Floofy Bois

And if you wanted a change of pace? Well, the orchestra will play the most boring tunes as if they wanna put you to sleep, and you had to dance like the lifeless doll you are, with people you may or may not know. Ugh.

“Now, Axel,” his dad said, somewhere next to him as he adjusted the medallion on his chest, “Be on your best behaviour, smile politely, greet your fellow royals properly, and most importantly, have fun!” A large hand smacked his back, almost sending him flying into the mirror, “Don’t stress your mother out, da? This is an important event, and your mom is looking to make new connections for our kingdom, alright, buddy?”

Yes, Dad, this soul-sucking event sounds like an absolute riot. But sure. He plastered on a (hopefully) genuine smile. “Sure thing, Dad!”

“That’s my boy!” His voice boomed in his ear. Ow, dad. He was standing right next to him, you know. Ow. 

“Time to go, Axel,” Mom called, entering the room. Turning to Dad, she added, “Make sure Hugo finishes his homework and goes to bed. And both of you’d better eat your vegetables, and I will ask Simon about it, so don’t try to get out of it. And also—”

“Anya, don’t worry so much. Everything will be fine. I’ve got this!” Dad puffed his chest out proudly, like an overgrown golden retriever who had successfully fetched a stick and was eagerly waiting for treats.

Mom pursed her lips. “If you’re sure, Garrick...”

“Of course I’m sure, miy zaichik!” Dad pouted. “I’ve never let you down before, right?”

Mom giggled. “I know, myshka, I know. I just worry. Anyhow, we must be off now. Later!”and kissed Dad.

….And that was Axel’s cue to get out of there and to the waiting carriage. Parents are gross.

**********

The ball started out boring, as he had predicted. (Wow, was he tired of being right all the time.)

Mom had disappeared into a crowd of simpering noblewomen, with pieces like “yes, of course, Tsarina” and “oh my-” floating up into his ears every now and then. 

Weren’t they super friendly.

Speaking of friends—

“Axel!” He turned around to see Harish march up to him, blue feather bobbing in his turban as always. He was already vibrating restlessly as usual, hazel-blue eyes darting around at everything. “There you are! Finally, I can survive this hell,” he sighed, picking at his cuffs, then tapping his foot, then twirling his stole. So melodramatic.

“ ‘Sup, dude. Where’s your dad?”

“Over there,” Harish nodded towards Raja Vijay, who seemed to be chatting with Empress Lin-Lin. He spun his signet rings. “If Lin-Lin is here, then that means—”

“You’re here too!? Oops, sorry!”

Speak of the devil and he shall trip into you.

“Jianzhan! Long time no see my man!”

“We saw each other yesterday.” Jianzhan muttered. He then stumbled on the edge of the carpet, windmilled his arms dramatically, and caught himself on the edge of a nearby table. “I meant to do that.”

“Sure ya did,” Axel grinned at him, reaching up to pinch his cheek as usual. And as usual, Jianzhan batted his hand away. “Stop doing that!”

“Stop having such pinchable cheeks then,” Axel grinned.

“Aiya,” Jianzhan sighed. “Anyways—”

“Herregud”, a very exasperated voice sounded next to them. 

“Hi, Astrid!” Jianzhan waved with a big smile.

“Astrid”, Axel and Harish grinned.

“Can it, you menaces. Of course you’d all be here.”

“Not all of us. Kenji isn’t here.”

“And I am now,” they all turned towards him. He strolled towards them, the golden fox-ears on his crown gleaming in the soft light of the ballroom. “Sorry I’m late, Haruki stole Sakura’s hairbrush and Dad had to step in to stop them from chasing each other all over the Grand Corridor. It was…..something,” he added with an eyeroll.

“Usually you’re the one Sakura would be chasing around,” Harish said, with a raised eyebrow. His eyes then darted towards Kenji's crown. “Ooh. Shiny.”

“Yeah. And I enjoyed the change of pace,” Kenji grinned back. Harish poked at the fox-ears. “Harish.”

“Sorry.” Harish muttered, still staring at the glinting crown.

Axel flung an arm over his shoulder. “Fantastic! The gang is all here!”

“Don’t touch me.”

“Don’t lump me in with you idiots.”

“Nope, we’re all here. What should we do now?”

“Let’s raid the buffet!”

“Or we can sneak into the kitchen!”

“But our parents will be mad if we do that!”

“Not if they don’t catch us~”

“That’s illegal.”

“Ken. My dude. You’ve known us for five monthsnow.”

“That’s…horrifying. But I wanna hear what Lord Paddington is saying to Lady Tamang and Sir Park, sounds super interesting—”

“Kenji? Gossip? The great Kimizu Kenji likes gossip?”

“Uh, guys? Oop, sorry, sir, didn’t see you there—”

“Shut it Axel, I wanna be up to date with current affairs is all. It’s my duty as future royal advisor that—”

“Current professional busybody, you mean?”

“Ha-ha. My duties are very important. You wouldn't understand.”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night~”

“Guys?”

“Ughh, I suppose we could go over to the observatory and watch the night sky—it’s quite lovely. Only because I can keep an eye on you all, of course.”

“GUYS!” At Jianzhan’s yell, they—and a few other nobles—turned to look at him. He promptly turned red and lowered his voice, “I saw Sofia run towards the balcony, and she looked really upset.”

“The younger princess of Enchancia?” Axel had met the kid only in passing. Once during her introductory ball, a couple times in between, and during The Flying Crown (he had been an ass towards Hugo that time, even he admitted it). From what he’d seen and heard about her though, she was a really sweet girl. 

His feet seemed to get a life of his own and move quickly towards the balcony. 

***********

Sofia looked startled as they burst into the balcony.

“Jianzhan! And uh…guys?” She looked like she was kicking herself for that one, though Axel certainly didn’t mind, “I, um, good evening! I didn’t realise you wanted to be here—I mean, you wanted to use the balcony! I can move somewhere else, its ok and—”

“Whoa, its cool, kiddo. You can stay here, we don’t mind. You look like you need it, anyways.” And she did. The kid looked like she was about to burst into tears any minute now and was holding it back through sheer force of will.

“I…okay,” she whispered softly.

“Sure. And for future reference, I am Prince Alexei of Tolskyburg. But you can call me Axel too, I don’t mind. You already know my baby bro Hugo,” he patted her head with a laugh.

“I’m Prince Harish of Junagarh. Oooh, nice necklace! Is that a real ruby? And is your tiara super heavy? I’ve always wondered if smaller crowns are lighter or if they just use denser gold? Speaking of gold, is the chandelier really made of—”

“Konnichiwa. Prince Kenji of Satu.”

“And I am Princess Astrid of Freezenburg. You would be familiar with my sister, of course.”

Sofia looked slightly embarrassed. “I’m sorry I didn’t recognise you guys...”

“It’s not a big deal, kid, don’t worry about it,” Jianzhan reassured her gently. He pulled out his handkerchief and sat on top of the railing, accidentally dropping it over the edge. “Aw, man.”

Sofia looked at Astrid, then Harish shyly. “You’re Hildy’s sister, right? And Lakshmi’s brother?”

“Indeed.” “Yep! That’s me!”

Sofia nodded again. 

“Back to why we’re here,” Axel cut in, “What’s eating at you?”

“Axel,” Kenji frowned at him.

Look, he knew he sounded rude, okay? But he couldn’t just keep sitting there and watch Sofia act like everything was fine when she was clearly notfine. Axel will give her this though, she was a solidactor. (Much like you, a traitorous voice whispered in the back of his mind. He ignored it as usual because he was right and it was always wrong.)

Sofia turned away. “It’s nothing….”

“It’s clearly not,” Astrid cut in. “You wouldn’t be sitting here looking so upset if it really was nothing.”

“Besides,” Jianzhan added, absentmindedly swinging his legs from his perch, “I saw you run over here. You bumped into me on your way, see. Aw, no, its ok, don’t feel bad,” he hurriedly added, seeing Sofia look even more upset (if such a thing was even possible), “You look super sad for some reason. What happened, Sofia?”

Sofia seemed to consider whether telling what happened to a bunch of random teenagers would be the best idea (Which, he supposed, was understandable. Their bunch wasn’t the most well-known for order and manners, and she knew them only in passing through most of their younger siblings).

“Well,” Astrid sighed, “while we wait out here, why don’t we get some snacks?”

“Ohhh, yes please! I wanna see how many tiny cakes I can stack on top of each other before they all fall down!” Harish yelled, hopping in one place the way he did when he got excited—which was quite often, actually.

“Yes, I quite enjoy eating tiny tasteless rock-hard scones and bland little sandwiches that taste like wet cardboard,” Kenji deadpanned. See? He gets it.

“I’ll get it!” Jianzhan jumped down, stumbled, and then ran into the ballroom, nearly hitting the doorframe on the way out. 

Good. Hopefully, most of the snacks would’ve been destroyed or ruined by the time Jianzhan got them.

A few seconds passed. Maybe the kitchen ran out of snacks. Or an evil warlock blew up the buffet and kitchen because even he couldn’t stand such atrocities. Or—

“I got the snacks!”

….Ewwwwww.

Jianzhan bounded in beaming, as he held up two trays filled with those disgusting little sandwiches (cardboard-wiches) and rock-hard scones (rocks. They are nothing but fucking rocks.) Warm amber eyes shone proudly, “And I didn’t even spill anything this time—whoops!”

Of course he tripped on his own two feet. Of coursehe spilled the scones on the floor.(Good. Let them rot.) And of freaking course the cardboard-wiches remained intact. (Were they magically enchanted or something?)

“Excellent,” Kenji rolled his eyes. “Dinner is served, ladies and gentlemen. Today’s menu is the same as usual: masonry and cardboard. Please enjoy your royal supper.” 

He then grabbed a napkin from the spilt tray, pulled out his ever-present black pen, and started doodling.

Jianzhan pouted, reminding him of a sad kitten. “Awww…”,

Sofia giggled a little. “Awww, it's no big!” 

….Anything that cheered her up is a good thing, in his opinion. And, glancing at his friends, he could see they were thinking the same thing.

Then she became quieter again. And sighed.

“Lady Evelyn approached me,” she said.

Ugh, that suka.

Kenji immediately stopped doodling.

He and Jianzhan looked like they had swallowed a whole crate of lemons. Harish stopped hopping for a whole second(rare), his face darkening.

Astrid swore under her breath. “Did that slyna say anything to you?”

“Yeah,” Sofia whispered. “She asked me what a false princess like me was doing in a such a big event like this.” 

Axel froze. What?

“WHAT!?” Harish yelled.

“An- And she said that I would never belong here, because I wasn’t born into royalty. And that my proper place was among the servants and that I should not pretend to be something I was not. And-And-,” she hiccuped.

Jianzhan hopped off the railing, almost stumbled, but caught himself and knelt down to her level. He scooped her up in his arms, “Oh, you poor thing,” he murmured. “Don’t listen to her, baobao, she doesn’t know what she’s saying.” Astrid softly patted her head.

“That woman is full of hot air and nothing else,” Kenji grumbled, resuming his doodling. “She once called me a ‘tryhard’ for wearing a kimono instead of a suit like other princes and lords do. I was 7 at the time.”

“Her favourite activity is to insult me, my family, my kingdom, and all the other kingdoms in our region, ya know,” Harish complained, “Her favourite insults are the ones towards all of us—stuff like ‘unnatural’ and ‘dirty’ and stuff like that. She once told Yazhini’s parents to “speak English, like civilised beings everywhere” in their own kingdom. Looks like using Kannada really ticked her off, heh. And another—”

“Point is,” Axel interrupted, before Harish could dissolve into another hour-long rant about anything and everything as usual, “Lady Evelyn has always been a bitter, miserable old bully who always has to put others down just to feel better about herself.” Sofia nodded, although she didn’t look all that convinced.

He sighed. Aw, what the heck? The kid looked miserable, and she had to learn to defend herself if anyone else treated her that way again.

“Look here, kid, you can’t let that woman talk to you like that. You gotta stand up for yourself against people like her.”

Sofia’s brow furrowed. “But, she’s older than me. And has been royal for longer than I have.” 

Axel rolled his eyes. “Yeah, so? She has no right to act like that to anyone. You gotta speak up for yourself.” And, because he was so considerate, added, “In fact, let me teach you how.”

Astrid’s eyes snapped up immediately. Jianzhan got a panicked look on his face.And he didn’t see Harish’s reaction, but he felt sharp hazel blue eyes on him.

Kenji sighed as if he was so much older than him (which, for the record, he was not. A 10-month difference doesn’t mean anything and he will prove it). “Oh wonderful. Here we go again.”

“I taught this to my baby bro too, you know,” Axel added, puffing up his chest.

“That explains a lot, actually.”

Axel ignored Kenji. “First off, you need to look confident. Like, you are untouchable and know best.”

Sofia stared. “Uhhh…”

“Then”, Axel continued, “You go up to her, look up into her face and—”

“Axel”,Astrid said flatly, “Don’t.”

“-roll your eyes at her an—”

“What?! No! Don’t do that,kiddo,” Jianzhan yelped, looking down at Sofia. “Please.”

“-d say, “well, at least I don’t need to put others down to feel good about myself, you old assh—”

“AXEL!”

“FINISH THAT SENTENCE, ALEXEI, I DARE YOU— ” Wow, he didn’t know Astrid could scream like that. Oh well, the more you know.

“He means DONKEY! Because we love DONKEYS which are very adorable and cute and—”

“…uh..Jianzhan? I do know what that word means, you know. I grew up in a village.”

“....Impressive work, Jianzhan. That might be the worst lie I’ve ever heard. And that’s counting the time Sakura and I tried to convince Mom that Haruki was the one who knocked over the palace fountain. He was three.” Kenji said, without looking up from his doodle. He was drawing Lady Evelyn looking like a donkey, Axel noticed. Perfectly captured her appearance, to be honest. She would definitely love it if it mysteriously appeared in front of her during a diplomatic meeting. He’d have to remember that idea for later. Anyways—

“Alexei Milovsky, finish that sentence and I’ll tell your dad you are teaching swear words to a kid,” Harish cut them off with a glare.

“Dad isn’t here.”

“Fine. I’ll tell your mom.”

That shut him up. He liked living, thanks.

“chyort vaz’mee”, he grumbled, looking away from Harish. “But you know I’m right.”

“Maderchod,” He could feel him fucking grin at him. “Yeah, you’re right. But,” he added (sucker) “You really think this is the way we should go about it?”

“What do you mean? She’s a princess, she has been disrespected—”

“She’s also a child who has been in our world for around a year or so. And you would have her speak so bluntly with a duchess who is not only several years her senior, but also has a violent temper?” Astrid interrupted.

….Oh. He hadn’t thought of that.

“Besides,” Jianzhan’s soft voice added, “She has to be on her proper behaviour as well. She represents the most powerful kingdom in the land. Everyone is watching her to see what she is made of.”

“Hello? I’m still here,” Sofia waved. 

“As tempting as it is to let her tell that old crone exactly what she thinks to her face, Jianzhan and Astrid are absolutely right. She can’t afford to ruin her, and her kingdom’s reputation over this.” Harish continued.

Axel sighed. “Yeah…didn’t think of that. But seriously, kid, just because you are new to this doesn’t mean anyone is allowed to treat you like that. You are just as royal as the rest of us, you know.”

Sofia froze like a purple-clad deer in headlights. “Um. What?”

Kenji gave her a deadpan look. He had finished his doodle already. Nice. “Sofia, you might have been adopted into royalty, but that doesn’t mean you are somehow any less royal than anyone else around here. In fact, I’d say you are the one who is the most like a true princess around here.”

“Huh!?” Sofia exclaimed, then hurriedly ducked her head as some people turned towards them. “But I have no idea what I’m doing here! I can’t greet people properly, I can’t dance like a real princess can—”

“But you danced so well at your introductory ball, Sofia!” Jianzhan interrupted,looking shocked. “I heard some of the dukes say you were so graceful, they could hardly believe you had been a villager before that.”

Sofia looked down, a light blush covering her cheeks. “That’s because my sister taught me how to waltz right before the dance. And even then, I stepped on my dad’s toes.” Even with her head bowed, it was obvious tears were starting to well up in her eyes. “I will never be as good as her or any other of my princess friends in these princess things.”

“And you won’t be.”

Everyone’s heads whipped around to Axel in horror. Sofia’s lower lip trembled.

What? He was saying the truth.

“Yes, you might not wave a fan or waltz or curtsy as prettily as the royal-born princesses. You might not even be as graceful in a ball gown like them. But,” he stressed, “You have something else they don’t.”

Sofia barely looked up. “What’s that?” Her voice was trembling.

Blyat. She was really upset, wasn’t she? Also—he realised with a start— Harish, Jianzhan and Astrid had sisters in Sofia’s class. He had to word his statement carefully otherwise he was done for. 

“Your sense of justice,” he finally said. “When you see anything unjust happening, you don’t sit on your a- seat and watch it happening. You stand up against it. Protest it loudly. And you also take action against it. Most people just stand there and complain because it’s easier. You actually do something. Do you know how rare it is to see someone follow up their morals with action, not just with pretty words?”

“When have I ever—?”

“The flying derby tryouts.”

Sofia looked at him with shock. “You know about that?”

“Duh. Hugo was whining about it that day. He wouldn’t stop until Mom and Dad dragged him off to your kingdom to apologise to you and your family. It was hilarious,” he chuckled, “You should have seen my dedushka’s face when he found out a princess was on the flying derby team—”

“That’s funny, Milovsky, but what does that have to do with you telling Sofia what she has that other royals don’t?” Harish asked, looking kind of confused.

“Singh-Rathod, you haven’t let me finish—”

“And also, you can’t just say she can’t do—”

“Kimizu, for God’s sake, that’s not what I meant—”

“Uhh, guys, that’s not important right now—”

“Ok first off, fuck you, Chen—”

“I- Hey! What the—Harish! What did I do!?”

“Ignore them, Sofia,” Astrid sighed. “Boys are always like that.”

“Yesss, Henrikdotter, of course you are sooo much better than us lowly men,” Harish and Kenji said in unison and high-fived.

Astrid rolled her eyes.

Axel glanced over at Sofia. She was staring at them like they had come from another planet or something as stupid as that. But she no longer looked like she was about to start blubbering, so he’ll take it.

“Anyways, kiddo”, he said, “What I meant was, you have a strong sense of justice. It’s a rare gift. Don’t ever lose that. I’ve also heard you are very kind and protective of those you love. I could go on and on, but remember,” At this, he leant down to her level. “You might have become royalty only recently, but that doesn’t make you any lesser than anyone around here. You are a princess, Sofia. Never everforget that. And don’t let some old know-it-all tell you otherwise.”

Axel looked into her eyes. Startled blues stared into his own grey-greens, but he had to make sure his words got through to her. “Am I clear?”

Sofia nodded silently.

“Good.”

They all settled into a comfortable silence, munching on what remained of the cardboard-wiches. (May they haunt the nightmares of those who thought this was a good idea.)

The silence lasted exactly three seconds before Harish poked Axel with a decorative umbrella (when did he get that?)

“Dude. Stop it.”

“Sorry. I was wondering….do swans ever think we humans are idiotic?”

They all stared at him. “…what.”

“I’m just saying! One time, when we visited Napurna, there was this swan, which looked like it hated me. And the worst part was, it was pretty friendly to Mom and Lakshmi! I swear, that thing was a rakshas in disguise or something and—”

Tiny giggles interrupted him. As one, they turned towards Sofia, who couldn’t stop giggling (at least she wasn’t sad anymore. Thank God.) “Oh? And what’s so funny, little miss?” Harish wiggled his eyebrows.

That made Sofia laugh harder. “Actually, yeah, most swans do think we are all stupid, but,” she added, “As long as you are polite to them and treat them properly, they’ll be friendly enough. I’ve learned that they really don’t appreciate being used as decorations though. They complain about it all the time.” 

“Oh, do they now?”

“Everything alright here, children?”

Wha—for such a tall man, King Roland sure was stealthy.

“Your Highness.” They all bowed.

“Dad!” Sofia exclaimed and flung herself into his waiting arms.

“There you are, Sofia,” Roland chuckled, looking relieved as he gently held her in his arms. “I had been looking all over for you.”

“You were?”

“Indeed.I was really worried about you when I couldn’t find you anywhere. And then I heard voices from the balcony, looked, and here you are. Were you good while I was gone? Was everything ok?”

“Uh-huh! Everything was gr—”

“Uh, yeah, about that,” Axel interrupted. “Lady Evelyn just insulted little Sofia here, saying she is not a proper princess because she wasn’t born into royalty.” 

“She also implied her place was among the servants, and that she doesn’t belong, and never will.” Kenji added.

Roland froze. “Sofia. Is this true?”

Sofia jumped. “No!” She sent a panicked look at Axel and the others. When they didn’t respond, “Dad, she wasn’t- she wasn’t that mean—”

“You ran out here into the balcony, and when we found you here, you looked like you were fighting back tears and losing,” Astrid deadpanned.

Wow, Axel almost felt bad for Evelyn upon seeing the dark expression on Roland’s face. Almost.

“That little…”, Roland growled under his breath. “I’ll take care of her. She won’t be welcome in Enchancia or any other kingdom anymore, if I have my way.” 

“Dad,” Sofia whispered, tugging at his coat sleeve, “it’s really not a big deal..”

“Anything that belittles and hurts my child is a big deal,” Roland said calmly. He knelt down to Sofia’s level. “I’m really sorry, Sofia. I should  have known better than to leave you alone in the ballroom to use the little gentlemen’s room, with people you don’t know. Especially with her around.”

“It’s not your fault, dad,” Sofia said, softly. 

“Yes, it is, Sofia. As your father, it is my responsibility to protect you from harm. And I failed. I promise you, I won’t let anyone harm you ever again,” Roland finished, gently brushing her auburn hair out of her face. “But I need you to promise me that you won’t ever hide it from me and your mother, if you are ever hurt like this ever again.”

Sofia flung herself into her dad’s chest, now sobbing.

Jianzhan nudged him. “That’s our cue.”

They quietly gathered out of the balcony and reentered the hall.  ********

“That was….actually sweet of you, back there, Ax.”

Axel turned to Kenji. “Meh, it’s no big. She needed that.”

“Poor girl,” Astrid muttered. 

Harish whipped around, an all-too-familiar gleam in his eyes. “Did anyone hear Ms. I’m-so-above-everyone-and-everything Astrid say that? Or did someone cast a spell over us all?”

“Oi! I meant- I didn’t- you know what, fuck you, Harish, you are the worst,” Astrid muttered, as Harish cackled like a witch.

Jianzhan gasped, his eyes widening. “You care about us,” he whispered, as if he had discovered something sacred. Then he giggled, like the sweet-faced menace he really was. “You just don’t wanna admit it~”

Astrid remained stone-faced. “Don’t be ridiculous, Chen. I don’t care about you snot-nosed morons.”

“She cares,” Kenji nodded sagely.

“Shut it, Kenji.”

“Yep, she definitely cares,” Axel shared a grin with Kenji.

“Love you too, Didi,” Harish sang, looking like the cat who got the cream.

“Sestra, please,” Axel chuckled. “Just admit it. We are highly irresistible.”

“Highly annoying, perhaps.”

“How dare you. I am a delight.”

“According to you, maybe.”

“Is everything alright here, children?”

Oh, for the love of— what’s up with tall people and being so insanely silent when they wanted to? Axel was so fed up. His dad was never like that.

Anyways.

“Hi mom!”

“Alyosha, good to see you. Everything ok? Oh, hello children,” Mom added, looking over at his friends. 

“Hello, your majesty,” they chorused.

“Hope you are all enjoying yourselves here. Anyways,” she continued,“I just got back from watching King Roland dress down Lady Evelyn. Highlight of this evening, if I’m honest.”

Axel looked at his friends. Then looked back up. “What happened with Lady Evelyn?”

“So that’s what the noise was,” Harish said, mildly. “Thought that was the trash being thrown out.”

“Harish,” Mom’s tone had an edge to it, which sure shut him up. “But true, nonetheless. She had insulted Princess Sofia earlier this evening. And Roland has been on the warpath ever since.”

Good riddance, Axel thought, but didn’t dare voice his thoughts. Not when his mom looked so worn out and angry. Instead, he asked, “What will happen to her now?”

“Well, Roland wants her banished from the nobility altogether. But I’m not sure if it will be possible, considering she is from an old family,” Mom frowned, tapping her chin, in the way she did when she was thinking hard. “But she will be punished for her actions, mark my words. After what she said to the poor child…..”

“Meh, good riddance to bad rubbish, right?”

Oops. He didn’t mean to let that slip out. Mom’s eyes narrowed.

“Alexei. Do not.”

“Whaaat? It’s true, right?”

Mom sighed and looked at the ceiling as if she hoped the answers were written there. “…Perhaps.” (Which was mom-speak for “I agree with you, and I’d kick her ass myself, but we’re in public and my eldest son is very annoying.”) “Well, we must be heading off now. Did you and your friends blow up anything while I was gone?” Which, ouch, mama. It was just onetime. 

He opened his mouth to say something- Nah, the only thing we almost blew up was while trying to destroy those cement scones- when—

(He was forced to watch as his hands shot out and blew apart the corridor. The puny children (his classmates, his friends) were all screaming. Master’s voice was cackling in the background. Good.

“Axel”, a girl Astrid begged, perfectly styled black curls a mess around her tear-streaked face. “Stop it. Stop it. Please…it’s us. Fight it. Please.”

“Nyet.” Was that….was that his voice? It wasn’t supposed to be this….cold. Empty.

A quiet chuckle (Bozhe miy, make it stop, make it stop, please).

“Funny. You seem to care about him now.”

He felt his own lips curl upwards. (Please stop, please, I’m begging you—)

“You were the one who said he’s a cheater and a fake, remember? That he always hurts everyone?” (She never said that, you liar, don’t you DARE TWIST THINGS—)

“By your logic, this is only natural for him.”

What was this thing wearing his face talking about?

“Go on, princess. Tell me I’m wrong.”

The girl sobbed more at that, shaking her head.

Stop it! He wanted to scream. Leave her alone! But he was completely helpless, trapped in his own head, forced to watch as the thing that looked like him used his body as it’s vessel to destroy everything, making everything explode, hurting his friend—)

“—el?”

Someone was shaking him? “Axel!”

Axel blinked.

Oh. He was here. In a ballroom with boring people and his friends and mother staring at him in concern. And….when did Raja Vijay join them?

Anyways. He wasn’t thinking about that at all. Nope. Nuh-uh. Definitely wasn’t. He never thought about that time. Definitely not.

(“WHAT DID YOU DO TO AXEL, YOU MONSTER!?”)

….yup. He was fine. Totally.

But everyone was looking super worried, so he had to tell them something to get off his tail and focus on other things more important than him. 

“Oh yeah! Totally fine! We definitely did not blow up anything, Mom, don’t worry!”

…Crushed it. Oh yeah.

Mom didn’t look too convinced, but slowly nodded. “Alright, honey. If you need to talk—”

“Naaaaah, I’m good, mama, really. I’m far too awesome for anything to get me down. For real.” She didn’t know the horrors they had all been through, and as far as Axel was concerned, it was better this way. Better she and everyone else focus on the ones that needed help the most than him. He wasn’t as important anyway.

“Okay, malysh,” Mom said softly. She looked…sad? Looking around, his friends all had various expressions of concern on their faces. And, he noticed with a start, King Toshi was standing with them now, frowning at him. He had a large hand on Kenji’s shoulder, who looked like he was about to cry any second if his dad let go. Was it what he said?

Did he say something wrong? Whatever it was, he didn’t mean to hurt them. Before he could apologise, Mom said, “Well, at any rate, The ball is over, and we must get going now. Your parents are here, kids,” she added to his friends, “and safe travels to all of you. Hope you all had a good time here.”

Axel thought back to the whole evening—how boring the ball was, then meeting his friends, then all of them, together, comforting a young girl unsure of her place in their world. And overall, it was….not bad?

The snacks still needed to be better, though.

************~***********~************

And that’s it for now! Hope y’all enjoyed it! Pls lmk🥺