"See you later!" Leo shouted while coming back inside. "Hope it'll be soon!"
He waved outside before he closed the door to the courtyard. Choosing to move on his feet for once, he grazed against my shoulder as he almost zipped past me.
I turned around. "How was it?"
He smiled. "The cobbler was fantastic."
*Pronoun specification might be a useful skill…*
"I meant: How was talking to Sinclair? It looks like your mood's a lot better."
"I'm only mean to people who don't give me blackberries." Poking his tongue out again, it was covered in a reddish-purple film. "But it was nice. I was bothered before."
"Was everything okay? Anything besides that hot tub issue?" I asked, tone deep and serious.
"…Yeah. I'm good."
The hesitancy made me cock an eyebrow as a white sheet slid out of his shirt, cascading to the ground with its blank side up. He tensed while he used his magic to put it back into its place. Twirling his thumbs together, he acted like I wouldn't say anything about his intense reaction.
"What's that?" I nudged my head in the direction of his hip.
He glanced to the side. "Something from Akiyoshi. He keeps asking me about it. I need to give it back to him. I don't want to carry stuff around."
*Why are you being ambiguous? It's not like I'll rat you out if it's something bad.*
"Huh."
"Yeah." He laughed nervously, but the glint in his eyes was solemn. He scratched the back of his neck.
"You want me to give it to him?"
"I'll do it in a few minutes. I'm in a talkative mood."
"Weren't you just talking for—like—hours?"
"And eating. Eating before anything," he answered briskly.
"Right. How'd they even know you like blackberries?" I sat on a chair in the corridor. It was grouped with an identical seat in the opposite orientation and a small metal table.
Leo sat across from me, adjusting his wings. "They said they saw the blackberry vines in the garden when they flew over. They just made a really good guess, honestly." He crossed his legs under the table, leaning back.
"Damn, they really just ran with that one clue."
"I know, right?" Leo chuckled. "I wasn't expecting that at all. They said they were repaying me, but now I feel like I owe them even more. The timing and everything were perfect. They must be a psychic."
"Say that enough times, and don't be surprised when you find out they're reading your mind." I hovered over the table. "I'd be scared," I joked.
"It's not like I have any interesting thoughts in here,"—he beat a fist lightly against his skull—"but that's like someone going through your stuff. Like, yeah, I have a bed and flowers, but I still would rather someone not. I'd freak out if someone read my mind!"
"Watch out, buddy. I should tell Sinclair to do it just to piss you off."
He pointed at me. "They hardly know either of us. It's not going to work."
"Then, do you know any other fairies? *Are* there any? I should bribe them."
It was confounding how I didn't ask before then. I only ever saw Leo and Sinclair around the castle. The two of them had to have other friends, right? They were probably lonely around only humans.
"Yeah. Not many. There's only really one per kingdom." He rested his head on his hand, staring at the ceiling as he thought and mouthed something to himself. "I've heard of Carling and Calhoun from some distant administrations. I don't know anything about them, though. They're probably nice. The only one I've actually talked to is Algor. I mentioned him the other day."
"The name sounds vaguely familiar." I yawned, covering my mouth.
"Probably. I met him a long time ago. He used to take care of me a lot when I was younger. Now, though, I don't see him that often. It's been several decades. I hope he's doing well."
Toying with something between his fingers, he added, "Short history diversion: The Galaxy Kingdom is just a chunk of rock floating in the sky above the Terrestrial Kingdom, so the two places are closely linked." He raised his hand. "That's how I was born."
"That explains why you're kinda close with him."
With a giggle, he nodded. "This place is like the Terrestrial Kingdom's child. It's funny how things line up like that. Not really a coincidence, but seeing things fall into place is satisfying. I mean,"—he shifted his attention to a shelf across the hall as I glanced over—"look at how those are all nicely aligned." He hummed and then chuckled. "More things should be like that. Everything's simple."
*Why does he suddenly get kind of deep on me?*
"So… you got any stories about Algor?"
*What else am I supposed to say…?*
Leo laughed. "You want to hear about the one time I fired off magic and turned a king into a llama, and then Algor scolded me?"
I blinked, and the corner of my lip turned up. "There's… a lot to unpack there."
*What the fuck was he doing as a child?*
"Sit down, and get ready for the ride." He kept giggling. "So I used to kinda suck at magic, but I can change, like, anything physically. That's great when you want to move around kingdoms or drop a barrel of boiling water on someone."
"That sounds like a story by itself."
"Oh, totally. So I fired off spells randomly. I'd turn a tree into a diamond or a grain of sand into a tiger. I think it pissed people off. It pissed *me* off. One day, I pointed at one of the former kings because I was trying to tell him he had a spider on his head, but I accidentally shot magic at him. Five seconds later, I said something like, 'Hey, where'd the king go?' I looked back at his chair."
Leo placed his hands in circles around his eyes and moved his head slowly like a visor. "A llama stared back at me. Have you ever seen a llama frown?"
"Never even seen one in person." I shifted in my chair, adjusting the cushion under my butt.
"Oh. Well, they're pretty cute, but this one had a black beard. It was hilarious! Think of someone drawing a mustache on its face. It started making noises at me, so I gaped at it; I was a lot calmer back then. I didn't react, and then, Algor came in with news from the Terrestrial Kingdom. He was super nice, asking the advisors to leave a message and some cookies. Then, he glanced at the throne, and I don't think I've ever seen someone's jaw any closer to falling off!"
Leo slapped the chair's arm.
"He ran right over to the king and changed him back. Then, he was all like, 'Esteemed advisors, I'm so sorry about this mischief. I'm still trying to teach him about magic. I hope you forgive him.' Stuff like that." Leo dropped his voice as he imitated Algor, giving me the impression of a grumpy old man.
"He made me apologize, and I walked out in dead silence. Wanna know what's funny?"
As his story dragged on, I played with the golden strings on my uniform, almost unravelling one. "Hm?"
"It wasn't anywhere near quiet when he forced me out! He was so nice and calm when he was in there, but he would have gone ham on my cheek if I were older! He yelled at me for ten minutes straight."
Leo summoned a glass of water for myself and him, sipping it. "I didn't see him take a single breath. I'm surprised I didn't cry, but I was somehow both shy and silent back then—if you ever would believe me."
"What happened to you over a millennium?"
"A lot," he joked.
"If I have one story this crazy to tell in thirty years, I'd be lucky."
He held a ball of purple magic in his hand. "I'll make sure of it."
While freezing, I gulped. "What about the water catastrophe?"
"Long story. So—"
Akiyoshi rounded the corner, approaching from behind Leo. His footsteps cut the story off, and Leo glanced over his shoulder.
"Are you ever going to answer my question about that paper?" Akiyoshi asked matter-of-factly while I bowed to him. "I gave it to you yesterday."
Leo stood up, smirking. He removed the sheet from a hidden pocket and showed it to Akiyoshi. "I told you yesterday I wasn't going to answer."
"Then, who—"
"We can talk in your room. You have your own issues, don't you?" Leo had a lilt to his voice, but for once, it didn't sound like he was playing around.
"You act like nothing's ever happened to you. Stop it." Akiyoshi seized the paper harshly and left the same way he came.
*So what's the deal with those two?*