#malicious mickey

Commission info | Ko-fi

The boys got to the library sooner on Friday, in hopes of catching some more of the storytime. Daniel wanted to know he could trust Aven, and he wanted to be sure she wasn’t lying about the whole “teaching kids” thing. Surely the way you read to kids is a good indicator of that, right?

The book was a simple one, but one Daniel had never read before. His mother suggested he not read those lower level books, as they were a “waste of time”. He could read the more complex, higher level books, so those were what he should be reading. Even so, there’s only so many young adult dystopias you can put up with before you get bored and want something else. This was definitely something else.

Mickey was quickly enthralled, even if he couldn't understand the words. This book appeared to be about an insect, eating food and growing big enough to cover the whole world in its many-legged embrace. Really, it was a little absurd and morbid. But the kids liked it. And Aven spoke with an air of all-knowing- as if she was writing the book as it was being read. A level of professionalism that could be easily missed by someone dismissing her position as “low”. She was educating. She was entertaining. And she did both of those things very well.

As the boys all sat down, Mickey cuddling up against Daniel's side, Aven glanced up from the book and smiled with a small nod. She continued to read, pointing out the important parts of the bright, distinct illustrations. They were nothing like the realistic portraits Daniel often pondered in the halls of his home; if anything, they more closely resembled the abstract pieces that his mother told him they only kept because his dad enjoyed collecting them. The essence of an insect. Yet, it wasn't done in a way that was hard to comprehend, or had some underlying meaning. It was a bug, eating food. Simple as that. Not some uppity implication of capitalism or another concept that they never explained in a way Daniel could understand. It was just a bug.

The book was short, as most children's books are. Before they knew it, Aven was wrapping up, sending the kids to go get more hugs and kisses from their awaiting parents. Mickey’s little head was on a swivel, taking in every little movement around as the space emptied. Once most people were gone and Aven had said more than enough pleasantries, she walked over to kneel in front of the boys.

“It’s lovely to see you again,” she greeted sweetly. Mickey gave a little wave that she returned in kind. “I assume this means Mickey’s parents agreed? You wouldn’t be here against their wishes, would you?”

“Nope!” Leonard’s friendly, innocent persona slipped on like a cloud across the sky. “Mickey’s real excited to learn, too.”

“Well, that’s great, isn’t it?” She leaned back on her heels. “I brought some things that you two can use to occupy your time, while I work with him. Unless you’d like to sit in on the lessons, of course.”

“No, thank you,” Daniel said easily, if a little rushed. Aven chuckled a little in response.

“I understand. I have games, coloring pages, and, well… you have a whole library of books!”

While Daniel’s eyes flickered with excitement at the opportunity, Leonard dramatically faux-gagged.

The seal’s brow furrowed. “You’d be amazed by how much fun you can have with books, Leonard,” she chastised. “I’ve got some graphic novels you could check out.”

“Uh, ‘no thank you’,” Leonard mocked with a smirk.

“Your loss.” Aven carefully took Mickey’s fin, picking him up as Daniel watched closely. “The goodies I brought are all in that bag by the front desk. I’m going to get started with Mickey here.”

Daniel nodded carefully. “T-Thank you, ma’am.”

“Call me Aven,” she said with a tender smile before walking over to the small kids table and putting Mickey in a seat. She grabbed another nearby bag and began taking out small things; folders, pencils. Mickey bobbled back and forth in the seat, only nearly toppling off once. Aven spoke to him in a low voice, in a tone that made him smile despite not understanding the words on her breath.

Even as she continued to prove herself, Daniel couldn’t help but worry. For some reason.

Leonard tugged on Daniel’s arm, gesturing to the desk. “Let’s check out what she brought,” he murmured, “I wanna see if there’s anything we can nab.”

Daniel scoffed, but walked along. “We’ve known her for two days.”

“Three days, teck-a-nick-a-ly.”

“We can’t just-” he paused to lower his voice- “steal from her!”

“It won’t be stealing,” Leonard justified. “Just- if there’s something she’s got a few of, one going missing won’t hurt!”

“At least wait until we’ve known her for a while to do something like this,” Daniel sighed. “For Mickey’s sake.”

“Why would we need to wait that long?” Leonard began to unzip the bag, paying no mind to the large yokai sitting at the desk, with a book in one set of hands and a cup of tea in another. She had a multitude of dark black eyes on her green furred, bear-like face, with an underbelly of fluffy purple fur.

Daniel rolled his eyes. “Teaching takes a while. It’ll probably take at least a month for Mickey to even speak comprehensible English. We have to make sure Aven still…” Daniel glanced up at the unfamiliar yokai, trying to see where her eyes were looking, but struggling with their entirely dark nature. “...likes us.”

“We’re kids,” Leonard groaned, leaning into the bag. “Adults have to pity us a little no matter what. So what if we steal some of her stuff?”

Daniel cringed. “Do you have to say that so loud?”

“Who cares? Oo, look at this…” The ogre reached into the bag to take out a notebook and a pack of markers.

“We're going to talk about this.”

“Yeah, sure. Hey, she's got nerd games, too.” Leonard held up a box labeled “Chess & Checkers: An Introduction”.

A small smirk quirked the corner of Daniel’s mouth. “...bet I can beat you.”

“...no way.”

----------------------

Leonard did not know how to play chess.

Or checkers. Somehow.

Still, Daniel suffered through a few games of each, just to prove his point. Even with Leonard cheating out of pure ignorance.

(“The bishop can't move there.”

“Mine can.”

“...fine. Check.”)

After a few games, the boys split to check out the coloring books and actual books. Daniel kept an eye on Aven and Mickey. He couldn't exactly catch what the lesson was about, or figure out how well Aven was teaching it, but Mickey seemed to be enjoying it, at the very least. Really, Daniel wasn't sure why he was so concerned. Aven was a professional, and it wasn't like Mickey was his child or anything.

Daniel found the section of the library labeled for his age group, and he tried to like the books, really. But they were all so surface level. So simple. So short. Nothing actually grabbed his attention. Especially when most of the pages were mostly illustrations. Is this really what most 8 year olds were reading?

He eventually just sat down to pick over the coloring pages. Those would do to pass the time. Leonard’s pages were surprisingly well done, with the colors almost entirely contained within the lines. And when they weren't, they were intentional- an extra bow in the hair, a ring on the hand, a collar on the dog. Daniel watched him, almost taken aback by the focus on the ogre’s face. He was supposed to not care about things.

Before he knew it, the city was beginning to rest and Mickey was clearly starting to get tired, almost nodding off in his seat. Aven moved him to sit on one of the nearby bean bags and walked over to the other boys. She kneeled by Daniel’s side, looking at his half colored page. “Did you find any books you liked?”

“No,” Daniel said with a slight pout. “Why were they all so easy? I thought the sections were sorted by reading level.”

“They are,” Aven confirmed, “but you might not read at the same level as other kids your age. Lots of kids don't. Or, even if you can read at the same level as your peers, you might not want to.” The seal gently picked up the small pile of books Daniel had picked through, taking in their general themes. She smiled a bit. “You know, I think I know a series you may enjoy. Would you like to see?”

Daniel hesitated. “Well, we're gonna leave soon…”

“If you like the sound of it, I'll check out the first book for you to take home.”

Daniel’s breath caught slightly. He didn't mind being around Leonard and Mickey, but the garage was so boring with nothing to do. He'd love to have something he could pass the time with.

After an excited acceptance, Aven led Daniel down the shelves to the more advanced, but still young books. These books had slightly thicker spines, and shorter ones that signified smaller text, too. She stopped and slipped one of the books from a shelf, and Daniel noted at least a dozen other novels with similar decorations on the spines.

“This,” Aven began, holding the book to Daniel to investigate, “is one of my favorite book series. It was written quite a few years ago, and is set even further in the past.”

As Aven spoke, Daniel began to inspect the pages and cover. Alice Aardman: Apprentice Detective - The Quickling Caper. There were only a couple simple illustrations that Daniel could see as he flipped through, leaving plenty of room for the text. On the front cover was an illustration of a short mouse yokai in a plaid dress, holding an almost comically sized magnifying glass. She had a pointed fedora on, pinning her round ears down a bit.

“It follows a young woman named Alice as she settles in the Illuminated City- it's off in the Midwest. She takes up a job as an apprentice to a well known detective in the city. But as she works, she discovers that this 'incredible' detective actually isn't very good at his job! Around the time it's set, however, in the early 1900s, women still weren't taken very seriously. So Alice has to prove, over and over, that she can solve these cases, and catch the culprit while she's at it.”

Daniel’s eyes sparkled at the description, already fascinated by the concept. “That- That sounds cool. I like her hat.”

Aven chuckled. “I read a lot of the books growing up, myself.” Once Daniel was done reading the blurb on the back, she held her hand out. “Would you like me to check it out?”

“Yes, please!”

Aven nodded. She checked out the book quickly, having a short conversation with the bear-like yokai at the counter, then handed it back.

“You'll have to tell me how you like it on Monday,” she said sweetly. “I’m sure your parents are getting worried, with how late it is.”

Leonard, holding a sleepy Mickey in his arms, stepped up by Daniel’s side. The rat held the book close to his chest like a lifeline. “Uh, yeah! Definitely.”

The ogre subtly elbowed Daniel’s side. “Mom and Dad say thank you,” he said, slipping into the position of damage control like it was nothing.

“You are very welcome.” Aven kneeled down to the boys’ eye level. “Are you boys sure you can walk home on your own? It's getting a little dark.”

“We live down the street,” Leonard said, hoisting up the sleepy boy in his arms. “We’re okay.”

The seal’s face pinched a little, but her smile didn’t cease. “That’s good. I can’t wait to see you again next week.”

Leonard waved dramatically as they left, gently prompting a drowsy Mickey to do the same. Aven watched the boys leave, a slight crease in her brow. Daniel did his best to hunch over himself, unsure of just why she had such an expression, but getting worried about it anyway.

Something was coming together.

----------------------

The walk back was just as uneventful as last time, until the boys were just around the block from the garage. Daniel suddenly tripped on something he hadn’t seen on the sidewalk, barely able to catch himself before slamming his face into the pavement.

“Woah, dude!” Leonard put Mickey down beside him, extending a hand to help Daniel up. “You okay?”

“Uh, yeah...” Daniel stood with Leonard’s help, pulling his book back to his chest and looking down at what had tripped him.

“Ugh, just people leaving their junk on the curb,” Leonard dismissed.

Daniel, however, saw no such junk. Sitting on the sidewalk was a metal, gem encrusted emblem with a small glass sphere in the center. The glass was mostly empty, but there was a slight bit of glistening green liquid settled at the bottom, almost congealed. Surrounding it, invisible to most, was the slightest lingering of magic. It was scratched, clearly from being tossed out on the sidewalk, but Daniel was immediately fascinated. He grabbed the object from the ground so he could investigate it closer.

“An illusory ward…”

“A h-what now?” Leonard picked Mickey back up, squishing his cheek to the top of the eel’s head.

“An illusory ward,” Daniel repeated. The boys continued walking. “It’s an enchanted object that people buy to put up in their homes. This one is pretty cheap, but they’re meant to dissipate any illusory spells. Most people have one near their front door, so you don’t let someone in if you don’t really know them.”

“Oh, that’s sorta cool.” Daniel lifted the garage door, granting Leonard and Mickey entry. “Thanks.” Leonard dropped the eel in his tub and peeled the oversized t-shirt off over his head, much to the boy’s delight. “Why’d they throw it away, then?”

“This one isn’t a permanent one, it's disposable. The thing in the middle here-” Daniel leaned over to show Leonard, pointing to the glass sphere in the ward. “-it’s a mana display. The less liquid inside, the less mana is left. You have to replace it if it runs out. Disposables are cheaper than permanent implements.”

The ogre leaned down, flicking the glass. “Why’s it not empty, then?”

“It’s possible the homeowners had already bought a replacement. You don’t want it to run out without you noticing, right?”

Leonard shrugged. “Hey, how come you know all this stuff?”

“I’ve been studying this ‘stuff’ for years. Enchantments are some of the most interesting things in spellcasting, you know. They get very complicated. Especially when there’s mana manipulation involved.” Daniel’s heel dug into the ground. “Magic is cool. I think.”

Leonard’s face scrunched. He grabbed a bag of chips from a corner of the room and sat down next to the tub, snacking while also offering Mickey a chip every once in a while. “So, why’d you take it? It’s trash.”

Daniel’s shoulders hunched a little, his tail sweeping. He wasn’t completely sure why he took it. Maybe he just wanted a moment of normalcy, and something like this felt normal. “Well… maybe we can use it. It’d make our… place a little safer.”

“Yeah, for like, a day.”

The rat sat down on the other side of the tub, wilting a little. “I dunno, I think it could help…”

Leonard’s unconvinced face faltered for a moment, his eyes casting to the side for a moment with something unsure behind them. “...can you make it work?”

Daniel’s ears flicked with a bit of egotistical pride. “Of course I can make it work. It just takes a mana activation.” He flipped the item in his hands, making sure he hadn’t missed anything and wasn’t completely lying.

Both Mickey and Leonard looked at Daniel with expectant expressions, though one was clearly just mimicking the other. “...well. Go on.”

With a determined crease slipping onto his brow, Daniel closed his eyes, invoking his mystics. Almost instantly, he could sense the mana floating through the space all around him, twisting along the molecules of the air. He could see it flowing through himself, deeply entwined with the very fibers of his being, buzzing louder as he focused. He could sense it in Mickey, practically spilling out in excess amounts, hardly contained by his small body. It sparked and rushed around, channeling through the eel’s spine and nerves. He noted the constant oddity of Leonard, who hardly had anything at all- just a low rumbling, a lingering smell that Daniel could never really tell apart from anything else. Sure enough, the ward in his hands held just a little more power, only requiring a small release of his own mana to activate it. With a subtle green glow, the ward activated, and Daniel opened his eyes.

It only stayed active for about two seconds.

Something changed for those two seconds. Well, two things.

First, the mana in the air changed. That constant smell, the one that Daniel could never put his finger on, but he knew was there, vanished for that miniscule moment. Mickey looked the same, the mana fighting against itself within him, and Daniel knew that nothing had happened with himself. It was Leonard.

Second, Leonard had a new face.

Daniel didn’t have long enough to actually take in the features. Not much was different, but there was something different about the way his pores were shaped. Something about the slightly harsher crook of his nose. And something about the massive, unsightly, dark red mark that stretched completely across his left eye.

A cut? A burn? A scar? Some skin marking? Where did-

For two seconds. Then he was back to normal. The scent was back, like it never left.

Daniel must have been staring, because Leonard’s eyebrow ridges quirked. Mickey began babbling, patting a fin at the ogre’s cheek, where it was completely normal, green skin. Maybe a little bumpier than most people, but that’s what ogres were supposed to have. “Did it work?”

He didn’t know why he did what he did next.

“Uh, yeah. But it ran out fast. You were right.” Daniel shrugged, his face tight as he stood up to go to the garage door and toss the empty ward outside. “Heh, c-can I get some of those chips?”

Leonard’s lips pursed (was that really what they looked like? Did Daniel just not notice? Did he even have lips???), but he was quickly distracted by Mickey leaning over to investigate his face closely. “Uh, sure- Mick, what’s wrong? It’s me.” He reached out to rub the eel’s head, flipping his dorsal fin to the side. Mickey giggled, easily distracted as well.

Daniel sat back down, this time next to Leonard. He didn’t look any different. He looked exactly the same as when they had met. “I-I guess an illusory ward is a dumb idea anyway, when there’s no illusion magic around us.”

“It wasn’t dumb, it was just… not good.” Leonard settled the open bag between them both. Had his hair changed? Was his headband even real? “Maybe if you could find a ward that makes this place less colder, that would help.”

The rat scoffed. “That’s just a heater, idiot.”

“Eh, I guess.” Leonard laid down on the floor, yanking off his shoes and socks and resting his feet on the tub’s edge, much to the other boys’ repulsion. “So, we’re gonna go back to the library on Monday, and Mickey’s gonna learn more talking…”

He kept verbalizing the plan for the next few days, mentioning something about a food pantry and a junkyard. Daniel couldn’t focus on what he was saying. His eyes wandered back to the view of the mana in the space, slipping into that mystic space he was so accustomed to. Bursting, bright from Mickey. Deep and controlled from himself, glowing brighter as he focused. And that subtlety from Leonard. Almost like the aftertaste of something that hardly had a taste in the first place. Maybe just the taste of your own spit.

But really… was it even coming from Leonard? Daniel couldn’t pinpoint a source, only that it lingered around the ogre. Mickey’s source was clear; a place in his chest, maybe closer to his abdomen. Daniel’s own source lingered near his face, and all the sensory bits involved in his mystics- though it did tend to gather near his fingertips.

And Leonard’s was just… a lingering scent.

“...what did you talk to Aven about, anyway? I coulda used your help keeping Mickey from falling asleep.” Leonard’s dark eyes slipped over to him.

Slowly, Daniel glanced to the book, laid near the small pile of pillows and blankets that acted as his “bed”. The little mouse yokai on the cover, snooping and scrutinizing the evidence related to whatever case she may be investigating. The fedora that settled just slightly off center on her head.

Leonard was a liar. He said so himself. He had clearly been keeping this secret, and that meant that there was something bad about it. Something he didn’t want Daniel to know.

Something worth investigating.

“...just a book.”

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Oh? What's this? Leonard has a strange mark on his face? Who coulda guessed? I'm sure that has absolutely no significance at aaaaaaalllllll-

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