❝[...]in my mind I need
you to be free…
so this is where I leave ya,
sittin' in a palace
covered in gold
inside my head...❞
—Palace; Hayley Kiyoko.
Soma was giddy.
It was a fairly new emotion, or not so much since he discovered his—admittedly not so secret—crush towards Agni. He had found himself feeling it a lot more lately. And… he didn't particularly dislike it. In fact, if not for the fact that it made him act dumb and make a fool out of himself in front of pretty much everyone, he could enjoy it.
But oh well, one can't have it all.
Or at least that's what he thought as he tried to bring himself back to reality.
"Soma! It's always a delight to see you visiting. Ever since last holidays, you haven't come around much." Soma offered a sheepish smile, a hope to be pardoned by his best female friend.
"Can't say school leaves time for much, now, can I?" he offered, a lame excuse.
Elizabeth straightened her curls, smiled a fond smile back, and opened the door wider. "And where are my manners, come on in!" She gestured towards the inside, on into the Victorian-like décor—actually, everything inside the house looked Victorian-like, even the people, so much it was unnerving!—, he let himself be led to the main room, and sat when told he could.
"And what have you been up to? My brother tells me tidbits here and there when he comes over for the weekend, but you know gossip is not nearly as good when it comes from the original source." Laid on the lap of her frilly dress, Soma can easily make out the shape of her fencing gloves. It would seem as if she was sewing patterns on it, small, delicate flowers to contrast against the strong front she puts when she fights. So much like her.
("Oh, come on, it's not that weird. I just… like girly things."
And yet, the girliest of all was being strong for those she loved.)
"Oh, not much, really. Just been trying to stay afloat on my studies." He shrugged, what was there to tell? Lizzy excused herself to fetch tea and cookies.
Oh, who was he kidding?
When Lizzy came back for refreshments, he tried not to squirm in his seat, trying to think of a way to word his question.
"Say, Lizzy…" she placed the tray on the small table, and proceeded to give him an encouraging smile. The one that said 'go on, I'm listening', which, fortunately, gave him a little confidence. "You are good at wooing boys, yes?" She blinked. Understandably so.
"Uh, I wouldn't say I'm good with them… why the question?" she raised a teacup to her small, doll-like lips, breathing away the steam and taking a careful sip.
Soma mimicked her actions, bringing his own teacup close to himself. "You see… it's a weird situation, really… little Ciel might have said something that… made me realise I have feelings for someone else?"
Lizzy 'uh-huh'ed, trying to think the situation. "And I reckon this someone is a boy?"
Soma shrugged, and mumbled a 'I guess you could say that'. He was beginning to wonder if he shouldn't have gone to Ciel instead. No, little Ciel would have said something like "go figure it out yourself."
Lizzy hummed, and tried to come up with an appropriate response.
"Well, I guess you could take him to the amusement park. A little cliché but everyone likes games, don't they?" She bit one of the sprinkled cookies. "Maybe also take them for dinner? Treating them to their favorite meal is always a nice detail anytime."
For a moment there, Soma felt stupid. Why hadn't he thought of that? It was a fairly easy plan, and maybe not the most romantic thing, but it would do. Probably. Hopefully.
"Thanks a lot, Lizzy!" There were no words, to describe how much this meant to him.
"Now," she set the teacup down. "About this person… tell me all about him!" He grinned, happy his best friend had taken it so well.
Needless to say he stayed for the next couple of hours.
Operation 'Wooing Agni' had started off quite well.
Soma had taken Agni to the same restaurant they had gone while waiting for Mina's "meeting" to end; it was early afternoon and the restaurant wasn't, thankfully, crowded.
They had had some amiable conversation about how work was and whatnot, the neighbourhood conversations sounding like soft whispers around them. Soma had made sure to ask the waiters to serve Agni whatever he seemed to like best, and if the knowing, small grin from Agni meant anything, Soma took it as a success.
"How would you fancy a trip to Alton Park after this? I know it's a little far, but I heard the view is quite dandy from the skyride, and the lights are, if I say so, brilliant." Soma sipped his mango lassi, attentive to whatever Agni had to say.
Agni chuckled, his voice silkier than Soma ever remembered hearing it, and it took his all to not blush right there and then. "The floor is yours, my prince. I am but your humble servant this day."
This time it was Soma who laughed, amused despite his self-awareness. "You are my friend, so you'll come because you want to, not because of some 'servicial duty' you feel towards me," he rolled his eyes good-naturedly, and felt his knees buckle under the table at the fondness in Agni's eyes.
"Jo Agya, my prince."
When they arrived, Agni almost started protesting when he realised Soma had bought annual passes for them both. "You shouldn't have spent so much money on me," he pointed out, "I'll probably not come ever again," but Soma only shrugged.
"Maybe today will convince you to use it the rest of the year."
Once booked in, Soma guided Agni through the park. Lots of bright, inviting colors all around, and some people already riding the skyrides. "Would you like to grab a bite somewhere later? I think the restaurants are not half bad." Agni shook his head.
"As much as I appreciate the sentiment, I don't think spending this much money on me is a good idea." And then they were on the way, enjoying some of the most extravagant rides.
When evening arrived, Soma guided them to a small compartment in the skyride, and Agni willingly followed suit, glad to see this much enthusiasm in the prince's behaviour. They entered the enclosed space and sat across each other, enjoying the quiet. The mid-February air chilled him to the bone, nonetheless Soma felt his cheeks flare with heat under his scarf every time Agni was acting even the slightest nice and caring.
"I heard they were planning a firework show tonight," Soma said, almost unable to be still in his giddiness. Agni raised an amused eyebrow, though he was still smiling.
"Fireworks?" he questioned, "they are quite uncommon this time of the year. I don't recall any firework show with the exception being New Year's and Bonfire Night…"
Soma shrugged, feigning nonchalance. "Yes, well, tonight might just turn out to be a very special night," he answered cryptically.
"'A very special night'? How very mysterious. Care to give me a clue on the occasion?"
Soma looked pensieve for a couple of seconds, humming for a bigger effect. "Oh, I wouldn't know. Maybe because it's Valentine's and there should be a spectacle for the people celebrating it? Just a guess."
"Hmm. If you say so, prince." Agni looked through the window, silent in his awe at the view they had. Soma had been quite right when he described it as "brilliant". The families milling about, the couples enjoying a perhaps-not-so-quiet afternoon, some kids eating pizza… underneath them everyone seemed so little.
While Agni was distracted, Soma lifted his wrist and stared at his watch trying to read it in the dimming light. Good, he still had a couple of minutes.
"Say, Agni." His companion was shaken out of his thoughts by his voice, that soft as it may seem compared to the attractions, was loud and clear to Agni's ears. Perhaps it was the tension of the setting, or his own perception of the person in front of him.
"Yes, prince?" instead of his usual clothing, Agni wore garments more appropriate for cold climate, which included a scarf and a cute, fluffy hat, but Soma could still see his white hair underneath it and wondered if it was as soft as it looked should he decide to run his fingers through it.
"I never did get around to thank you for what you did for me during the winter hols; you didn't have to do anything, you barely knew me, and yet you spent a lot of time trying to make me feel better after what happened with Mina." Agni blinked a couple of times, surprised. Then he began to respond.
"Oh, I did that because I wanted to—"
"Exactly! You wanted to! Which makes what you did for me even more special."
"Prince…"
"Agni, I… I fancy you," there, he said it, it wasn't as romantic as it could be, yet, but he had wanted it out in the open, honest and simple. "You are one of the kindest persons I've ever met, and… I wanted you to know how happy you made me."
BANG!
A flash of red. Quick like a lightning bolt, blinding and an oh so thunderous sound. The fireworks had started.
"Prince…" Agni's sounded strangely subdued, even compared to his normally subdued behaviour, then his face darkened. "I am not a good person," he warned.
Soma frowned, "What are you—?"
BANG!
A flash of red. Quick like a lightning bolt, blinding and an oh so thunderous sound. Someone had broken into the house.
A pain in his earlobe; someone had shot him and missed his head by mere centimetres. Blood was oozing, warm and thick through his cheeks.
BANG! BANG!
"What I mean to say, prince, is that the things I've done… the sins I've committed… even you who in all his mercy gave me a second chance in life would deem me unworthy."
A flash of red. Quick like a lightning bolt, blinding and an oh so thunderous sound. The fireworks were making up shapes in the starless sky.
"Agni…" Soma was on his knees, overcome with an onslaught of memories he didn't remember—couldn't make sense of—having, confusion, so much confusion—
BANG! BANG!
All of a sudden, Agni was in front of him, already willing to take the brunt of the next attack. But they needed to get to safety first, so then began the shoving and the pushing and the pulling to where Soma remembered was a cupboard full of ingredients for that morning's breakfast.
A piece of paper was slipped into his hand, and his eyes widened, what was Agni...
A flash of red. Quick like a lightning bolt, blinding and an oh so thunderous sound. The invader kept firing away. He had already managed a gash in Soma's hand and it hurt so much but he could only worry about—
BANG! BANG! BANG!
A flash of red. Quick like a lightning bolt, blinding and an oh so thunderous sound. The fireworks were fading into cloudy smoke. Only the smallest trace of what they had been remained.
Agni walked closer to the door of their compartment. "I'm so sorry, Soma," the use of his given name was only shadowed by the look on his face; the repentment in his eyes seemed honest enough when he jumped.
"Agni!" Soma leapt to his feet, only held back by the now closed red door. Tears were running down his cheeks like nobody's business.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
A flash of red. Quick like a lightning bolt, blinding and an oh so thunderous sound. He kept banging his bleeding fist on the wooden door, droplets of scarlet blood splashing into his face. It was going to dry soon, and peeling it off would be a nightmare later, but he could only keep pounding and pounding, hard and quick. He had to listen, he thought in his desperation. He hadn't even…
"Please open up, Agni!" He cried, kneeling—
...bang.
—and sobbing, and heaving against the door, begging Agni to let him out.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Would you look at that, I made it on February 14… 2019. I'm… really sorry that it took me so long to type this out, but last year I was in… a very bad place and couldn't do much of anything.
I'm sorry this chapter is so short. Despite how much I love this story, I feel like I've dragged this story for far too long and at this point I just want to finish it. Not only bc you, the readers, are probably sick and tired of it, but because I have other projects I want to focus on this year. I will only write this and another oneshot for Black Butler before I write no more (unless people like, send requests), but before that, the feeling is "I want it done". Thus, regrettably, the first part of the chapter might feel unnatural and underdeveloped, but I've been working on it for one year and just wanted to end it.
Although Head Above Water's release tomorrow has me very hyped and expectant. ψ(｀∇´)ψ Even after the super duper crazy stuff that has happened in the last three months, 2019 is looking up to me. On another note, you can probably tell I've been reading way too much HP fanfiction lately, so I tried to use more British terms(?). Maybe I'll go over the first four chapters again and edit them, maybe not. I also had to google the firework show thing, and for the sake of plot let's pretend Soma can pay for a firework show(?).
Next chapter is going to be Agni's backstory, first person PoV and scheduled for February 28th, 2019. If I don't make it, expect it sometime in the first two weeks of March. Hopefully it won't suck as much and be twice as long.
Matane!