Shorter than usual this time, but that's because there's a special illustration at the end ;3 Yes it's supposed to be that messy lol
Something Mahiru had noticed over the years was that Kuro… Was actually pretty talented. Lazy as his Servamp seemed to be, he had skills up his sleeves that constantly surprised those around them, including the other Servamps. Usually, though, those were the more modern things, the things Kuro had only gotten the time and energy to learn because he was in such a better place now (and it always made Mahiru’s heart swell with pride when he remembered that little fact).
Still… It truly was incredible. Not just for Kuro, either. For all of them, each Servamp seemed to have an almost inexhaustible list of professions they could go into, specialties they latched onto and continued to develop even in the present day. But, well… Of course he was the most interested in what his partner could do, right? Right!
His favorite, though, was unquestionably the fact Kuro was just… A good artist.
Finding it out was a complete accident, really. A study date at the library between himself and his friends, prepping for yearly final exams (had it already been almost three years since he’d met Sakuya and two since he picked up Kuro?) and trying not to crack under the stress, which meant that while the four of them huddled over their books and passed notes and guides back and forth, Kuro remained all by his lonesome at the end of their table. A pair of headphones and a handheld gaming system kept him occupied, something Mahiru was grateful for, but at some point, Kuro’s interest had started to wane, and, well. They had so many supplies strewn about, a notebook and a pencil weren’t going to be missed. He certainly hadn’t noticed Kuro snagging them to amuse himself, and if he had, well, he simply would have assumed it was to write.
Writing was something he had learned Kuro could do last year. Not because his Servamp had done it in front of him, oh, of course not. He learned because the British Museum decided it was the perfect time to digitize some of the historical records of a certain mysterious family that just so happened to be composed of seven siblings, and a certain werewolf had given them a call to warn them that certain journals were now publicly available, and wow he had never seen the blood drain as fast from Kuro’s face as he did the day his partner had been made aware that the fiction he had written in the past as a means to pass the time had not, in fact, been lost to the ages, but was now up for anyone and everyone to read in all its glory.
Suffice to say, Kuro had not been happy.
Mahiru had also not been happy, but only because he couldn’t read a damn word, what with it being written in not just English, but old English. Still, what Youtarou had kindly translated for him had been, well… Beautiful. Even if Kuro was embarrassed by his old hobby, there was no denying that his writing was good. It made him wonder what else was in those journals, not that he went prying. He got the distinct feeling there were lots of things written there that he didn’t want to know about… After all, Lawless’s past words were immortalized, too. Trying to make sense of that would make his brain leak out of his ears, he was sure of it.
Just like trying to make sense of the math material was doing to Ryuusei, although Sakuya was making a valiant, if not altogether unsuccessful effort, to prevent such brain leakage.
“What’s the equivalent of becoming a stripper for dudes…?”
“You’re still a stripper. The decision comes with whether you wanna strip for girls or not. The problem is, if you strip for girls, their boyfriends might try to beat you up.”
“In that tiny little thong? No you cannot.”
“Guys…! We need to focus!”
“Oi,” Mahiru suddenly spoke up, catching the attention of all three. Koyuki, bless his heart, looked grateful for the distraction. Ryuusei just looked like he was on the brink of killing himself. Or Sakuya. Whichever was easiest, probably. “Why don’t we break for lunch?”
“God, please,” Ryuusei groaned, flopping dramatically across his workbook. A few of Koyuki’s colorful gel pens went rolling across the table with the disturbance, much to their owner’s annoyance. “Spare me from this torture…”
“If you had studied more this wouldn’t be a problem.” Sakuya’s scolding only earned another series of whines, Ryuusei bemoaning his preemptively ruined winter break.
“He’s right, you know…” Koyuki’s mumble went unheeded, which seemed to suit him just fine, since his attention was soon grabbed by where his school supplies had ended up. Namely, coming to a harmless stop against the edge of the notebook Kuro had claimed for himself. A notebook which had an entire page covered with a hazy sketch Mahiru couldn’t quite make out from his position across from the other. “Guys, look.”
With the new and sudden scrutiny being paid to him by four people, Kuro summarily shrunk. “... What.” To most people he would have sounded irritated, but Mahiru knew he was only self conscious. He couldn’t really blame him. Kuro still felt awkward tagging along as a person at the best of times, but this had been the vampire’s idea to begin with, so until he was given some kind of signal that Kuro was all tapped out on social interaction and needed a reprieve, dealing with his rowdy friends was still on the table.
“Did you draw that?” Sakuya asked dumbly, voicing the question they all had the answer to but nonetheless wanted to ask. A blink, the other looking down at the paper, head tilting as if Kuro wasn’t entirely sure how the lines on the pages had gotten there. His lips pressed together, brow furrowing as Kuro worked his jaw, no doubt trying to come up with some snappy comeback. Briefly Mahiru thought about how sarcasm and teasing were part of Kuro’s love language, and how unappreciative Sakuya could be when those came from people he didn’t already like. He needed to work on that with them…
Ultimately, Kuro gave up on being witty, and instead opted for being petulant. “No.”
“Don’t ask dumb questions if you don’t want dumb answers… Can’t deal…”
“Okay listen here ya damn cat…” Sakuya stepped forward and Kuro hunkered down, covering the pages and preventing any of them from getting a better look. An offended noise. “I’m not going to try and take it?”
“Shhh, you’re being too loud… Um… Excuse me…” Koyuki flashed Kuro a hesitant smile before plucking up his wayward pen, setting about cleaning up their space while trying not to be too obvious about how interested he was in the Servamp’s work. Mahiru only shook his head and followed suit, but not before giving Kuro a pat, and Sakuya a pointed poke in the side that made him jerk.
“No. Fighting,” he repeated, and, satisfied with the sulky nod he received, allowed Kuro to withdraw into himself while they all packed up. “Where do you guys wanna eat, anyhow?”
Gratitude filtered back to him through their link, and Mahiru smiled. Even if it was selfish, he kind of enjoyed knowing that he was the only one who Kuro truly felt… At ease around. Still. He couldn’t help but let more of his curiosity about what the other had been doing get back to him than he should have, because in the next moment, their link closed off, shut up like floodgates while Kuro possessively dragged the notebook closer to himself.
“Sorry,” he murmured, shouldering his bag, “You don’t have to show me.”
“... Later,” Kuro promised, and that was enough to make him happy.
Mahiru never did get that notebook or pencil back. Which was fine by him because, in their place, he got treated to little doodles and comics, silly drawings left for him to find around the apartment, and Kuro accompanying him more often on outings as a human being. He supposed it was because it allowed the vampire to redirect his nervous energy into action, rather than just mindlessly slapping buttons, and that was good enough reason to encourage Kuro to take up a hobby he’d long put to rest once more.
(A selfish part of him reveled in being the only one of the Eves to know about it, and the only person, period, Kuro willingly showed what he had done to)
A simple notebook, and a simple pencil, could do so much. Including show him exactly how he appeared through his Servamp’s eyes.
