one shot

Nervous, Taeyang wandered the halls. Hisashi rode invisibly on his left shoulder even as Maruru tried to encourage him from her spot just on the inside of his shirt, where his collar met his throat. You can do it, she encouraged him, It'll be okay here; you'll learn control here, and you'll make friends.

He didn't know what to think. Considering his history, he wasn't very hopeful. Still, Hisashi rubbed his beak along the side of his head before sticking it in his ear, and if that wasn't a call to arms, Taeyang was afraid to see what the crow's version was.

"Maybe," he finally agreed. He didn't really think so, but if he didn't say anything, the two would continue their attempts at encouragement. Maybe it sounded silly, but he didn't want to waste their time. They had good intentions, though, and truly believed what they were communicating to him. That, at least, warmed him.

He'd left his room in favor of learning more about this strange place he'd been thrown into, but thus far, he'd only really managed to sign a series of documents and unpack his things. Taeyang had been wandering back and forth - doubling back the few times he'd gotten lost - until he found himself somewhere interesting. He'd only been out for a few minutes though, and here it seemed like he'd found a room that wasn't a dorm room.

Entering it, he realized it was a lounge. A place for students. A place for other people. People that had nice, good, probably not entirely misfortunate lives. People he shouldn't bring his bad luck to.

Like the boy standing beside the couch.

"Sorry," he murmured quietly, already starting to back up so he could leave. He didn't know what he looked like - probably a bit wide eyed and panicked - but he knew that Hisashi and Maruru wanted him to stay.

It might have been good for him to stay and socialize, but he was afraid of passing his ill luck. He edged towards the door even as Hisashi pecked him and Maruru pinched him.

"Sorry," he said again, timid. "I'll be out of your space in just a second."

Taeyang froze at the pretty boy's words, a bit confused. It was only when he actually looked again that he realized what he was looking at. He hadn't been thinking when he'd started backing away - at least, not about what it might look like to someone with demonic features.

"S-sorry," he stuttered out, eyes still wide. It seemed his two friends had picked up on the other boy's features as well. Instead of urging him to stay, they were now doing very much the opposite.

We should go, Maruru urged, obviously uncomfortable. He's dangerous!

Still, he was in front of someone else. It wasn't as though he could respond without looking crazy.

He shivered at the tone the horned boy had taken, not entirely sure why. Taeyang stumbled a bit, and fell back against the door. Straightening himself up again, he blushed, embarrassed. "I don't think you're scary," he offered, nervous. It was true. He wasn't worried about himself so much as he was the stranger.

Hisashi flapped his wings a few times before flying about his head a time or two. Taeyang bit his lower lip, uncomfortable at the effort it took to ignore him and look normal. Surely other people didn't have to try so hard?

Taeyang froze at the pretty boy's words. Immediately aware that the boy's eyes were not on him, but on Hisashi, he breathed out in awe. "You... you can see him?" He hadn't really met anyone who could see the creatures he held with him.

He pulled at the side of his collar to bare his throat and reveal Maruru. "Can you see her, too?" he asked, curious. He didn't know if it applied to both of his current friends or to Hisashi alone.

It sounded as though the pretty boy was having some difficulties with angels, after all. Angels and birds and feathered creatures. For all he knew, it was for creatures of the air only. Maruru, after all, was very much of the earth element (if any at all) considering that she was a leaf fairy.

Maruru stilled and Hisashi flew to a nearby table to turn his beady eyes on both the demon and Taeyang. Taeyang couldn't help but wonder at his friends' reactions, especially considering that they were the ones that wanted him to get out more. If it really was just because of the other person's features... Well, there were a lot of rumors and biases out there, right?

"I'm Taeyang," he introduced himself. Feeling a bit abrupt, he bit down on his lip again, chastising himself for his eagerness. He didn't want to spread his ill luck to anyone.

But he didn't want to continue being lonely forever either.

Gesturing towards the crow, Taeyang introduced, "That's Hisashi." He stroked Maruru's hair before letting his collar fall back into place to hide her again. "And that's Maruru." He gave a bit of a sheepish smile. "They're spirits, so most people can't see them."

And it probably said a lot about him that his only friends were invisible to the rest of the world. Like how he couldn't make friends who were people and how he couldn't keep them when he did. Well... In all fairness, he remembered having friends, once upon a time - back when things were normal. Too bad he wasn't normal anymore.

Levi stepped closer to him and Taeyang couldn't help but be pleased, just a little bit. Maybe he'd be able to make a friend here? If Levi could see his friends, maybe he'd understand. And he was something demonic, right? Maybe that meant he wouldn't bring bad luck to him.

"It's nice to meet you," he said, voice quiet again. He didn't really know what else there was to say. Introductions were out of the way and he'd been on his way out... But they were still talking, right? It'd be rude to just walk away.

Which left small talk. Something he had absolutely no idea how to do. Well... he could try, right? He kind of wished Maruru and Hisashi would react or do something. He couldn't help but feel like their quiet was a warning. "What... Um, what classes are you taking?"

Maruru seemed a bit unnerved. Taeyang wasn't entirely sure why, but she just felt unhappy. Hisashi was still - unusually so, for him. Normally he'd be grooming or looking around or something. Instead, he stood abnormally still, watching the exchange between himself and Levi. Levi himself was interesting. Friendly. It was strange. Levi was obviously the kind of person that attracted all kinds of attention - why would he bother spending time or energy on Taeyang? Was he just that nice of a person?

Taeyang shivered again at the pur, not entirely sure how he felt about it. "But they're... important...." he protested, feeling his knees go weak. He balanced himself by placing his hands on Levi's shoulders even as Maruru pinched the skin of his neck.

Levi was standing there, close to him. Close enough that he could practically feel the heat coming off of him. He felt almost dazed when he realized how close they were and the way Levi was looking up at him.

It was... easy to lose himself in Levi's eyes. They were pretty. He was distantly aware of Hisashi's cawing and Maruru's tiny pinches, but they seemed far away.

"What... what kind of demon did you say you were?" he asked, voice gone soft with his will. But then, what did his will matter when Levi was right there?