one eye.

"An exterminator. You know, to get rid of the pests?"

Judal groans again, burying his face in the desk once more. "If only that would help. I don't think they'll take children."

Oh, that's what it is. Judal hates dealing with the teenagers who will occasionally loiter on the sidewalk outside the shop. For how young he makes himself look, Judal can be such a grouchy old man sometimes. "I can go chase them off, then. They tend to actually listen to me."

"Good fucking luck!" Judal tells him, waving him off. Hakuryuu shakes his head and leaves Judal to mope in peace. He can deal with a couple of wayward teenagers without making it a life ending issue.

Hakuryuu pushes the front door open, fully prepared to deal with the same unruly teens he's chased off before, but instead finds two children standing by the door. The taller one looks like she's barely ten and the other is even younger. To make matters worse, there's not a parent in sight. Hakuryuu sighs. Is this why Judal didn't want to deal with them? He can understand that. He doesn't want to be tasked with lost children, either.

"Hello there," he begins, hoping that maybe he can just send them on their way. They both turn to look at him at once, and anything else Hakuryuu had to say dries up. Vacant, solid black eyes stare back at him, and Hakuryuu can now feel something wrong in the magic of the air around them. He doesn't know what it is, but he can tell it shouldn't be like this.

"Can we come inside?" the girl asks, jolting Hakuryuu out of his thoughts.
"No, I'm sorry. You cannot," he says firmly but kindly. He knows better than to agree to the demands of mysterious magical things at this point. "If you could go somewhere else, that would be for the best."

She continues to stare at him, calm and unblinking. "No, thank you," she says simply before she and the smaller boy next to her both turn away to stare blankly into the street. It's unsettling to see them watch the rest of the world go by without any concern, but there's nothing else he can do right now.

Hakuryuu steps back inside, frowning. "Judal, why-"

Judal starts laughing so hard he nearly falls out of his seat. "You thought I was just pissed about some stupid teens again!"

"If you knew that, why didn't you warn me about whatever those are?" Hakuryuu asks, gesturing towards the street.

Judalshrugs. "I dunno. I kinda hoped they'd just listen to you 'cause you're so serious and official sounding, but I guess not." He settles back into the seat behind the counter, sighing theatrically in the direction of the doorway.

Hakuryuu shakes his head. "No. They asked to come in, so I told them to leave. They didn't listen, though."

"Ugh, thanks for not letting them in," Judal says in annoyance. "They're one of those things where they gotta be invited in or they gotta stay out there. Once they get in though… Ugh, we'd never have gotten rid of 'em if they'd made their way in here."

Hakuryuu feels accomplished; he is learning what to stay away from. "Of course."

Judal runs a hand through his bangs, obviously still feeling fussy from the kids' existence. "I'm just frustrated! Why are they bothering me?"

"I don't know, but knowing what they are might help me answer that. You've been very vague,," Hakuryuu reminds him. He'd love some answers, rather than the assumption that he somehow knows about every magical creature that Judal does.

"Oh, right." Judal waves a hand, as though dismissing the thought that maybe Hakuryuu not knowing on could possibly somehow be his fault. "They're just called 'black-eyed children' 'cause I guess no one ever gave them a fancy bullshit name. They don't usually get into cities, but I guess they got here somehow. Some moron musta given them a ride or something."

He sounds so personally offended that it's kind of cute. "I didn't feel comfortable around them," Hakuryuu says, trying to puzzle out why anyone would let them near them.

"'Course you didn't, 'cause you're not a fucking dipshit. They usually go after nonmagical people so they can eat all their energy without being noticed," he continues, leaning back in his chair. "But like, out in the middle of nowhere on the side of the road, because they pretend to be hitchhikers. Nonmagical people can't really tell that there's anything wrong with them, so they're easy prey."

"Wouldn't their eyes set them apart?"

"Nope! They look totally normal if you're not magically inclined," Judal says, grinning. "It's pretty slick, but honestly they're just an annoyance if you're someone like me."

Hakuryuu raises an eyebrow. "Rude?"

Judal groans. "You're rude! I meant super powerful and awesome with a ton of magical items! Ah… Shit, it's probably 'cause I'm someone with a whole bunch of magical items in one place. Like I said, they eat magic. So, I guess I'm a prime target."

He nods. This makes sense, even if it's frustrating to not have a solution. "I see."

"Look, Hakuryuu, they're pesky little brats but I can't remember how to scare them off right now," he says, dramatically laying an arm over his eyes. "Just...I don't know, pretend they're not there until I can fix the problem, I guess."

Hakuryuu doesn't press any further. The best he can do is go on with today like normal, and try to look up these 'black-eyed children' when he has some free time. He's not quite sure where to begin with research, though; it's a very generic name, and he hasn't come across a search engine for magical creatures yet. It's not surprising. For a community that uses secrecy to keep itself safe, an online presence would just be asking for trouble.

It's fine. He has actual work to do first, anyway. Every time he think he's made a decent amount of progress on organizing Judal's old paperwork, he finds another box tucked away in a back corner. It almost feels like they're multiplying at this point. It would be a funny thought, if Hakuryuu made himself forget that he was working somewhere with such a surplus of magic that boxes of paperwork could, possibly, become animated to the point of procreation.

Maybe he should stop thinking about things like that and just focus on his work.

His organized catalog of old tax documents and inventory has been coming along nicely, and he's even been able to trim some old paperwork that's basically trash at this point. Unfortunately, paperwork doesn't fix the problem outside, and Judal's mood gets progressively worse as the day goes on and the black-eyed children remain outside the shop. It's probably not helped by all the customers commenting on how cute they are or asking if the children need help finding their guardians.

Despite the unseasonably warm evening improving their sales, Judal flips the open sign over fairly early. Hakuryuu doesn't question it. He's learned that sometimes Judal is just going to let his whims influence the business hours, but he can't really blame him today. It's been stressful.

He glances over at Hakuryuu. "Guess I'll see you in the morning," he says, slipping the day's paperwork into a folder. Hakuryuu can only hope it's the right one. If not, he'll sort it out tomorrow. He has other plans tonight.

"I was thinking we could go to a movie together, since we're closing early enough to make it to an actual theater," he suggests, and Judal's whole face lights up.

"Yeah, that sounds good!" he agrees enthusiastically, rushing through his closing steps in excitement. "What do you wanna see?"

"Judal, you have to know by now that I have no idea what's currently in theaters. That's up to you."

"Yes, yes, you're somehow more of an out of touch old man than I am, how could I forget?" Judal teases, and Hakuryuu is glad to see the smile actually reach his eyes. He was hoping this would help his mood improve.

He takes the deposit out of Judal's hands while trying to hide his own smile. "We don't have to go, you know…"

"No, I wanna!"

"Just let me drop this in the safe first," Hakuryuu says, popping back into the office for just a second. He comes out to find a surprisingly empty storefront. "Judal?"

Nothing.

He probably just slipped out to get something from his apartment, but it's still a bit unsettling - especially with the black-eyed children lurking right outside the front door. He glances out the front window, and, yes, they are still there, staring vacantly at the empty street. Hakuryuu sighs and goes to lean against the counter while he waits. Everything is fine; he's just worrying himself too much.

Judal finally reappears in a shower of sparkles, grinning. "Sorry, I wanted to freshen up!"

Hakuryuu lets out a breath of relief he didn't know he was holding. "And show off?"

He laughs. "Sometimes I just like to be extra over the top, plus I knew it would just be you here to appreciate how fabulous I can be."

"Oh, I see," Hakuryuu says, offering Judal his hand. The extra effort shows: his makeup is flashier than usual, his braid is neatly tied back without any stray hairs, and he's changed into slightly different clothes. "You do look nice, though."

Judal's smile widens. "I do! Thank you."

"Should I change?" he asks, suddenly worried that he might be underdressed. Is it supposed to be a fancy date? He's never sure what the right look is for these sorts of things.

"Nah, you always look dressed up. Any more and we might be too fancy for the shitty movie I wanna see," Judal says, before pulling out his wand and drawing a sigil in front of them. "Come on, I don't wanna walk all the way back to your place for the car!"

Hakuryuu allows himself to be pulled through and into his living room. "Why are we going to see a movie if you already know that it's bad?"

"Nah, it'll be fun!" Judal says, already heading out the front door. Hakuryuu is happy that Judal knows his way around the building now, but he can be a bit much to keep up with when he's this excited. "It's some genero-sounding action flick with Nic Cage in it, so it'll be that really entertaining kind of mindless action, you know?"

"Not really, no."

"How are you so out of touch with having fun? Whatever, I'm sure you'll have a good time anyway," Judal assures him, tapping his fingers on the roof of the car while he waits impatiently for Hakuryuu to open it. Hakuryuu's almost surprised Judal doesn't just teleport straight into the car he's in such a hurry today.

"I'm not out of touch with having fun. I just like different fun than you." Hakuryuu taps the button to unlock the car and then climbs into the driver's seat. "Though I have been learning an appreciation for all the things you like too."

When they arrive, Judal, unsurprisingly, buys far too much overpriced movie theater snacks and candy - but no popcorn - and shoves half of it into Hakuryuu's hands when he can't carry it all.

Their theater is almost empty and Judal takes full advantage of that to run commentary. At this point, Hakuryuu isn't even annoyed anymore; this is just how Judal experiences movies, so he's gotten used to it. As long as he's not disturbing anyone else, it's actually kind of fun to hear his reactions to something new.

True to Judal's predictions, what the movie lacks in substance is made up for by over the top acting, and Hakuryuu finds himself enjoying it more than he expected to. There's just something about the acting that's so shameless and unselfconscious that he can't help but be impressed. It reminds him of Judal in a way - absolutely ridiculous and over-the-top to the point where it should be obnoxious, but instead it does a magic trick and becomes intensely endearing.

"Well, that wasn't as bad as I thought it would be," Hakuryuu admits, much to Judal's obvious delight. It's cool when they get outside, the first hints of fall's chill in the air around them.

"Told you so!" he says gleefully. "I have great taste."

Hakuryuu chuckles a little. "I wouldn't go that far," he teases, and Judal laughs.

"Well, I would," he shoots back, still grinning happily as they make their way to the car. Judal makes himself comfortable in the passenger seat and pulls out one of the remaining bags of movie theater candy.

"I guess I can't stop you," Hakuryuu says. "Just like I can't stop you from eating in my car. Please don't make a mess."

Judal laughs and very pointedly drops a wrapper on the floor. At Hakuryuu's withering glare, he sheepishly picks it back up and puts it in the the designated car trash bag. "You know, you've loosened up, but you're still crushing my joy."

"I'm crushing your joy by asking you to clean up after yourself?"

"Yes."

Hakuryuu shakes his head. "You are so much sometimes, you know that?"

He grins widely - almost too widely, if Hakuryuu's being honest. "I'm precisely the right amount to be me."

"That's true," he agrees, pulling out of the parking lot. "I can drive you home if you'd like."

Judal doesn't answer at first, and at a glance he looks like he's deep in thought. But eventually he shakes his head. "Nah, I got it. Just head back to your place."

"Alright."

Judal spends the ride home chattering about the movie, as happy to go on without any input from Hakuryuu as Hakuryuu is to listen to him. It's nice to see his good spirits restored. It's exactly what Hakuryuu was hoping the movie would do.

"Thanks for the date," Judal says when they park the car, leaving out 'and for distracting me from the black-eyed children at work,' but Hakuryuu knows what he means.

"You're welcome," he says, but Judal is gone already. Hopefully tomorrow will be better for him.