Silver Linings

<div align=center>It was only eight o'clock in the morning and the young man already had a splitting headache. The windows of the empty classroom were split wide open, allowing the ghost-white fog to seep right in. It was an ugly day, sure. Wet, a bit chilly for August, and so cloudy out that seeing his hand in front of his face was nearly impossible. And that was saying something really. It was a bright ultramarine blue, after all.

The day count he'd been here was limited to three. He'd pretty much been dodging attention ever since he had arrived and hiding out in one of his future classrooms seemed to be a change of scenery for him than his barren dorm. All of this was too much at one time, much against the preparation he partook in years before making his way to the academy. He knew the pop culture and the knowledge he needed for a boy his age. He may or may not struggle a bit, but the deed needed to be done. On a mission, Edsel had but one thing in mind- to get the medicine, the money, and the degree and get it fast. But he had no plans on returning. He was free, and he was for once living his life in anything but the shadow he'd been cursed under.

God did it feel good.

Checking the cheap flip phone he'd bought with the little money he had made note of the time itself, each minute going by in speed equivalent to molasses. But what else was he to do? Roam the halls again? It was going to take him awhile to get used to the stares after being hidden for such a long time. He really was different, even in a place like this. He may have been a literal monster, but at least he had the decency to try to look like a student. He did have a pretty good fashion sense, that was going for him at least.

Leaning back in the teacher's chair Edsel spun around a bit, folding his legs up doing so. But of course, the wheel had to go and run over his tail, causing a sharp yelp to come out of him. Enough of that. He covered his mouth as he looked around to see if anyone heard. No? Good. Fortunately for his low attention span he was able to concentrate on something completely new, this time being the smell of the tea he managed to brew with the machine already in the room. It was one of those fancy ones where he could pick a cup and brew whatever he wanted. He'd have to remember that next time whenever he wanted the apple cider one. With the door wide open it wasn't an impossibility that the smell would indicate that he was unknowingly somewhere he wasn't supposed to be.

He did break the locked doorknob to get in, after all. And it was making a lovely paperweight for his registration papers strewn across the teacher's desk. </div>

<div align=center>After retrieving his little ceramic mug full of tea, his nerves had calmed down from earlier. It admittedly took him awhile to recover after surprises as they shook him up considerably. Fortunately now as he leaned back in the teacher's desk he felt more at ease, the animal-like ears situated at the sides of his head lowering slightly. It was a nice morning, not bright and not hot. He could get used to this place if it meant that everyday would be like this.

But variety was the spice of life, or so he had heard. His attention perked up in an almost jolted fashion. The halfway broken door opened, and he in turn blinked at the incoming stranger. He was... Different, too. He had horns and wings and a tail. It was the first thing he noticed admittedly, and though it made him a bit wary there was some hope he wouldn't turn away from him. Heck, he even spoke as soon as he entered.

"Aw. Geez, you almost have me a heart attack." The monster took a second to process what he was asking, though soon came up with the answer. "Ah, um... Yes. That was me." Edsel looked down at his tail, his voice spoken soft and having a slight accent to it. A somber expression was on his face as he addressed this other man. Not like he was down or anything, but... It certainly looked that way. Though he was embarrassed for attracting attention for a sound that sounded like a dog's squeaker toy, he managed to keep a calmness about it, rather focusing on the other who had entered the room. "Rolled over my tail with this chair. I forgot it had wheels. Oops." He shrugged, speaking rather plainly and almost inwardly. Soon enough though he figured this guy probably was here for lessons, so it would be kind of awkward just to sit in silence like he wanted to.

"So... Er..." The mug in his hands shook a bit as he fumbled for something to say. An introduction? An apology? He went for the latter. Sorta. "I didn't scare you, did I? Not like you look like the kind of guy that'd get scared because of all of that-" As he did a circular motion to gesture over the other's body, though instantly regretted it. "I mean there's nothing wrong with it, it's just... Yeah." Well, this was going just swimmingly.</div>

<div align=center>As soon as the other started to laugh, a genuine look of bewilderment coming across the monster's face. It took him a second to get that he wasn't laughing at him, which was good because his brow almost began to furrow. No, from the looks of it he probably knew where he was coming. He had a tail too and most likely did the same before. He stifled a little laugh, bringing it up to his lap to make sure it didn't have any bruises or cuts under the fur. "Haha, yeah..." He muttered, before perking up to get a little bit more comfortable with this stranger. "They're like a magnet for injuries. Mine's really useless though, it's only good for getting in the way." Which was true. It was both way too big for him and didn't do much except drag on the ground. The other's looked less futile, a fact that made him sort of jealous. At least it was better at showing his emotions. Which was a sorta cute thought, actually.

Though as he was thinking about what he could himself do if his dumb extra appendage wasn't so useless, the stranger stopped by the desk and looked on to him. And that was when he noticed he was kinda, no, pretty cute up close. The monster gulped silently. To make matters more difficult to keep himself not losing his cool, he gave him a sort of compliment. "H-huh?" Just then, a shade of darker indigo splashed across his face as the poor young man began to blush. As soon as he felt heat come to his face however he tucked a wisp of his hair behind his ear, the simple action distracting him enough from his stupid emotions. "Thanks, I guess. Scaring is not something I really wanna do..." He then looked up at him, that eternally glum face piping up a little with a small smile. "Glad you think so, though." He really didn't want to be looked at as frightening. But this guy? This guy was looking at him like he was cute or something.

Feeling a little more at ease, the monster cupped clawed hands around his mug and took a small sip. This guy was nice, though out of naïveté Ed didn't quite pick up on the whole flirting thing just quite. They were pretty similar species wise, which made him a lot more relatable. He nodded at his question, assuming they were both some sort of creature-of-the-night. Upon his introduction and getting a bit closer, the monster perked up. "I'm Edsel. You can call me Ed or Eddie though, if you want." He smiled a bit broader, though just barely. "It's nice to meet you Levi. You're a student here, right?" He looked to the ground then, shrugging. "I'm new here, so I'm pretty clueless about everything."</div>

<div align=center>More relaxed now Edsel reclined a bit back in his seat, looking up at the incubus inquisitively. He seemed to be not too far off from his sense of awareness, which was both a good thing and a bad thing. On one hand they could help each other out. On the other, well, one of them might get the short end of the stick somewhere along the road. And he really didn't want that.

At least though he was at a decent rate at attempting to make friends. He was a nice guy, and hopefully was being genuine. He perked up a bit with a mention of another name, and in turn his head tilted slightly. "Is Tyberius a friend of yours?" He murmured curiously. "He's right though, it is pretty impressive." He stated, only truly seeing it when he first arrived here. Being stuck in his hometown his entire life he'd never seen much of the ocean. When he finally did it was of course overwhelming if not beautiful. Despite being in one of the world's most populated cities he still hadn't seen much in comparison to the average student here. His attention soon diverted back to Levi upon describing something, to which Eddie smiled a bit more cheerfully. That was something he knew.

"Oh! That's the moon. It is really pretty, especially when it's full..." He sighed a bit, looking down to his beverage. "I'm a creature of the night so to say. So I didn't really get to see much else where I came from, especially since I lived in hiding from humans." He half-heartedly chuckled a bit. "You can probably guess why. I'm literally a monster." Well, if it wasn't obvious enough, that was. A bit more nervously he glanced back up at him. "If it's not a rude question or anything, what exactly are you?" To cover this up, he murmured to himself more than anything, "You're uh, real pretty whatever you are." Well, hopefully that wasn't really awkward. He was sort of new to this whole social thing, after all. </div>

<div align=center>Roommate... Well, he hadn't had experience with that yet. Admittedly he was both nervous and unwilling for one. Not only did he value solitude but was wary of unpredictability. Trust wasn't really something he was good at believing in, and even with the kind boy in front of him something made him slightly suspicious. But for friend's sake he ignored this. No sense going around being anxious about every little thing. "Oh, well I hope to come across him some day." He expressed simply, crossing his legs. Hopefully he was just as nice as this guy. Upon being asked about the moon again he chuckled a bit, though in a volume barely noticeable. "Yeah." He replied simply, amused by how curious this guy was. It was sort of endearing at how innocent he seemed about much here. He couldn't imagine his reaction at seeing a super moon.

His mind drifted from his thoughts about the other and immediately upon the affirmation that he wasn't who he thought he was. As much as he was flattered he knew it wasn't true, well at least when he wasn't where he was currently. If you only knew. He thought with a bit of a huff, keeping on a smile to cover up his clouded conscious. Really all this about him could change in a matter of seconds as he could go from a harmless young man to an absolutely lethal creature. But he didn't want to dwell on that, nor did he want to mope around and not accept the compliment. "Well, I'm glad you think so." He muttered with a relatively stiff swish of his tail. Further doubts were set aside as the other bluntly told him what he was. An incubus, eh?

....Never heard of them.

"I'd imagine." He stated simply upon others not being found around here. The wings, horns and tail only hinted to him that he was something from another world, possibly hell. It was something to read up on later if he was bored, at least. "It just makes you unique I guess. Honestly in a school where everyone's special no one really is. Unless you're like something really out there, then I guess you'll stick out." He mused in a soft tone, shrugging. "Just a thought, though. Being an incubus must have its advantages, right?"</div>