where did you go - (p)

The night was rough for him. He was tossing and turning a lot, and barely getting a few moments of sleep. So he spent most of his night just staring at the walls, only getting up at the sound of his alarm. He pulled himself from his bed, quickly getting in the shower, and freshing up, braiding his hair off to the side before putting on his school uniform. He made his way down the stairs and into the kitchen, digging into his bag, and grabbing a few dollar bills , and placing them on the counter. He opened the fridge, grabbing a small piece of fruit, a grape, and popping it into his mouth, turning to the small mirror in on the refrigerator door, rubbing at the bags and dark circles beneath his eyes. Despite his pure exhaustion, and anxious demeanor, his entire mood seemed to lighten up. "Hey, Micah." He smiled, though it was weak, it was genuine. "Right... good say st school. Uhm.. I slept okay, I guess. I left you some money, if you wanna go to the market. Not too far from here." He turned away for a moment, as he slung his backpack over his shoulders, his eyes turning back to the other. "Make sure you keep your protective gear on, there. I'll see you later, okay?" And with that, he was heading out of the house.

Just as his morning didn't start out great, his day at school wasn't any better. He really hadn't any money for the bullies to take, which only made it worse for him. He ended up getting pushed down the stairs, and with a few swift kicks to his body, on his face, and his stomach, he was left with more bruises than he had the day prior. His nose was bleeding, his eye puffing up, and his wrist was absolutely broken. It was swelling quickly, and he knew that he would have to use some magic to treat it. As the school day went on, Rune kept his head down, though it wasn't as if anyone would of cared if he didn't. He would of been sent to the nurses office, and then sent back to class as if none of it ever happened. He didn't have time for that. As soon as the final bell rang, Rune was heading home, arm wrapped around his ribs, as he quickly pushed his way into the door, shutting it behind him, and leaning against it. He took a deep and shakey breath for a moment, before he quickly turned, and headed straight for the kitchen, wincing in pain as he bent over into the freezer, trying to grab some ice. He didn't need Micah to see him like this.

yuck this is disgustingly short 😔

At the sudden sound of shuffling behind him, Rune managed to practically jump out of his skin, flinching away as if he was gonna be hit, before taking a deep breath in realization. "Oh.. Micah." He spoke the name aloud, trying to comfort himself with the name. He wasn't in danger. He wasn't in danger. He needed to remind himself that he was safe at home. No one knew where he lived. He was safe. He was safe. "You.. what?" He grabbed the back of ice, wincing as he placed it onto his eye. "Oh, Micah, I don't know.." He moved to sit on a stool, pulling the ice away, before looking back up at the icy colored boy. "I'm not sure you'd be able to. Plus, you've been alone for a long time. Can you read? Write?" He hoped he didn't sound rude. "I.. can.. teach you but it's going to take some time. But tomorrow? Not a good idea." He admitted, pressing the ice back to his face. "Hey you know what? Why don't we start now? I can try and teach you some basic things." He hoped the boy was going to say yes. He was rather frustrated about how his entire day was going. Micah was a perfect distraction, and he felt better just being around him.

There had to be a way to make this easier. Maybe he could use magic. Not in the way to like make it so Micah just knew things rather easily, because that would kinda ruin the entire thing. Rune wanted to teach the other, not because he was good at teaching. He didn't think he was, but because whether he realized it or not, he was becoming dependent on Micah's very presence. He didn't realize it, yet, but he would soon enough. Right now, he was just finding excuses to hang out with the other. "Well, I have an idea. It might make me a little dizzy, but I think it'll be fun. But I will need your help." Did he? Probably not. But something told him that Micah would be a lot happier helping Rune, and Lady Celestial knew that Rune was absolutely happier with the other being around. He closed his eyes for a moment before digging into his bag, grabbing out his basic spell book, flipping threw a few pages, before his gaze lit up. "Here it is. This is going to be a game. Interactive learning of how to read, starting with the alphabet. A, B, C, etcetera." He turned away for a moment, before muttering words beneath his breath. Not a spell, just trying to figure out how he was going to successfully do this without getting overwhelmed. If he got too worn out, he wouldn't even bother going to school, even though he was alrwady planning on skipping. "Do you mind, helping me, really quick? I can't do it, so I need you to wrap up my hand. My wrist, really.It's broken." He said, before with a quick spell, a few letters of the alphabet were floating from the book, just the first 10.

"Let's just.. start with uhm.." He took in a breath for a moment, trying to maintain his balance. He didn't feel nearly as sick as thought he would, but he still did feel pretty worse for wear. "Let's start with A. Most letters make reading really easy. All you have to do is sound it out, so first we can start by sounding out every letter of the alphabet. " Rune paused in thought, before moving to press his hand against the other's cheek. He had picked up on the sadness earlier, but he had to address it now. "I hope you don't feel weird about this. I know it probably makes you feel that way because you're seventeen, too? It's not your fault. Plenty of people don't know how to read and write and well.. I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to help you read. And write. And then we can go to school together." He didn't know why he was rambling. Something about Micah just made him feel so talkative. Unfortunate for Micah, probably. After all, Rune did just always seem to talk his ears off, without much of a break in words.

"Thank you, Mikey." He smiled, as he gently moved his fingers, before looking at Micah for a moment. He wondered for a moment, just all of what Micah could do. Sure, he was a witch. He could do anything that was written in a book, but Micah.. he didn't have to read. To study. To do anything like that. His powers were so natural. So pure, that it was like a light. He wished he could be like that. So powerful. So amazing, just like the icy boy that he had now considered a friend. "Uh-huh. Yeah. Wait.. you have.. what?" He rubbed his head for a moment. He never heard that word before. Micah must of been a lot more smart than he let on, and a hell of a lot smarter than Rune. "Oh, okay. Well, uhm, in that case, we can go through the entire alphabet, and start reading some easier books. And some quick writing lessons." He clicked his tongue for a moment, before making more of the letters appear, rubbing his cheek slightly, before he just spoke each and every letter, and their sounds. "You can practice those. I'm just gonna watch you, and help you if you need it, okay?" He sat down, crossing his legs as he moved to press the ice bag against his eye, watching the other with a smile on his face. Oh, he didn't know just how interesting he was to the boy. He couldn't explain it. He would have to pray to Lady Celestial later about it, and await her response about it, but for now he was just content being around someone like Micah. It was a break from all the spite faces, and anger spat towards him for existing, or the sad look upon his parents face as they saw how sick and tired Rune was, and how much worse he was getting.

//gross and short but hey.. at least rune is making googly eyes at micah

his eyes lit up with excitment, as his hands clapped together with excitement, a smile on his sickly face. "oh, that's wonderful! I knew you could do it!" this boy was a lot more smart than he could of even imagined. soon, this boy would be smarter than him. rune didn't think he was that smart, but still.. it was amazing. and it was so exciting. he was glad that micah was his friend, now. "well, we can start on another lesson, or we can take a well deserved break and just eat and watch a movie. im.. I'm not going to school so its whatever you want to do." he didn't really want to talk about why he wasn't going to school, either. call it a bad feeling. but he wasn't going to tell micah that. rune didn't want him worrying, and though he had some feelings that the boy had felt like he needed to be needed, and well... maybe he would be happy to know that rune did need him, even if neither of them knew it.

"whatever we do, I do have to go take an ice bath. oh, and you could help me! i-i mean not in the bath of course but you can make the ice for my bath so I don't have to carry ice all the way up the stairs. plus seeing you use your magic is so amazing. I mean I've never seen anything like it. its unbelievable." he breathed out, his gaze full of excitment. he didn't know why he was rambling on again about how much he thought micah was cool, no pun intended, but he would do it all day if he could. nothing made him more happy than to see the look upon micah's face when he gave him his much deserved compliment. he knew micah hadn't heard a lot of them, but he did deserve hear them as much as possible. after all, he was awesome, if rune had any say about it.

with a slight yelp, the boy was rather confused, but still he let micah carry him up the stairs, and as soon as he was put down, he made it a point to pull away and make sure that he wasn't so close to him. that was not at all what he was expect for micah to do. it wasn't like he broke his leg or anything, and was incapable of walking of up the stairs. still, the sickly boy turned his gaze away, looking at the ground for a moment, before his eyes casted back over to micah who was getting the bath nice and cold. he hated cold baths, but he hated bruises even more. his head tilted curiously as he watched him. he really did like helping, didnt he? maybe he would be okay with helping him around the house with chores. as much as Rune liked being busy and doing things, he couldn't do much before he was getting dizzy and having to stop what he was doing. even going up the stairs, sometimes, took a lot out of the poor weakling of a boy. he had gotten used to it a long time ago, but it didn't make his life any easier. "thank you." he blinked for a moment, listening to micah speak up.

he did so much already. did rune really want to bother him with anything else, that he could just do it after his bath? no. he didn't. he didn't want to feel like a burden. so many people did so much for him already, and maybe that was why he tried so hard to be independent. a long time ago, he just stopped asking for help. he didn't want help, even if he needed it. it wasn't as if people were going to help him, anyways. he had figured that out, too. waiting until the other boy left, he quickly pulled himself into the cold bath, ducking his head underneath, and forcing himself under for a while, before he pulled back with with a loud gasp, and a few quick coughs, before he just pushed the water from his face. he brought his knees up to his chest, as his body began to shiver. it took a while, but then he was getting out, drying himself off, and wrapping a towel around his waste, leaving his feminine figure out, and bruises and scars across his chest and back shown. he had long since forgotten they were there. "oh!" he gasped slightly as he opened the door to see micah sitting there. had he been there the entire time? oh.. that was pretty interesting. "are you hungry? we can order food and watch a movie now, if you want." he stepped around the boy, heading into his room, quickly getting dressed out of the view of the other. he always wore a hoodie, and sweats, just to keep his skin covered. he hated questions about why his freckled skin was so scarred up. he didn't know either.

as rune shifted his gaze to micah, who was seemingly nervous, his brown orbs just blinked a few times. his head hurt? oh, it must of been a migraine or something if light was effecting him like that. gently he tugged on his sleeve, as he gave a small nod, pulling his hair out of the way. "okay, I'll make sure it's all set up then. and I got the perfect idea for dinner." he said, almost excitedly, before stepping back slightly, nodding to the boy as he said he was just going to stay where he was for a bit, just to allow for his head to quit hurting, which made sense to him. but what didn't, was when micah was very quick slam himself in the bathroom, rune found himself slightly jumping at the sound of the shut door. he didn't know why it scared him, but it did. he just managed to clear his throat, gently calling out to the boy. "o-okay!" he didn't have anything else he really could say before he just made his way downstairs and quickly set up everything for their movie night in. it was something he was excited for. he hadn't done anything like this since he was really young, so to say he was beyond ecstatic about it, was an understatement.

he didn't have any of those same thoughts that micah had. why? well, when you are cursed with a short lifespan, and a sickness, those things are the last thing that rune had ever thought to think about. he was kind of just worried about enjoying his days as much as he could, as he knew that they were numbered. he hated talking about the fact that he knew he was dying, especially to his parents. they never listened to him, anyways. all they wanted to was to find some magic cure all. the few times a year they did come home, they were always shoving things down his throat, and more often than not they just made him feel worse. sicker. and those symptoms when on for days, and he did his best to hide them from his worrying parents, but it didn't always work like that. he knew that. but he just wanted his parents to feel like they, maybe, were doing something. it was a sense of false hope they were getting, but they weren't going to listen to rune in other way.

as he cooked the food, being rather zoned in, until his entire body, and demeanor perked up, a smile spreading across his sickly face, his normally dull eyes lighting up. even if micah seemed a little distracted and not looking directly at rune, it didn't matter. him just being in the same area was more than enough. "oh, i'm making chicken alfredo. it's one of my favorite things to eat.. with garlic bread!" he was pretty excited about it, but more so about the fact that micah said he was feeling better. "and the movie is just some scary movie I picked out on random but, I'm so glad you're feeling better." he smiled as he pulled the pot off the stove, being careful not to burn himself, because that was the last thing he wanted to do. he did not need to make a fool of himself in front of his friend.

as rune's eyes lit up, pink seemed to tint his cheeks, when micah complimented his food. oh, he didn't think himself that good of a cook. chicken alfredo was super simple, and garlic bread even simpler, so he didn't really get the compliment. was micah just trying to be nice? he nervously rubbed his head, which was still slightly wet from his bath, but he didn't seem to care all of that much. "uh, th-thanks. I didn't think I was that good of a cook." he had to learn a lot of his cooking by himself. it wasn't as if his parents were around to teach him. his grandma had taught him somethings in the rare times she had come around, but most of this.. he got off the internet or just from playing around and trying to mix things together. he ate pretty much anything, save from some things like broccoli and mushrooms which he wasn't exactly fond of, but he was not picky. and because of his high metabolism, he didn't gain any weight from it. it was good for him. he did like his rather feminine figure, and he planned to keep it as long as he lived. "if there is anything you ever want to eat or try.. I can make it. hey... do tell.. do you remember when your birthday is?" he didn't really celebrate his. maybe that's because everytime his came around, he was forced to remember his mortality. it was not fun. he was the only person in his family that was mortal because of his curse, and they always made such a big deal about his birthday. they tried to act as if it was tradition, when the reality was they simply wanted to celebrate the fact that he wasn't dead yet. that the curse hadn't taken his life. it was cruel.

ah yes. he had voted for a scary movie.. though he wasn't really completely sure on why. likely, it had to do with the fact that he had a feeling that micah would enjoy them, because rune certainly didn't. it probably had to do with the overwhelming amount of nightmares he had, or maybe just because he was a scaredy cat, but watching horror films weren't exactly on his top five favorite things to do list. though a soft smile pulled on his face, as he made his own plate, placing it down on the coffee table. "you will? oh, good to know. I've always wanted to be protected." he laughed jokingly, pulling his hair to the side, to braid it. was he joking? ah, he didn't exactly know. but he did know one thing, if he could chose someone to protect him from all that his life so threw at him, it would be micah. they had been friends for a little over twenty four hours, yet rune wouldn't have had it any other way. he was just glad to have a friend again. it had been too long.

horror movies were never his thing. sure, maybe micah liked to be scared. maybe he was interested in such things, but rune wasn't. in all honesty, if you counted out fantasy and magic type movies, his favorites were romance based dramas. why? he didn't know. sometimes he just loved to think about himself with someone. in a different life, when he wasn't dying. maybe that was why he both got so attached to micah so easy, and why he immediately felt bad. he hadn't really told the boy that he was dying. that would ruin their friendship, wouldn't it? after all, who wants to be friends with someone who's time is so much more limited than others? he didn't think the icy boy would. though much of that was just his thoughts, and things he would never speak out loud. at some point during the movie, he had fallen asleep. he didn't even realize that he had leaned over and was against micah, until his eyes slowly blinked open, the next morning, his hand instinctively touching against his head which was now throbbing with pain. with a small gasp, he pulled himself away, embarrassed that he had even fallen asleep. before he would wake micah up to apologize, he felt sick to his stomach. ugh, for once he just did not want to be so weak.

he stood up from the couch, and quickly made his way to the bathroom, leaning over the toilet, and heaving, his gags and wretches probably able to be heard outside of the walls. he hated throwing up. it just hurt so much. his hands roughly gripped the toilet's seat, whimpering as he threw up again, trying desperately to catch his breath. guess it was a good thing he was not planning on going to school today. as he weakly pushed himself up, his gaze seemed to coat over, for a few breathes turning green as if they were looking for something before a few quick blinks and his eyes were normal again. "ah.. my glasses." he whined slightly as he grabbed them off the ground. they had dropped during all of this, and that was not exactly good, was it? though, he wasn't sure if he even needed glases. still, despite the slightly broken frame, he out them on. his mother had always said to keep them on. and though his mother was someone who just always worried, he did listen to what she had asked of him. he was a good kid, through and through, it seemed. never rebellious. never even yelled at his parents. he simply just did what they asked. after all, they had to have his best interest at heart, right? he pulled his knees up to his stomach as he leaned against the wall in the bathroom, his eyes trailing up to the clock on the wall, his head slightly tilting as he watched the second hand move at every click. it was going to be a long day.. wasn't it?