Work Text:
The student council of Serendia Academy had errands to run in town. After they finished their tasks, their president, Felix, suggested that they enjoy themselves around town, and that's how everyone separated. Presently, Monica found herself crouching by an alleyway with her back to a bustling street, muttering all known mathematical constants to mankind to ground herself.
'This is bad. Nero's not here and there are too many people here. I don't even know where the crown prince went. Not that the probability of anyone attacking in board daylight is high but still… ' she thought. "I have to keep moving," she whispered as she slowly got up and turned to face the street.
………..
………….
Her legs started shaking……
Pushing the fear to the back of her mind, she started moving forward. 'Maybe I could check out the dumpling stall nearby that Casey mentioned,' she thought, going in the direction of the stalls. 'And I also need some books.'
Despite her determination to move forward, she ended up getting blindsided by the crowd. She was sitting on a bench nearby, thinking of going back to the dorm.
"Miss Norton? What are you doing here?" said a familiar voice behind her, making her jump. It was Cyril.
"I-uh… I was just resting," she replied meekly.
He stared at her for a while. "Don't tell me you got pushed by the crowd and ended up here," he said.
Monica could only look away which answered his suspicions.
He sighed and sat beside her. "Did you have any plans?"
"I wanted to try the dumplings Casey mentioned… and buy some books," she replied. "But it's okay- I'll get them some other time."
"Do you want to go together?" Cyril asked out of the blue.
"Yes!" Monica was so happy hearing his offer that she answered immediately without processing the question properly…
……
"Eh??"
"L-lord Ashley…. you don't have to do this," Monica said.
They were standing at the side of the dumpling stall.
"This is the one, right?" he said, turning to her, completely ignoring her pleas.
She could only nod being faced with his stern gaze.
"Wait here. I'll get some for you," he said, leaving her. She could only stand there jittery and waiting for him to come back.
…….
Cyril came back with two packets of dumplings and handed her one.
"You didn't have to do this." She felt nervous about making him do work for her.
"At times like this, you should say thank you. I'm trying to do something nice for you," he reproached, although there was no heat in his tone.
"T-hank-f You!" she quickly stuttered out.
Cyril bit back a smile. "Let's go eat them somewhere less crowded."
.................
Monica took a bite of her food. 'It's so tasty!' she thought, savouring the taste.
Cyril, on the other hand, was observing her carefully. 'Does she always look so happy while eating? No- her face lights up more when she is blabbering about calculations.'
Monica finished her food first. And now she had nothing to distract herself with while Cyril ate in silence beside her.
"Would you like to try some of mine?" he offered.
Monica stared at him like he'd grown a second head.
"What is it?" he thought he had something on his face.
"You're being nice," she blurted out.
"I'm always nice!" he exclaimed. Most of the time, he was sure he was nice. "A-and you need to eat more. I only offered because you keep falling asleep in the sacred grounds of the student council room."
"T-that won't happen again!" She only fell asleep because she used a lot of mana the previous day.
…………………..
They were inside the bookstore. It wasn't as crowded as the streets. Monica was skimming through the shelves. Cyril was looking at books in the nearby aisle.
'Should I get this?' she contemplated pulling out a book on magical formulas. 'What if Lord Ashley gets suspicious since this is not within my syllabus?'
She put the book back and walked away.
A second later, she returned. 'I'll hide this within the other books,' she thought, taking it with her.
Monica found the second book she needed. She stretched up on her tiptoes. But it was too high for her to reach. Her fingertips barely touched the spine of the book. Normally, she would've used magic to bring it down, but now she's undercover.
She looked around. She was about to give it a tiny push to make it reach her without looking suspicious.
A bigger presence covered her body from behind.
"Is this the one you wanted?" Cyril said, reaching for the book she was trying to grab.
"Eeeeekkkk!" she shrieked, skidding to the side away from him.
"Hey wait-"
*THUD*
Monica slammed into a nearby shelf. The shelf rattled; the books started tumbling toward her.
If she used wind to change their trajectory she'd give herself away. So she quietly accepted her fate as she calculated the probability of them hitting her on the head.
Cyril swiftly rushed to her side and pulled her into him by her waist shielding her with his body as his other arm angled protectively over her head.
'He's bigger than me! Now the probability of the books hitting his head is higher!' she thought horrified. 'Unless-'
The books made impact. Though none of them directly fell on Cyril and a few only brushed his back and shoulders.
Cyril looked around. "They didn't fall on me?…. Are you okay?"
'It worked… but I almost got caught. It was a close one!' she thought in relief. She created a barrier at the last moment to angle the books away from directly hitting him.
Now that the danger's gone, Monica felt like her legs were going to give out. She could only stand still since Cyril was holding onto her waist. "Don't faint now, Miss Norton," he said, steadying her.
"3.14159265359….." she recited to keep herself from fainting.
"And you can mutter to yourself later. Help me pick up the books first," Cyril slowly let her go after making sure she could stand still and crouched to pick the books up.
They were on their way back to the academy. Cyril was striding forward as Monica dejectedly dragged her feet behind him.
Cyril stopped without a warning, almost making her bump into him. He turned around to face her.
Monica tensed under his gaze. She looked around hoping to put her mind to something else but Cyril was relentless in his stare.
"I… I- I'm sorry…" she finally managed to mutter out.
"Why are you apologising?" he said, encouraging her to explain.
Monica gulped. Her throat was starting to get dry but she knew Cyril wouldn't let the matter go without hearing an explanation. "I… you had to follow me around even though you were busy. And…" her voice died down. She looked up at him, hoping he'd let the matter go.
"And?" he urged.
"Uh- you got hit by books because of me," she said, fiddling with her fingers. "So I'm s-sorry."
"First of all, I wrapped up my work and secondly," he held out a finger. "I shouldn't have startled you like that in the bookstore. So don't blame yourself."
Monica was still immersed with her fingers, her gaze down.
Cyril was having a hard time making her relax. So he reached out his hand and looped his index finger around hers to bring her attention to him.
It worked. A slight hue of red painted his face, but yes. It worked.
Monica stopped playing with her hands and glanced up at him.
"I followed you around because I wanted to spend time getting to know you," he said, tightening his finger a little. "And today wasn't that bad. I had fun…. so don't you have anything to apologise for."
Monica felt her face become warmer.
"I had fun too. Will you- Can we… do it again?" She mustered the courage and said.
A smile crept up on Cyril's face. "Of course."
…………
"What are you doing here? Are you returning from a date or something?" Glenn Dudley popped out from nowhere, freaking out both of them.
"W-what do you mean d-d-date??!" Cyril exclaimed quickly, letting Monica go.
Monica, on the other hand, was a stuttering mess. "D-d-d-da-day-d-"
"It's r-rude to jump in on people like that," Cyril reprimanded. He was trying hard to keep his voice straight.
"Well, you were standing on the way to the academy. I was returning from town," Glenn answered.
Cyril had nothing to say in retaliation. Glenn was right. And they were literally holding (touching) hands seconds ago.
"Anyway, we had some student council errands to run in town," Cyril began, clearing his throat. "So it wasn't a date."
Monica nodded fervently without saying a word.
"I see. Come think of it, I think I saw you near that popular dumpling stall," Glenn casually said.
Glenn wasn't accusing them or anything but there was no way Cyril could get them out of this one. However he was glad it was Glenn who saw them, not Elliot.
Monica, on the other hand, started swaying.
"Miss Norton! Pull yourself together!" she could hear Cyril saying.