Chapter Text
Kalim Al-Asim’s day began as it usually did, with no indication of the odd events that would occur that very afternoon.
He woke up bright and early, much more early (and more independently) than he used to. For the past month Kalim had been making a great effort to change himself for the better, to try and lessen Jamil’s workload- as much as the other would let him anyway. But, well, the least he could do was not add to the stress his (former friend? secret crush?) retainer was so often under. It took effort obviously. Nobody could unlearn a lifetime’s worth of reinforced behaviour in a day.
The fact that he’d managed to miss so much about the person he considered his best friend had been a massive blow to him. The young heir tried not to let it get him down, doing his best to not mope around and instead attempt to improve the situation. Most of the time, it worked. Kalim was a master at quickly moving past negative situations, as that had been his response to every other horrible thing that had ever happened in his life, such as being poisoned, being kidnapped, ambushed by an assassin in his own home… The list went on and on.
Except this time, the problem was about Jamil. And Jamil was…
(Special.)
(Different from the people around him, people Kalim knew he could never fully trust.)
(Jamil was the one constant in his life.)
To Kalim, he was everything.
Trouble began immediately after the lunch period.
Said trouble being Crowley’s most recent “brilliant” idea.
The headmaster of Night Raven College abruptly called all the prefects together for a meeting, about something he claimed was urgent. To absolutely nobody’s surprise, the urgent thing had turned out to be yet another mess of his that he was oh-so-generously dumping into their laps.
‘-and that is why you must quickly decide what to do with it!’ Crowley finished, to a resounding chorus of sighs and firm rejections.
To be perfectly honest, Kalim did not pay the slightest bit of attention during the meeting and had completely missed Crowley’s explanation. He’d been much too busy fretting over his and Jamil’s latest –for lack of a better word- fight and how he could possibly make it up to the dark-haired boy.
(He would later come to somewhat regret his lack of concentration.)
‘Should this matter not be handled by fully trained mages?’ Riddle pointed out reasonably. ‘It seems rather risky to leave something like this in the hands of teenage students.’
‘He’s not wrong,’ agreed Vil, raising an eyebrow. ‘-that…thing…is clearly very volatile.’
‘I’m sure you all can handle it!’ Crowley said, not missing a beat.
Yuu, who had been as always dragged into this by the irresponsible headmaster, sighed irritably and shook his head.
‘We all know you’ll just find a shitty excuse to shove this off on us anyway. Might as well quit it with the pretending…’ the long-suffering boy muttered mutinously.
When the arguments ensued and the room’s current occupants got thoroughly distracted, nobody noticed the blue glass sphere that was the cause of all loud disagreements roll off the side of the table where it had been plonked by Crowley.
Kalim’s distracted gaze landed on a strange object when it rolled up to his feet. Absentmindedly, he bent to pick it up, still thinking:
I wish Jamil would just tell me what’s wrong. He’s always so-
Before he could finish the thought, however, there was a bright and blinding flash of light.
‘Kalim? What did you-’
‘Wait what’s-’
‘Don’t tell me he just touched that damn-’
Kalim only just managed to catch a few shocked exclamations before the world was swept away in a dizzying whirl of colour.
When he next became aware, he was lying on what felt like a startlingly soft mattress. His body felt unnaturally heavy, like he’d been weighed down with a literal elephant. The strange buzzing hum that bubbled in every vein certainly did not help.
I feel like I’ve been run over by a truck or something…
Garnet eyes opened suddenly and he winced at the influx of light.
Sound and colour and movement began to flood back to him.
Kalim groaned and tried move his body, raising a hand to cover his eyes.
‘What just… happened?’ he whimpered aloud to no one.
I feel like I could sleep for a thousand years.
There was a hurried movement somewhere out of his field of vision and a familiar voice cut through the silence.
‘Kalim? How are you feeling?’
He sucked in a startled breath and forced himself to sit up.
Actually wait, never mind.
His shocked eyes landed on the man standing by his bedside. A man he both recognised and did not.
‘Jamil?’ Kalim breathed in shock.
Jamil looked about ten years older, clearly a grown man where just two hours before he was only seventeen. His hair was tied back in one messy braid and thrown over his shoulder. His clothes were drastically different too, bolder and more fashionable than what the servant usually let himself wear. Perhaps most surprising of all though, was the way he looked at Kalim- with warmth and concern in place of the usual irritation.
(That worried, gentle look was not good for his continued peace of mind.)
Jamil was… genuinely and openly worried.
Worried about Kalim.
(What on Twisted Wonderland was going on?)
Jamil frowned and moved closer.
Moved way too close, leaning in and placing a hand on Kalim’s forehead.
Kalim swallowed heavily, heart thudding in his chest.
‘Your temperature seems to be normal. Do you feel tired, dizzy? Any other side effects we don’t know about? That spell was quite a strong one you know.’
‘I’m-I’m fine, I think, just sort of tired…’ Kalim stuttered in confusion.
Jamil smiled.
‘That’s good. Looks like I was worried about nothing after all.’
Still hopelessly lost, Kalim habitually brought up a hand to strangle his wrist with his sleeve-
-which was when he noticed a clearly magically etched pattern circling said wrist.
Kalim gaped speechlessly.
Then he turned to Jamil, eyes wide, and quickly spotted a matching one on his wrist.
‘Jamil, why is this- why are we-’
These marks were something mages could learn to apply, when and if they decided to spend the rest of their lives with someone. Matching marks ensured that if one was in more danger than they could handle, the other would instantly know.
‘Kalim? What are you talking about?’
Giving up on trying to find the words, Kalim pushed away the sleeve to point out the patterns on it.
‘The… protection vows?’
Kalim nodded emphatically.
‘Why do we have them?’
This time, it was Jamil’s turn to be confused.
‘We’ve had them for the past six years.’
‘Six years?!’
‘Yes. We’re married Kalim, or have you forgotten?’