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Chapter Text

Dire Crowley is reponsible enough to acknowledge he can't be responsible and leaves Yuu on Crewel's doorstep their first night in Twisted Wonderland.

Yuu lives with Crewel and doesn't get enrolled as a student. They're a TA that helps Crewel with fetching materials for labs and grading tests and other such tasks. Sometimes they'll help other teachers too. Yuu's glasses can turn into goggles but the mechanism gets stuck sometimes.

Crewel's very much only tolerating this child he has been burdened with. 

Definitely just tolerating them. Yes. He really needs to remember to get them an umbrella. 

Chapter Text

"They miss you."

"Hmm?" Yuu leaned over to see his tilted phone screen. Smith and Lou whined upon it, staring with big, sad eyes into the camera. "Aww, they do?"

"Yes," he said curtly, and pulled back the phone. He scrolled through the conversation, on the other updates on his dear dalmatians as his old schoolmates dogsat for him. Twelve requests for Yuu in the last two days, and the hounds only met them three days ago. He sighed, this is what he gets for-

"What're they saying now?"

'Smith Lou sad ,' howled Smith mournfully

'You keep puppy' sulked Lou. 'Smith Lou no puppy. No fair no fair no fair.'

'Woe. Woe. Sad. Many sad-"

'No fair no fair-'

"They miss you," Crewel replied. "Specifically, they miss your treats.'

He shot Yuu a pointed look at that, because he had told them not to bring any snacks when introducing them. Alas. Sam had sold them a bag of human-marketed but dog-safe jerky and Yuu was untrained in the discipline of Not Giving In To Puppydog Eyes, and so his scoundrels preyed upon their weakness and dried beef.

"Sorry," Yuu muttered, looking away but more bashful than apologetic as they turned their attention back to their lunch.

Smith and Lou paced dramatically, clearly whining despite the muted video.

Bax
what do we do boss?

Bor
They look so sad : (

Bax
do we visit u at Sage? 😀

Stop conspiring with my dogs.

Bor
But they don't wanna eat :((((

Use the quail eggs and the bone broth.

Bax
ur babies eat better than us. . .

I pay you two plenty.

"Should I say something to them?"

Crewel glanced at them.

"Should I tell them to behave, or something like that? Would it be a lie to say I'll visit them soon?"

It wasn't a plea. Not quite. But Crewel was perhaps untrained in the discipline of Not Giving In To Sad Yuu Eyes that they didn't even seem to be aware they were showing-

"I suppose," he said. "That we could visit this weekend, with you empty-handed, so they'll cease associating you with treats."

Their posture perked up. If they had a tail, it would be wagging. "How do I tell them that?"

Crewel hummed. "How is your Dog going?"

Their smile turned sheepish. "Professor Trein said that I uh, really don't have the tongue or ear for Animal Comm. . . but I could try to copy the sounds, at least?"

". . .they might believe it better if you say it."

"What should I say?"

"I thought you had that planned."

"Well I want them to hear what would make them listen, you know?"

"Why don't you try on your own first? Let's see how good of an instructor Trein is."

They frowned, then after a moment of furrowed brows, barked.

Crewel barked a laugh too, sharp before it turned to a snort as he tried to stifle it.

"What? What did I say?"

"I'll eat your feet and borrow your figs."

"What?!"

"What were you trying to say, pup?"

"Miss you too, be good, I'll visit soon?! How the- how did it turn into that?!"

How distressed they looked, to make themself out to be a dog-eating monster. He got the laughter in his chest out with a sigh.

"Alright pup, repeat after me. . ."

~ ~ ~

Lucius bristled as Trein approached the staff room. He was in the middle of fussing over the poor dear when the sound of Dog entered his ears.

'Miss you.'

'Eat you.'

Through the glass of the door, Divus barked, and Yuu clumsily tried to follow.

'Miss you.'

'Eat you.'

'Miss you.' It needs to come from the throat."

'Sniff you.'

"Throat, not the head. 'Miss you."

'Bite you.'

"No. Deeper. 'Miss you."

'Love you.'

Too deep, too low, they had reached from the chest-

Divus blinked, then looked away, hand covering his mouth. "No."

"No?"

"No."

"Divus, stop teasing the child."

"Ah, hello Professor Trein! Sorry, I'll move those papers like you asked-"

"It's alright, Yuu." Trein said. "You can do it after lunch."

"Don't choke," Divus warned, but Yuu seemed to rush through the rest of their meal with impressive speed regardless before snapping their lunchbox shut. The box slid into the space Divus had left for them on his desk.

"I'll wash it when I'm back!" 

Divus watched the child leave the staff room, and as his head turned, Trein caught the quirk of his lips through gloved fingers. It dropped when the hand did, when those gray eyes met Trein's own.

"What?"

Trein only turned away, stroking Lucius's back. "I didn't say anything."

Chapter Text

They didn't do anything wrong.  They didn't. Still, their pocket's contents seemed to chime like rattling chains with every step, metal chafing against their fingers-

"What is it, pup?"

Did he hear it? Did he know? He didn't look up from his desk, if he did-

Well now he stopped. And was looking expectantly at them too. Great.

"I um-"

-posture straight, look at him head on, don't look guilty because are you not guilty-

"I have a problem," Yuu said, and before he could say a thing about how it was a problem to not simply state the problem, they drew out the gold from their pocket.

He blinked at it. They stepped forward to place it on the table, careful so the gems wouldn't scratch the surface.

"Kalim Al-Asim gave it. Not as payment for the study group! He just said he was thankful for my friendship and now I. . .I don't know what to do with it. Them."

Crewel ceased examining the bracelet in his palm. "Them ?"

~ ~ ~

An array of jewelry was spread across Yuu's dressing table, polished metal and lustrous gemstones glittering before their eyes. They were bracelets mostly, but some closed boxes were in the mix.

He stared at it incredulously, then turned to them. "You were keeping these in a biscuit tin? "

"In a tin in a towel in the way back of the lowest level of dresser! I just took it out after dinner."

Crewel was no jeweler, but he had a feeling that the gold was no less than eighteen-karat, the purest the uncharmed metal could get without being too soft, and he suspected that even the colored stones with their adamantine shine might be diamond rather than mere varieties of corundum.

"How long has this been going on?"

"Once or twice a week since I chatted to him after winter break?"

". . .alright," Crewel said, "Did you want to make use of my safe?"

"No I- well- I was kind of wondering if you wanted them?"

"I appreciate the sentiment, puppy, but those are your gifts, and they're rather gaudy for my tastes-"

"No I meant for you to uh, Kalim did say I could sell them. I thought maybe you'd want to do that?"

"Why?"

"You know. To pay you back for the food. And clothes. And utilities-"

"Yuu, I've told you Crowley's funding all that-"

"For you then. I don't remember the Headmage giving you a raise to teach me and cook for me and take me on trips to Rose Country-"

"My salary is fine and you pay me with your labor."

"It's not much labor-"

"It's plenty, Yuu. Now, did you want to dispose of all of these?"

Yuu frowned. "If you don't want the money, then I think I just want Kalim to stop. I think I'd feel bad selling any of them. . ."

Crewel sighed. "Has he persisted despite you declining?"

". . .I haven't actually said no?"

Crewl gave them a look and they shrank.

"H-he just looks so happy giving them and he always seems so sad after he got demoted from housewarden-"

"Have Smith and Lou taught you nothing?"

"I know how to deal with dog-begging not Kalim-begging!"

"Has it even gotten to that stage? Have you explicitly said you didn't want it even once?"

Yuu seemed to have gotten a spontaneous interest for the patterns upon their room's blank carpet.

"Puppy, if you can tactfully tell Lou off for bringing you a dead sparrow, you can certainly turn down Al-Asim's generosity."

". . .do I have to?"

"Did you expect me to do it for you?"

"I thought you might know something like a rule about staff not getting gifts?"

"Unfortunately, there are no such rules."

It's inappropriate and should be discouraged, but Vargas and the Headmage were always rather pleased to receive anything. Also unfortunately, propriety was not ground he could ask Yuu to stand upon, when he'd encouraged them to make some peers their age with the only caveat being not to aid in academic dishonesty. . .well from one point of view, the jewelry might seem like bribery, but the improvement in Al-Asim's grades wasn't anything dramatic enough to be presented before any council or court of law. And Yuu had helped make practice tests entirely of their own accord and on their own, besides his checking for reasonableness-

"If he still tries to give me gifts after, c- may I ask you to tell him to stop?"

Al-Asim didn't seem like the sort to need such higher reprimand. He shouldn't, if he valued Yuu's thoughts at all.

"Of course, puppy," Crewel said anyway, ignoring the senseless warmth from the thought of Yuu turning to him for such an unlikely scenario.

Yuu looked a little calmer at that.

Crewel turned his eyes back to their not-so-secret hoard.

"As for the ones you already have, pick a handful you think you'll want or use more often. The rest are going in the safe."

Chapter Text

"Yuu."

"Yes, Professor?"

"Have you had lunch yet?"

Their eyes flickered to the clock on the phone. They blinked. The time didn't change-

"You haven't, have you?"

"I uh-"

"For goodness' sake, pup-!"

"I ate-"

"Don't lie to me, pup. I'll have you know I had security cameras before you came in. There hasn't been a hint of movement, which means you've either somehow snuck out of the apartment, the cameras are broken, or you've rooted yourself to your desk again."

"I ate breakfast-"

"It's three in the afternoon!"

". . .I also had a cup of tea? And the bread from Sam's sale yesterday-"

"If you refuse to eat a proper meal when left to your own devices, I am dragging you to Rose Country with me next weekend."

"Professor! I was busy! I was reading! Studying-"

"Diligence is an admirable quality but not when it leads to this kind of carelessness-"

"You skip meals sometimes!"

". . .I am adult. You are child."

"I am sixteen-"

"And still have not grasped the importance of a balanced diet. Or moderation. You haven't left your room once, have you?"

"I left it to make the tea."

"I meant since then."

"Ah. Then no."

He sighed. "Stop proving Leech right by turning into a shrimp. Stand up and eat something."

"Fine," they said, standing, and hopefully the cracks that sounded as they got to their feet weren't audible.

"Something that isn't those cup noodles-"

"Hey! I bought those with my own money!"

"And I allowed it under my roof with the belief that you weren't intending for it to be your only meal everytime you're left alone."

Yuu pouted. "It's like a treat-

"It's insubstantial."

"You let your dogs have a treat every time you go back, don't you?"

"Well they don't only eat treats, and you're not a dog, are you?"

Is Yuu a dog? came his muffled voice through the phone, followed by faint barking.That's right! Good boy, Smith! Lou? Lou, no. Just because I call them puppy doesn't mean-

"If I stir-fry some vegetables, may I eat my noodles in peace?"

"Blanch them. You've plenty of oil and sodium in that cup already."

"Fine, fine. Blanch the vegetables, got it-"

"There should still be a filet of salmon in the fridge. Take one of the pieces and sear it."

"I thought we were going to do pasta with that."

"Yes well, some sacrifices have to be made. Add it to those atrocious noodles of yours."

"I thought the noodles were too oily aready-"

"The fish has healthy oils and actual protein. Don't make me buy you supplements."

"I thought you said I wasn't a dog."

"No, just a human that apparently needs supervision like one. You're worse, actually, Smith and Lou know how to tell their minders when they're hungry."

"I'm not hungry!"  Wasn't hungry. Their stomach didn't start growling until Crewel's call stirred them from their state of staring at borrowed books for apparent hours at a time.

"Eat something anyway."

"I will, heading to the kitchen now-"

"Drink water too."

"On it."

"You better. You left your water jug on the counter and it looks very full."

"Shit."

"I heard that."

"Sorry, Professor! I'll make sure I finish it in the day."

"Not all in one go-"

"I know better than to waterboard myself, Professor!"

He huffed. "I swear one of these days I going to find you collapsed on the floor-"

"I'm not that weak!"

"Maybe not now but enough dehydration and sodium you're going to turn yourself into a mummy-"

"I won't."

"I hope not. It would be very hard to scrub the scent from the guest room. I'd have to throw out the rug-"

"I'm going to cook now. Bye."

"Bye. I'll be watching."

"I know."

Chapter Text

When the twist of the knob brings only half his dogs and half the noise, Divus Crewel thinks that Yuu ought to perhaps develop a caffeine habit one of these days, or that the couch in the library they like so much should be thrown out.

If they could stomach some tea or coffee, perhaps they could push back their afternoon naps to reasonable periods. Removing the couch from his library might force them to move to their bed when their eyes start drooping. If travelling that short distance down the hall wouldn't wake them, it would at least spare them from the irksome crick in their neck that they will inevitably wake up to once they stop sleeping as they do, Lou snug beside them on the space where only one dog could fit without falling. It's quite the cozy picture.

'Traitor! ' Smith howls sharply, and Lou practically leaps from the couch, startling Yuu awake.

"P-professor? You're back already?"

"Yes. The seminar ended late."

They stare, then they no longer look quite so groggy, as his words sink in. There is a crack as they straighten up. They wince, and he can almost feel his own neck twinging in sympathy.

"What did I tell you about sleeping like that?"

"It was just a nap, I set an alarm!"

"This alarm?" In his hand is their phone, the display showing the two hours and counting it's been since it stopped ringing.

". . .yes?" They have the nerve to smile.

He clicks the phone closed. He tosses it in the air and flicks his pointer, and soon, it's unreachably high on top of a shelf alongside Yuu's notes and stationery and the book they were reading through. The other borrowed volumes of that series on the history and craftsmanship of magic mirrors  join their fellow temporary contraband for good measure.

"Hey!"

"Get changed. We're going out for dinner."

They grumble only a little as they drag themself up. Smith trots after them, only a little concerned that they might bump into things with their limbs a little asleep, mostly bumping into them himself and nearly causing them to fall. But Yuu navigates the dog weaving through their legs and gets to their room with their eyes half-closed, used already to an excitable hound and the layout of things even here. Funny to think he'd had his reservations about bringing Yuu with him to Rose Country, once upon a time.

He didn't want to have a stranger summoned by the Dark Mirror in his home any more than he wanted to leave one alone in his Sage Island flat. As much as he longed to see his darling dogs though, he also didn't particularly like Crowley's suggestion to let a lost child spend the weekend at that rundown hovel at the edge of the campus. Yuu's proposal to live in the school and overnight in the infirmary didn't sit as well with him as it could have either, and so as Yuu continued to remain in Twisted Wonderland and their first weekend crept closer, Crewel resigned himself to missing dear Smith and Lou for the next week or two, and mused on the idea of having Baxter and Boris bring his beloved canines over so they might walk the Main Street before he could start feeling withdrawal.

But the stranger wasn't so terrible. There could have been worse characters foisted upon him by the Headmage. Yuu was well-mannered guest who knew how to clean up after themself. They took the initiative to be as unintrusive as possible as a housemate, and to be an attentive aide on campus. They were polite and helpful, cautious and mindful, sometimes nervous, but they'd stand their ground where it mattered, even against unruly Night Ravens. A model child, a model student. Quite a contrast to the whelps he usually saw day to day. He brought them to Rose Country by their second week and they delighted Smith and Lou immediately. Somewhere as the months rolled by, he could trust them with being alone his apartment, with watching his home, with minding his dogs-

He could not, however, seem to trust them with their own well-being. Their diligence could border on workaholism, their focus leading to a flow state where they'd be in the same position for hours. They were particularly prone to falling to a vicious cycle of afternoon naps that led to late nights. Their body clock wakes them early, accustomed to having to get to classes on time, and so afternoon comes and with it, a nap that leads to a late night. Not so terrible on the weekends, when they're at leisure to close their eyes and doze off, but he can't have them carrying that sleepiness into the classrooms if they insist on being present at all during alchemy.

They find him in the foyer, and Smith grabs his leash from his hand to drop it before Yuu with a wagging tail.

"We're walking?" They ask, hooking the leash to the collar.

"Yes." It could help tire them out. Then Smith and Lou could beg them to have some fun at the park to keep them busy and drain their energy until it was a reasonable hour to go to bed.

He helps them with their jacket, then they walk into the cool evening together, Smith and Lou bickering ahead of them as they head to the cafe a dozen or so streets over.

Chapter Text

It's a shame he can't be in Rose Country right now. It's a shame that the weather's so poor. It's a shame that even with six years of teaching under his belt, he can't use the Dark Mirror even as faculty for something so frivolous as going home to his darlings.

He sighs, breath fogging the glass. It sounds terribly close to some simpering sound in Dog. The storm and all its wave-making, boat-cancelling, plane-grounding rain rages on.

It's an unreasonable thought, it is frivolous to want such special treatment, but who could blame him? He'd like to see his hounds in the flesh and fur, and they miss him too.

He swirls his glass. Looks bitterly at the ceiling.

Even with the weather clear though, he can't really go home, could he? Not while-

A door creaks open.

Speak of the devil.

Yuu pads out into the living room, and practically jumps at the sight of him.

Hs supposes it would be startling, with the lights off. He must seem but a dark shape against the window and the faint streetlights filtering through storm and glass. Their eyes are wide, hand at their chest-

He pulls himself to sit upright and brings his glass to his lips, hopefully covering his grin if the shadows don't, as they gather their wits.

The pup smiles nervously. "H-hi, Professor. I was uh, just getting water-"

"Don't let me stop you," he says, and turns back to the outside.

He hears them pull something from the drawer, hears them fill it as the storm howls. He hears their footsteps approach, but keeps his eyes beyond. The window of the living room is much wider than the one in the spare room he'd been using for storage before their abrupt arrival. For a while, he watches the rain, and they stand somewhere further back.

"You can sit," he says, then they do, sinking into the seat across the table.

He glances at them as they gaze outside. Steam curls from the mug they clutch in both their hands.

"Are you cold?"

They turn to him, because they're polite like that, when they answer anyone. "No, Sir. I'm fine. I just like hot drinks."

He remembers warm milk and hot chocolate as a child. He came to prefer tea eventually. Nothing was opened, nothing rustled. He hasn't had chocolate anywhere he's lived for years now. He looks at the window. They sip their hot water.

It's not silent. The storm's going to surround Sage Island for a while. He might actually find the weather pleasant in other circumstances. He likes peace more than pure silence- indistinct murmurs and music in a bar, the scratching of pens against papers in an exam room, shuffling paws and soft sounds keeping him company as he reads.

Yuu is silent. They are the sort of quiet that's not mere consideration, but that which betrays a fear of being too loud, too much, and consequently being cast out from a stranger's roof and charity. Still a growing child, but they never take seconds. They never complain, even when the tasks pile up, when Crowley suddenly has an errand them when he does and they end up apologizing after for their lateness because they can't be in two places at once. Their eyes are curious, but they never ask anything outside the classroom.

He feels, for not the first time, a pointless pity for their situation, and annoyance towards the Headmage. 

Their eyes flicker to him, to the plate on the table as knife clicks against ceramic, and their gaze lingers for a second before looking back outside.

He sips his wine, eats the pairing. He slices a another, thinner sliver away on the plate.

"It's raisin butter," he says, scraping the knife over a cracker.

They blink at him, how he offers it to them. They quickly set the mug down to have a hand cupped beneath the fingers taking it.They thank him before they even take a bite. They seem a little surprised the taste.

"There's a bit of rum in the recipe." He looks at his glass. "You can have some of it with your toast tomorrow."

"Rum. Like alcohol?"

"No more than goes in some rum cakes. A fair bit of the alcohol evaporates as it's made. What's left is hardly enough to make anyone drunk."

"Oh." They look so relieved he almost laughs. They're probably a studious, straight-laced child back home, to make such a face.

They sit beside him in the dark. It's not so different from having Lou and Smith nearby, quietly dozing.

". . .it sounds the same."

They look at the window. They still look a little flustered. He wonders if they're trying to talk their embarrassment away.

"The uh. The rain." They keep their eyes on the glass. "It was raining a lot, where I came from, when I. . . I kinda thought I was home for a bit when I woke up."

He thinks, for not the first time, that he's in no place to apologize for their current condition of them not being in their home, but the urge comes anyway, sobering him. He makes no empty promises, says no senseless sympathies.

He only watches the rain in the dark as they do. He only summons the blanket from their room, when they seem to hold their arms around themself. 

He rises, drops it in their lap, and tells them not to get sick. They're a reasonable child. He should find them in their room before morning. They're not a particularly tedious thing to mind for a while, until they're gone.

They mutter a thank-you, and stay where they are, gazing at the window. Wrapped in that old gift some friend gave him, bundled in a plush, spotted thing like it's a pelt, he supposes this really isn't so different from looking after another's pet. At any rate, they're more agreeable company than Lucius.

~ ~ ~

"Here you go, Sir! Thank you very much,  please come again!"

He takes his purchase and leaves the shop. Yuu and his darlings are where he left them by a bench, Yuu politely telling curious strangers and children who get too close not to just suddenly pet the dogs. His stern look has a persistent fellow and his daughter leaving them all be.

"Where to now?" they ask, handing him one of the leashes. Usually, he'd be picking up his dogs and and some tea from the cafe down the street. With the convenience of someone minding his hounds while he enters less pet-friendly establishments though, they can head straight home-

But his dear dalmatians pout and whine, and so he relents to sitting at the table at the cafe regardless. He orders his usual strong cup of tea, his dogs get a little paper cup of cream each sprinkled with carob, and Yuu declines to order anything. He doesn't make them. They eat the cookie though, a complimentary sweet that comes with the tea. Even if it's his favorite flavor, it's a tad too sweet for his liking.

When he stops by the cafe by himself and his dogs the next weekend, Yuu left at Sage Island by their own request, he notices the cafe's spread of packaged goods.

It's a reasonable purchase. They've been quite helpful, and good behavior should be reinforced. They're hesitant to take anything that he hasn't deliberately said has been set for them alone, but the date on the box should prompt them to actually eat it.

They open the door for him back at Sage Island. They've a hot meal on the stove for two and then some to have in the morning for their breakfast.

The trip to and from the island and his hometown is tiresome, but he's not too weary for a bite to eat. He's not so fatigued as to forget to knock at their door after, a metal tin in hand.

"Here," he says, and they take the box with both hands, automatic, as though he's asked them to carry a tome. "Pace yourself."

He heads to his own room before he can see whatever face they make at the assorted cookies, but he catches their cheerful thank you! before he shuts his door.

~ ~ ~

"Are we stranded?"

"Seems so."

"So. . .should I stay up?"

"If you don't wake in time, I'm leaving you to the dogs."

"Hear that guys?" Yuu grins, and their Dog may be terrible, but his dogs know some Human, and Yuu's tone would have gotten his dalmatians excited all the same.

'Pup stay?' Lou asks.

'You stay?' Smith asks.

The dogs wiggle around their legs. 'Stay? Stay? More stay?'

"Only for a while," he replies. Even if Yuu won't make a mess of his home, they have responsibilities at NRC. "We're still leaving."

They whine in disapppointment, but Yuu rubs their fuzzy heads and takes the dogs to the living room. He sends Bax and Bor a message to come later when the weather won't drench them, sends the Headmage a notice that his return will be delayed but that he should make it back by homeroom. If he doesn't, there are worksheets in his staff room desk prepared for just such an occassion.

He joins the others after, helps the dogs spend the energy they usually would have burned with an evening walk. The hour grows late, the forecast and schedules shift a few hours, and he brews himself some tea to stay up until it's time to set off for the red-eye flight.

The dogs follow him to the library. Yuu joins him after washing up, sitting on the cushioned footstool rather than the other armchair, so I won't pass out, they say, as though he hasn't seen Silver and the surprising positions in which a youth can fall unconscious. He lets them stay in their uncomfortable seat, and if they tip over and fall it will be onto plush carpet. He shifts the side table to settle between them, and they set their biscuit plate upon it.

They drink their hot chocolate. He drinks his tea. They watch the window, waiting for the storm to pass, sitting in peace and the hum of the rain, in each other's presence and in his darling dalmatians' too, of course, until it's time to leave.

Chapter Text

He thought he'd been hearing things at first. That perhaps he was entering the early stages of being truly ruined, hearing them the way thought he could hear Lou and Smith sometimes. But then, footsteps came pounding, and again, that voice rang out-

"P r o f e s s o r !"

The terrified tone had him whipping around, his blood freezing in his veins. Maybe that's why ice came whirling from his wand once Yuu was in the clear.

He blinked. Floyd Leech blinked back. He brandished his pointer before a half-frozen eel, and the boy pouted.

"Aww, Pistol Shrimpy made it to the beakfishy's mantle. . ."

Crewel glanced beside him. Yuu cowered behind him, clutching his coat, catching their breath as they peeked out at their now-stalled pursuer.

"He-" Yuu panted. "He began chasing me. . .for no good reason. . .!"

Leech grinned. "If you didn't want me to follow, then Shrimpy shouldn't have ran~"

"The fuck is that kind of logic?!"

He looked at Yuu. 

Slowly, Yuu turned to him, face flushed, voice hushed. "Sorry Professor-"

"Just get on with what the Headmage had you  doing before the interruption."

"Y-yes, Sir!"

They slowly left his shadow, and while they shot Leech a wary look, he saw the stack of papers in their arms. An announcement for something or the other to be posted in each room. Something for tomorrow, he guessed, printed last-minute by the forgetful crow since classes had just ended. Crewel cast a spell to straighten the pages that had crumpled in their haste, and they tipped their head in thanks before giving the trapped boy a wide berth as they returned the way they came.

"See ya, Pistol Shrimpy~!" Leech waved, and they seemed to walk faster.

Crewel kept his pointer up. "Are you aware that Yuu is considered staff of Night Raven College?"

The boy turned his mismatched eyes to meet his. "Eh? Really?"

Rather than apprehension, Leech's smile seemed to widen.

Crewel's scowl deepened in turn, but the boy seemed as carefree as ever, even as he was ordered to the lab for cauldron-scrubbing.

He was loathe to free the mutt lest he immediately go hunting Yuu again, but the boy tilted his still-grinning head down at his feet and wandless, kicked his legs free. With dripping crystals still clinging to the limbs, the boy sauntered after him to the workshop, laughing about the slipperiness of iced shoes.

~ ~ ~

"I tased him the other day," Yuu said. "He said he was gonna squeeze me."

"And you had every right to."

They prodded the taser on the desk like it was a bug, their brows knit and nose wrinkled. "I think he liked it."

"Ah," Crewel replied, and silently resolved to begin research on the pain receptors of Muraenidae and what stimuli the creatures would find deeply unpleasant.