A/N: I'm following the theme of rainy weather apparently.
I actually started writing this one and nearly has this finished before I even thought about the umbrella sharing headcanons, but I completely forgot what I wrote in this until I re-read it today and laughed when I saw the part about Asmo and umbrella sharing... you missed out, Solomon.
As always, this is a stand-alone one shot fic so you don't have to read any of my previous works beforehand.
I apologise in advance if there are any mistakes in this fic, please feel free to let me know if you spot any so that I can rectify them as soon as possible.
I hope you guys enjoy it :)
~K'rasu xx
A Small Comfort
Solomon stared up at the sky with an awed expression as another fork of lightning illuminated the darkened clouds, only to be followed by the low rumble of thunder a few seconds later as large drops of rain fell around him — dotting the stone steps and cobbled paths around him.
"Hm, looks like that storm is getting closer," Solomon chuckled to himself as he wiped away a raindrop that landed on his cheek, "so this is why Asmo asked to share an umbrella with me today, I almost regret turning him down," he murmured to himself with a sigh as he went to grab his bag to lift it over his head in an attempt to shield himself from the rain, "I've heard that a rare form of magic briefly lingers where Devildom lightning strikes in great storms, I shouldn't waste this opportunity," he added with a excitable hum.
Just as his fingers brushed against his bag a chiming sound reached Solomon's ears, making the sorcerer freeze for a moment before he reached into his uniform pocket and withdrew his D.D.D instead. He glanced at the screen of the device to see a banner notification illuminate the lock screen.
Simeon
Text Message
"A private message from Simeon? That's odd," Solomon raised a curious eyebrow at the notification, "he'll usually just send messages to the Purgatory Hall group chat," he slowly traced his thumb over the screen to enter the passcode and unlock the device before he opened his messages and tapped on Simeon's name, "unless it's something he doesn't want Luke to see?"
Simeon
Are you still at RAD?
Solomon furrowed his brow in confusion, did Simeon message him privately just to ask that? He was about to type out a reply when his D.D.D gave a few short vibrations along with successive chiming sounds in his hand as more messages quickly followed the first.
Simeon
I've just got back to Purgatory Hall, Luke hasn't returned yet.
Simeon
He doesn't like storms.
Simeon
I've tried to message him, but he hasn't replied.
Simeon
I'm sorry to ask, but do you think you could look around RAD for him please?
Solomon stared at the messages on his screen for a moment with a dumbfounded expression before he finally typed and sent his reply.
Solomon
Luke doesn't like storms?
Solomon
I must admit that that surprises me.
With a pensive expression, he locked the device again before he slipped his D.D.D back into his uniform pocket and glanced up one last time as three forks of lightning stretched across the sky this time, he spared a moment to watch at the lightning met the ground somewhere just beyond the RAD grounds before he pushed all thoughts of chasing rare magic to the back of his mind with a small shake of his head, pivoted on the spot and headed back up the steps to the entrance into RAD.
His phone gave another chime from within his pocket as he reached the entrance doors and he withdrew his D.D.D again to read the new message.
Simeon
It's probably for the best that you don't tell Luke that I mentioned that.
"My lips are sealed." Solomon chuckled to himself under his breath as he pushed the doors open and entered the RAD building.
He wandered through the dimly lit corridors that were momentarily illuminated by the bright light of the lightning that poured through the windows at more regular intervals as the storm drew closer and quickly followed by the rumbles of thunder that were loud enough to make the floor beneath Solomon's feet shake slightly.
He opened every door that he passed and gave each room a sweeping search before he moved onto the next room.
Solomon gave a startled jump as a cracking, gunshot sound echoed throughout the corridors and was quickly followed by a vibrant flash of blue light.
"Devildom thunderstorms really are no joke," he mused aloud with a small frown as he quickly recomposed himself and continued his search, "I don't blame Luke for being scared, I just hope he hasn't hidden himself away somewhere otherwise I won't be able to find him. Maybe he'll answer his D.D.D if I call him too," he added in a thoughtful voice.
He withdrew his phone from his pocket once more, scrolled through his contact until he found Luke's number and pressed the call button before he pressed his D.D.D to his ear and waited while the call connected.
"Hm?"
He gave a curious hum and spun on the spot in bewilderment as the sound of a phone ringing reached his ears until his eyes finally fell upon a D.D.D in a blue case with cloud patterns on the floor in the corridor. Solomon approached the ringing device, picked it up and saw his own name flash across the screen until his own D.D.D cut off the call with a 'no answer' notification.
"It's no wonder he never answered Simeon," Solomon shook his head with a sigh as he watched his own call join the notification banner along with the other missed calls and several text messages from Simeon before he pocketed both devices.
He continued his search until finally found the young angel tucked away in the corner of a classroom.
"Ah, Luke!" Solomon called out with a sigh of relief as he weaved in-between the desks and chairs to approach Luke. "There you are, I've been looking everywhere for…"
He let his sentence trail off as he took in the state of the young angel.
Luke had crouched and tucked himself into a ball as tightly as he could with his eyes scrunched shut and his hands clasped firmly over his ears.
Solomon felt something in his chest tug as watched Luke flinch violently and hug himself tighter with a quiet whimper as another two gunshot-like sounds echoed through the corridors and into the classroom in quick succession.
It would probably be for the best if Luke doesn't know that Simeon sent me.
Solomon mused inwardly.
Then he wouldn't be embarrassed with the thought of Simeon telling me about his fear of storms.
After a moment of quick thinking, Solomon pulled his bag off of his shoulder, pulling a textbook out of his bag as he did so, and placed the textbook down on a nearby desk while he gently set the bag down on the floor beside the desk before he stepped forwards, crouched down in front of the young boy and gently placed his own hands on top of Luke's to shield his ears from the thunder that little bit more.
Luke's breath hitched, his eyes flew open and stared wildly about himself as he gave a startled jump before his eyes eventually found Solomon's face.
"Solomon?" Luke's eyes began to well up with tears.
Solomon nodded and offered Luke a warm smile.
Luke slowly lifted his own and Solomon's hands away from his ears.
"What are you doing here?"
"I forgot my textbook," Solomon lied easily as he vaguely gestured towards the book that he had placed on the desk, "so I came back for it and saw you here."
Luke opened his mouth to reply, but instead let out a small yelp and dived into Solomon's arms as another rumble of thunder reached their ears while the sorcerer instinctively gave Luke a comforting pat on the back.
"Why don't we go home?" Solomon suggested. "I'll walk with you."
"I don't want to go outside," came Luke's muffled voice, "I think I'll stay here and wait for the storm to pass."
The sorcerer gave an understanding nod as he shuffled around to sit on the floor beside Luke instead and let the angel burrow into his side again as another angry clap of thunder sounded from somewhere outside and the classroom illuminated with a flash of green.
Solomon sat in quiet thought for a moment before he pulled out his star wand and used his magic to conjure up bubbles that floated lazily in the air and colourful dancing rabbits that filled the classroom while he began to hum a familiar but soothing tune that he knew he had heard somewhere before, but for some reason he could not recall it's source.
He diligently stayed by the angel's side through the raging storm until it finally began to subside almost an hour later, never ceasing in his humming, even when he felt Luke's grip loosen as he slowly turned his head to watch the bubbles and rabbits.
A memory of a certain older angel flashed across his mind as Solomon repeated the hummed tune again.
Ah, now I remember.
A smile played on Solomon's lips as he stole a glance in Luke's direction to find him staring around the classroom with an expression of awe having successfully taken his mind off of the storm.
This tune… it's the same tune that Simeon hums to himself whenever everything falls quiet.
Luke gave a small sniff and held onto Solomon's hand as they descended the steps of RAD.
"What's wrong, Luke?" Solomon asked, frowning down at the angel.
"You wanted to search for rare magic during the thunderstorm, didn't you?" Luke murmured as he let his eyes drop to the ground. "But you couldn't because you stayed with me instead."
"How did you—?"
"I overheard Satan and Belphie talking about it earlier," Luke confessed, "they wanted to find some to make a spell to prank Lucifer, if the magic is that strong then I'm sure you would've wanted to get some for your experiments. If it wasn't for the fact that you found me when you came back for your textbook…" Luke's feeble voice trailed off.
"Is that why you're upset?" Solomon's warm smile returned as he gave Luke's hand a comforting squeeze. "I don't mind, Luke. Making sure that you're okay is more important than any experiment. Besides, there's always next time, right?"
"I guess." Luke nodded with a glum sigh.
"We should text Simeon to let him know that we're on our way home," Solomon murmured more to himself, "oh, that reminds me —" he pulled two devices out of his jacket pocket and handed one to Luke, "— I found your D.D.D in the corridor earlier."
Luke took the D.D.D with a small, appreciative nod and a mumbled thanks as he checked the missed calls and message notifications on the homescreen.
"Hey Solomon, can I ask you something?" Luke said in a hesitant voice.
"Sure." Solomon gave the young angel an encouraging nod.
"You said that you left your textbook behind after class today."
"I did." Solomon nodded again.
"But that classroom is used for the magical potions class… and wasn't your last lesson today on Devildom Law?"
"A-ah," Solomon gave a nervous chuckle, "I must've left it behind after an earlier class, in that case I was lucky that it was still there when I returned."
"And your textbook is for curses and hexes," Luke pointed out as he spotted the cover of the textbook in Solomon's hand.
"I… um… I like to do a bit of light reading while I'm waiting for my potions to simmer."
Luke pouted as he stared suspiciously between Solomon and the notifications on his D.D.D before realisation dawned on his face and he spoke up again in a flustered voice, "did Simeon send you to look for me? What did he tell you?"
"I'm feeling a bit peckish, how about I treat you to a cake or something from Madam Scream's? I know, we should surprise Simeon with something too!"
"Solomon, you're avoiding my question on pur—"
Luke suddenly let go of Solomon's hand and froze on the spot.
"Luke?" Solomon stopped in his footsteps and regarded the young angel with a concerned expression. "Is something wrong?"
"Can you feel that?" Luke asked as he began to wildly stare about himself.
Solomon's confusion deepened as he too cast his eyes at their surroundings.
"I can't feel anything." Solomon frowned.
"It's coming from this way!" Luke said before he pivoted on the spot and began to run across the grounds of RAD.
"Luke, wait—!" Solomon called after him before following in the angel's footsteps. "Luke, come back!"
Solomon followed Luke into the woods behind RAD, but he was forced to slow his pace to avoid tripping over large tree roots and to unsnag his clothes from brambles and low branches.
"L-Luke!"
Solomon panted and lent against a tree to catch his breath as he clutched at a stitch in his side when he finally caught up to Luke on the outskirts of a clearing of the woods.
"D-don't run off like that!" Solomon spoke between heavy breaths as he frowned at the angel. "You could've g-gotten lost or hurt!"
"Solomon, look!" Luke said excitedly as he pointed in front of them.
In the centre of the clearing was a small, glimmering rainbow orb that hovered just inches from the ground. Solomon's eyes widened as he stepped forwards towards the orb and felt a light, tingling sensation course through his body.
"T-this is a rare, concentrated magic from the storm… is this what you could sense back at RAD?" Solomon asked as he stared at Luke in disbelief while the angel let out a happy hum as he nodded in affirmation.
"We found the rare magic you wanted," Luke chimed with a bright smile, "now you can use it for your experiments."
Solomon felt his expression quickly soften as he gave Luke a grateful smile and patted the angel's head affectionately.
"Good job, Luke."
"H-hey!" Luke burst angrily. "D-don't treat me like a kid, Solomon!"
