It was official. I hated Mondays or Manadagr as my parents called it in this life. If Castiel was the angel of Thursday then the angel of Monday must have abdicated and been replaced by the most sadistic demon Hell could lay their hands on.

"Aww is the 'iddle baby about to cry," said my tormenter condescendingly "do you want us to help you find your mama?" My standing plan to just ignore the group of jeering classmates did not seem to be working.

"I apologise," I gritted out, mindful to keep the sarcasm from my voice, "but it seems like I have overestimated your education in formal etiquette. Let me introduce myself." I wondered whether my brother would be proud of the intimidating smile cutting across my face, or just stare at astonishment as his big sister acted maturely for once. "I am Grillby Kara Fornjotr. Child of Logi and Sol for six summers. My preferred pronouns are they, their and them." Here I bow in the formal manner of all fire elementals. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance." I placed a polite kiss upon my chief tormenter's paw, mindful not to burn their fur. An occupational hazard of being hot was you tended to make things burn even if you don't mean to. In this case my bully's cheeks, flushed a pretty shade of lilac.

Jokes on you Wingdings. Our bet only covered physical burns. The heavenly cookie from Mama Gaster was mine.

Of course, that was when our teacher decided to walk in, a full thirty minutes after the class was supposed to start. I almost wanted to joke about 'pulling a Kakashi' but it would probably fall flat given my current audience. Instead, I listened attentively. The faster I learnt the faster I could leave this class.

"For those who do not know I am Dame Meloe." Her eyes sweep over us, like those of a choir instructor, picking out imperfections in our stances and attire. My hand reaches halfway towards my neck before I remember I am not wearing a tie. "For the benefit of our latecomer and those moronic enough not to listen the first time I am your primary master in mage-craft. You will obey me immediately and without question. Understood?"

A variety of nods, yes ma'am's and one out of place yes sir that was definitely not me. The scary teacher was just staring at me for no reason … I really hope she has a sense of humour.

"I will be sorting you into pairs for this week. When you hear your partner's name stand next to them." Hey intimidating teacher there's a butterfly in that direction, it looks a lot prettier than I do so please stop staring at me! "Aapri and L'Ful, Bluck and Battler, Grillby and Maus …"

Ma'am Intimidating finally stopped staring at me. Now who was Maus?

My mind pulled a blank.

Maus. Maus. Maus.

Wasn't that the name of that comic about the Holocaust with mice and the name for a german tank?

I looked around the class searching for anyone that resembled a mouse or a tank. My search: fish-humanoid, ice-block, sphinx, brickhouse, demon cow, hawk-humanoid, oh wow my tormenter was still standing next to me, slime, sheep-cloud. A heavy paw brought my face up to have a close examination of a snarling cave of sharp teeth and bad smell. I blinked. I seem to have ignored the very valuable resource that is former tormenter.

"Do you know who Maus is?" I asked, morbidly fascinated by the strands of meat between his teeth. When had dental floss been invented?

"You're talking to him."

"Why –"

"Don't say a fucking word about my name." growled the newly dubbed Maus. His sentiment was understandable. What parent would name a lion monster 'maus'? If the name did not fit the monster there was the terrifying possibility their magic would turn against them.

"Then what would you prefer me to call you?" I winced as his claws unsheathed into my face, resulting in a slight sting on my part and for him to quickly pull away. I guess I lost my bet with Wingdings even though it technically wasn't my fault. Farewell my lovely cookie, may we meet again in our next lives.

"How about Leo?" Rummaging through my left trouser pocket yielded an assortment of oddities and a slightly dusty peppermint candy which I promptly popped into my mouth, "Lionel is a nice name," I searched through my right trouser pocket "or Daniel," a string of metal paperclips along with a lodestone magnet, a hair tie, the missing runestone from mum's bag … Found it! I held the pink and rhinestone covered emergency burn cream aloft like baby Simba.

"Or how about you shut up and stop butting your nonexistent nose into other people's business," he hissed. His face scrunched up in a cocktail of what I assumed was disgust and anger before he stormed after the teacher.

I watched him go, burn cream still in my hands in all its sparkly glory.

An uncomfortably cold carress of wind caused the flames on my arms to wave like miniature tentacles.


"How many times do I have to tell you to leave. Me. Alone." His eyes flashed with built up magic. From the tiny zaps I heard from his mane I knew that he was teetering on the edge of losing control and launching into an attack.

His words bit into my conscience, "I …" The zaps grew louder. "Sorry." Shame sends a surge of heat to my cheeks and the air feels too dry. Almost hostile. It felt like it was pressing down on me, I drop my gaze so that I no longer met his steely gaze.

"Then don't follow me, don't talk to me, don't do that weird hop-skip thing to try and pat my mane." He growled for emphasis. "Our week as partners is over."

"But I – "

"Save your excuses for someone who cares." I distracted myself from the sting that was watching Maus stalking to the opposite end of the field. By watching my new Froggit partner jump within the crowd to get a better view of our teacher.

"Um…" I redirected my nervous energy towards my hands and wished I had something besides my shirt to fiddle with. Maus's rejection made me feel unusually vulnerable and I reminded myself to smile.

It felt awkward, my face stretching to accommodate a hopefully friendly expression as my feelings knotted themselves within me to hide away from the ache. "Cheneotl would you like to stand on my shoulder for a better view?"

They looked me up and down, assessing me. Their gaze at that moment made me feel small and weak. My emotions coiled tighter within me and I wonder if I had offended them in asking. As their eyes travelled towards my hands I tried to still their motions but they just switched from fiddling with my shirt to my pants pockets instead.

"Why would I?" They said before proceeding to jump onto another student's shoulder. I gave a small nod in quiet agreement to my partner's back and tried to direct my attention back to our teacher's instructions. The physical portion of our class hadn't even started and I was already aching all over. I wished Wingdings was in this class with me and as I settled into my fighting stance upon the teacher's instruction I purposefully ignored the voice which questioned whether he would even want to be in my company.


"Is everything all right at school?" My dad asked. I lay my plate on top of the other dirty dishes. He passes me the dishwashing cloth and I walk over to the table and commence wiping it. As I set the alcohol I'd wiped on the table aflame I noted the silence left by my absent mother. Another night shift guarding Princess Tutorial. I wipe up the black soot from the table and return the cloth back to the sink.

"It's fine. I'm just tired." I answer, "our teacher is really pushing us to our limits." It's the truth but my dad raises an eyebrow regardless. Again, silence settles between the two of us as he finished washing the dishes.

He crouched so that our heads were at the same height. "You know if you're having any trouble I'm always willing to listen, right?"

I nod.

Should I bring up the knot of emotions inside my chest? No, its not worth it. It'll just be a waste of time. "Tuck me in?" I say instead.

He chuckled, its warm and rumbly, comforting like a hearth. "Aren't you a bit old for that?" he said with a smile.

I know he meant it as a joke. Just some light-hearted words before bedtime but the knot in my chest grew tighter and I felt smaller despite it. I smiled weakly into his bright, bright face which was slowly knitting itself into concern. "Are you saying your fire's burning so low you can't make it to my bed?"

His lips tugged up, "That's a good burn, kid. I've taught you well." He swept me up into a princess carry "Well does this show you how old I am?" He said as he carried me to my room and tucked me in.

Kissing my forehead, he then rose from the edge of the bed he was sitting on. "Love you, kid." He walked to the doorway before looking back. "Goodnight."

I respond automatically. My mind still warring over his previous statement. I want to believe him, I should believe him, but that whispering voice that's commented every time the other students in my class ignored me is louder now. He's lying it said. He doesn't love me. I'm just an annoying waste of space.

I pulled the blanket over my head and cried into my pillow.

A/N: Sorry this took a while. Thank you for those who've favourited or followed this. Reviews would be appreciated.