#never-never-nevermind

Sonia had accosted him in the hallway. His jacket, which he had taken off earlier and draped over his arm, was now on the floor in a heap. He hadn’t realized he’d dropped it until Sonia stopped him and asked if he was okay. He hated admitting to being sick and usually just managed the symptoms until it went away on its own. But occasionally his illness would be too strong and he would push himself to exhaustion. 

Izuru shot up with a shout, cold sweat dripping down his face. His eyes were wide in terror and for a few moments, he simply stared ahead, the dream still haunting him. He looked around, disoriented, before laying eyes on Sonia. The princess had a look of concern on her face.

He took several deep breaths in an attempt to calm his racing heart. Already, the details of the nightmare were fading from his mind, but his heart was still tight with panic and fear.

“Why are you here?” he asked tersely. There was some decidedly human fear in his voice. 

Leave it to Sonia to actually do something for his birthday. Today had been quiet--everyone off doing new year celebrations and all that. No one had come to bother him about his birthday. 

He knew immediately that she was hiding something. He had to tell himself that whatever it was, it wasn’t bad. Some sort of surprise, likely related to his birthday. Possibly connected to why no one had said anything. A party. 

“Sure,” he said simply. Even if it was a party, which it probably was, he didn’t want to disappoint Sonia. The princess would have worked hard to make it her version of perfect. He didn’t want to waste her effort.

Initially, he wasn’t impressed by the tea and the teacup. He could get hot drinks in a lot of places. But Sonia’s explanation softened his features. She needed sleep too and he knew he shouldn’t wake her up all the time in the middle of the night just because he couldn’t handle a few shadows. “Thank you, Nevermind-san. I’m sure it will help.”

Send "🎀" to put a ribbon in my muse's hair  @never-never-nevermind

It was hard to say no to Sonia. Not only did she have a commanding presence, she also had the sort of personality that made one feel bad for disappointing her. Even someone like Izuru. Besides, doing these silly things was the least he could do for her. She was always strong and was one of the few people able to manage him on his bad days.

So when she asked to put ribbons in his hair, he hesitated before realizing he couldn’t refuse.

“Fine,” he mumbled.