tae has been rather silent-unlike his usually more...active (flamboyant, a voice in his head suggests. foppish, another, distinctly familiar male voice remarks acidly. tae wonders what he's doing in his head.) demeanor, he's been sulking in the back. pondering, he'd like to state more clearly-but he's taking things in, unusually reserved and quiet. he recognizes a few faces, though nothing major-his eyes flit over a set of features before moving on. he can't identify all of them, at any rate-is he supposed to? is that his job now, to satisfy himself with the strange rabble that flit along the streets of sundial?

hold your tongue, tae, he reminds himself, even though it's quite ridiculous to talk to himself in the third person. vixx nips at his shoulder through his suit. he doesn't respond, but he supposes that means that he rather likes his own name. it would be amiss to not, anyways-tae bum is a nice name. short, crisp, pleasing to the ear and even more pleasing when someone else is saying (though he'd like to state for the record that nothing is wrong with his voice at all). he tunes the person speaking out for a good while (and then the conversation that follows) before the professor calls for attention this time. his gaze follows the teacher half-heartedly, but tae would obviously be happier somewhere else.

and-voilà. there it is.

tae's eyes slant forward, and he actually takes the initiative to lean closer to hear better, angling his head slightly. the words make him scowl just a touch, his lips turning down-even though the professor is here to inform him, he doesn't want to hear that his way of thinking is wrong. who likes to hear that, after all? vixx breathes heavily, as if hearing his thoughts, and though she remains silent (for now), her teeth gently graze against the skin of his ear, a sharp reprimand. listen, tae, or else, she chides huffily, temporarily breaking out of her role of the wise familiar. tae grumpily follows her direction.

wait-hold on, outposts? everything is immediately dumped down on them, and tae is too stunned to respond similarly. vixx seems to feel the same, too, though her wings flutter warily, the edges of her fingers brushing against his shoulders. something tells him that this isn't going to be good-especially since vixx relaxes suddenly on her perch of his shoulder. he doesn't appreciate being used as a stand, honestly, but he tolerates it-has gotten used to it, even if he doesn't appreciate it. they share a glance, and tae automatically regrets it. she can read him, but he-

how does one even read a bat's expression?

---

with fear and practice, tae finds out. a lot of fear. and a lot of practice.

vixx is a terror. he had never considered her to be before; had defended her honor with the most chivalrous of intentions. but right now he regrets standing up to that one hellion from the road who had called her gaudy and ratted, and she takes great delight in pointing that out to him as he ducks to avoid a sharp nip of her teeth. his fingers are decorated with sharp, shallow cuts-grazes, really, compared to the damage that he's seen her wreak on the world. but still, she's his familiar, and he's not her...well, he is her witch. he says that last part aloud to placate her.

precisely, vixx murmurs pleasantly, the glint of her anklet shining. the light that is gathered in the air between them glitters, wavering unsteadily, and tae's arms ache, but she lets out a sharp-sounding noise and he winces. right, focusing. ugh. tae, you protected me from charlatans rueing my coat the other day-is this really the best you can do? at this rate, you cannot protect me from an apricot. i thought you were better than this. 

she is sharp-tongued, he fears, and terrifying, more so than his father and so much more so than his father. the difference is that he despises them and he loves vixx-err, sort of. sometimes. on a thursday, perhaps. but it is not thursday, it is another day, and tae decidedly does not love vixx today, nor does he at this moment. he is tired, and grumpy, and uptight, and he does not quite care for the intricate workings of what he desires when he could settle for a goal right now-the desire to rest. he stares at vixxen, imploringly, and then she relents, flying down to perch on his shoulder and resting as well. the ball of light dissipates as soon as she does so, tae's arms dropping to his side as his knees quietly give way for him to fall on the soft grass.

he will fret and scowl over the stains that the greenery will possibly give him later, but for now, he finds himself...oddly content. it's out of character. ants are doubtless invading the ground, gnats no doubt floating around somewhere, and the ground-well, there's nowhere dirtier than on the dirt itself, right? it is dark out, and you shudder, partly from a faint sense of cold but mostly from a distrust of the things-no, the people-that lurk in the dark. belief of the monsters who dwelled outside is ridiculous, but belief of the witches-well, he knows far too well about how magic feels on one's fingers, and he has no interest in thinking about it now.

no, he doesn't want to think about anything now. instead, he breathes quietly, vixx having already abandoned him to stare at him curiously from a distance. tae blinks at her, and she mirrors the action. he sees the reflection of his brightly colored eyes in the depths of her pupils, and decides to speak first. "vixx. what do you wish to divulge with me, anyways? you seemed to be...interested in telling me something during the day. several things, in fact. particularly about how i performed." he grimaces at the thought, lips quirking down.

nothing important, vixx dismisses. her wings flap, a clear sign of her agitation-or is it unease? he's grown better at reading her, has noticed how completely inadequate his methods were before. her eyes focus on him, eerily dark and still. at that moment, he can almost imagine what others see her as, though she makes a chittering noise and that illusion is dispelled. don't tire yourself out over me. actually...feel free to. but the other way around...well, see to it that such a thing is not going to happen in the future. i believe that you have enough self-possession to do so, correct?

"i remember when you spoke differently," tae replies instead, dodging the question. his eyes bore into her alike, though perhaps his stare is a mere imitation of hers. he picked up his gazes and movements from her, he realizes-just like how she picked up her way of talking from him. "you used to say that no word should be wasted. now..." his eyes soften, almost sweet-tender, he should say. reminiscing makes him turn on his back, blinking tiredly at the sky. "i suppose you've changed, though. we both have."

not enough that we grow into the habit of having heart to hearts, tae, she retorts, though the vicious words lack bite, something that vixx has never been in need of. she moves to nip at his still-sore fingers, and he pulls away with an offended gasp. still, you insist to confide in me about your shallow troubles, do you not? i suppose that's something interesting, though interesting has never been a good thing. like that ridiculous hat that one woman was wearing the other morning, with the bats on it. preposterous. i would have done something about it if i could.


"you did," tae despairs. "you tore off the fake flowers and sent it tottering to the ground. and my shallow troubles-you adore hearing about them, do you not? since you are the cause of most of them, however noble and regal and beautiful you appear?"

praise me more, vixx almost demands, though her tone is...laughing. you will have to resort to much more drastic forms of flattery if you wish for me to admit anything, tae. but i must admit-even without any prompting-that i do enjoy your company. even when we are doing nothing but sitting together, and i nip at your skin in retaliation for something foolish you have deigned to do in a rare act of ridiculousness. even if we are born to do something more-even if our bond is twisted around that purpose. being together allows us to be that more, even if we do nothing. we are more. and one day, you might understand that.

the possible wisdom that vixx tells him quite seriously is undermined by the haughty sniff she decides to add at the end of her statement, throwing tae off guard. he sits up, suddenly quite energized with annoyance. "am i not capable of understanding as i am, right now?"

of course, vixx tells him mock-pityingly. maybe in another year or so, if you continue to grow as you did today. oh, my apologies-did i say a year? i meant a decade-no, a century. my mind must be addled.

"vixx!" tae gasps, placing a hand over his heart and slumping back on his other arm as he dramatically places himself in a half-laying, half-sitting position, throwing his head back. "my heart will never recover. this is a tragedy."

you seem plenty energized, vixx notes, the bat's anklet glimmering again as she rises, the silver light of her pattern glinting and reflecting into tae's eyes. he promptly ignores it. would you like to train more? tae?

he automatically goes silent, though his eyes scream "betrayal. betrayal. betrayal." at her. she lets out a sound that he interprets as laughter and then darts off in front of him, spinning into the air and taking flight. come on, witch. we have things to do and places to be. there is still time before this exercise is over.

oh, and tae? her eyes seem to glow in the light. he stares at her from where he's begun to follow her, a couple of feet below from where she floats. i do not know of your own preference, but i find myself quite liking this task. oh wait-i know your feelings perfectly well.

"betrayal," he murmurs, though with a healthy dose of fear for vixx. she lets out another bat-laugh and dives towards a path, and he follows heartbeats behind.

@event | IM NOT SURE WHAT HAPPENED BUT IT DID :')

And we said
This has only just begun
In the end
Time forever favors the young