#xail

Sometimes, Xail was able to function with very little sleep. Her insomnias were tough, and she was used to short nights. 

But today wasn't one of these days.

She fought to stay awake for the whole hour before lunch, too focused on keeping her eyes open to listen to the teacher. 

And she knew for a fact it wouldn't do any good long term.

So she grabbed a sandwich at the cafeteria and decided to find a hiding spot to sleep during the break. If she could only get one hour, it would probably get her back on track, at least for the rest of the day.

She had noticed one of the stairs had a space below it, and though it was closed by a door, it was worth trying. Thankfully the corridor around was empty, probably because everyone was eating.

But no one waited for Xail during breaks anyway.

...

Pushing the door, she realized it was unlocked. If that wasn't a sign that it was the perfect spot, she didn't know what would be !

She entered, closed the door and enjoyed the dark for a minute. 

Just a minute, because before she knew it, she was fast and sound asleep.

It really was the perfect spot.

______________________________________________________________

Vanitas Hated people, with a capital H. If school had taught him one thing, it was that everyone had their own way of being insufferable. He'd rather spend his whole time alone, even though he didn't particularly find his own company pleasant either.

But everything was better than a conversation with people who forced smiles to conceal how much they thought he was a freak.

Thus, like a freak, he hid in a hole.

Well, not a real hole. More like an abandoned closet. 

The thing was out of use and sealed off, but nothing that his studded boots hadn't been able to open.

And as long as he was careful to close after he left, no one would know better.

That was what he thought.

But two days ago, he found his closet open. It was empty, so he thought nothing of it. Well, that wasn't true ; he did think something, and it was : "fucking wind".

Today, though, he opened the door, and someone was there.

" - What the hell ?! "

It got out before he could think of anything else.

There was a girl. In his hiding spot.

And she was sleeping.

Well, she had been.

" - Dude, " she just said, hiding her eyes from the light.

Vanitas felt inexplicable shame, realizing someone found this closet. And he hated that.

" - Get the fuck out ! " He grunted, teeth gritted. " That's my spot ! "

The girl sighed.

" - Yeah, well that was also mine.

  - Since when ?? "

He had spent all his breaks there since the year before, so obviously this girl was a liar.

" - Since last week, actually. "

...But he hadn't been in school last week.

Of course. Of fucking course the week where he wasn't here, someone discovered his spot.

Somewhere deep down, he knew his anger was unexplained, and that it was silly to get worked up for a closet.

But it had been his private hidden spot for a year now.

Who was this girl to claim it as her own ? 

" - Look, I've been spending my time here since a whole fucking year now, and it's only for one reason : being alone. So if you don't get out of here, I'll make you. "

She looked pretty unimpressed, which was infuriating. Half the school was scared of him. Why would this newbie be so indifferent ? 

" - Ok, " she started, " I don't know why you hide here, but I slept like 4 hours in two nights, and I'm hanging on by a very thin thread right now. I'm not even sure I could walk away if I wanted to. You can do whatever you want, I'm about to pass out anyway, so please, close the goddamn door. "

At this moment, he could have grabbed her and threatened her. He meant it when he said he could've made her leave ; he fought bigger people than her, and she didn't even look that heavy.

But something in the fact that her bravery was only sleep deprivation had maybe, just a tad, made this girl's presence more bearable. And it was maybe, just possibly, because it made him think about himself.

He closed the door, furious that he was listening to her.

" - You rock, " she declared, and he heard her turn over. 

He would sulk for way longer than he'd ever want to admit, conflicted about the fact that it was nice to hear.

That's it for now ! I just wanted to show their personality and the context, but it's still a draft. And since I drew a little something for this AU just yesterday, I decided to add it as well :

...Where Xail ends up by buying Vanitas' friendship with chocolate !