Mal put down his book on magic theory and got up from his desk at the sound of the doorbell ringing. It was interesting in an academic sense. The text was detailing ritual theory, something he knew next to nothing about. Every new piece of information he learned about it drove his curiosity further, and he yearned to learn more. The only problem was the book was written by the most boring person alive. T. Marlbowe Thick. How he turned the subject into such a slog was actually impressive, considering rituals would allow Mal to perform some seriously complex spells. But he was barely twenty pages into it, despite trying to read the book for the past two hours. And the book was over five hundred pages long.
Mal checked the time on his phone. 4:30pm already. That meant João was here. Mal made his way downstairs to the front door, arriving at it ahead of his sister who also moved to answer it from wherever she had been in the house. Mal opened it to reveal the boy standing in the doorway. He wasn’t in his Brazil jersey today, perhaps remembering what Mal told him about his mother disliking Luca Carvalho.
“Hey, João, welcome.” Mal opened the door to let his student inside, but João stood, frozen in the doorway, eyes locked on a space behind him. “João, you okay?”
Mal followed João’s gaze to his sister. She was smiling and gave João a little wave, causing him to visibly flush. Wow. Okay. Was that what Mal always looked like? Mal almost cringed but stopped himself. It probably wouldn’t be good for João’s self confidence. Instead, Mal reached out and pulled João inside by his backpack, causing him to stumble over the lip of the doorway.
“That’s my sister, Ophi,” Mal said when he noticed João’s gaze did not leave the spot where Ophi stood. “Ophi, this is João, the student I told you about.”
“Hi! Nice to meet you,” Ophi said. João’s eyes went wide and he gave her a stiff nod of acknowledgement.
“Okay. Good talk.” Mal said, frowning at João. “Why don’t we go somewhere quiet and start the session?” João nodded again.
Mal led the boy up the stairs to his room, practically dragging him by the backpack. When they got to his room, Mal sat João down at his desk and waved his hand in front of his face. “Hey! Are you going to say anything today or am I just teaching a statue how to do magic?”
João turned his head, slowly focusing on Mal. “What did you say?”
“Are you okay? You froze up a little there.”
“Oh.” João’s face was slowly turning the color of a beet. “Do you think-was it easy to tell?”
Yes. “It was not that noticeable.” Mal lied.
João sagged into the chair in relief, squishing his backpack. “Thank god.”
“Okay.” Mal handed him the puzzle sphere from his desk, flicking it a few times to reset it. “Try to do the first puzzle from this for a second. I’m going to get some snacks.”
Mal left João, fully expecting the boy to sit there in a daze until he returned, and probably some time after. He found Ophi in the living room, lying on the couch and texting someone on her phone.
“Your student is weird,” Ophi said as he walked through the living room to get to the kitchen.
“He’s not weird.”
“You’re just saying that because that’s probably how you react every time you see a girl.” Ophi laughed from the couch.
“Please don’t say that to him. I’m pretty sure he would never come here again.” Mal said, not even bothering to deny her accusation. She wouldn’t believe him anyway.
“Is he really some sort of genius?” Ophi put the phone down on her chest, holding it between her hands to look at Mal.
“He is. So please, don’t-”
“Don’t worry, I’m not going to tease him,” Ophi rolled her eyes. “Is he better at magic than I am?”
“Not even close.”
“Are you saying I’m a genius?” Ophi was pleased at that. She had a little grin on her face at the thought.
“Mom says you’re pretty good,” Mal hedged. No way would he tell his sister she was a genius, even if it were true. “But João has no training whatsoever. He learned how to weave from internet videos, so he really needs it. It might be better if you just stayed away from him entirely.”
“I already told you I wouldn’t tease him,” Ophi gave him a dirty look, turning back to her phone, “Besides, it’s kind of sweet. Way better than what boys normally do.”
“What do boys normally do?” Mal felt his pulse spike. Did he do that and get horrendously embarrassed?
“Pretend they aren’t interested but always ask about the same boring stuff,” Ophi shrugged, “It’s really obvious no one is that interested in ‘how it’s going’ seven times a day. Like, just say you like me so I can stop getting annoyed.”
“Right. That’s lame.” Mal left his sister before he revealed too much, mentally making a note to only ever ask someone how’s it going once per day.
He returned to his room a few minutes later with a variety of chopped fruit. Mal tried to chop it with magic, but the spells he knew were too energy intensive for him and he didn’t have the time to figure out how to adapt them to his abilities so he just chopped everything by hand.
The rest of the tutoring session with João was uneventful. João was actually attempting the first puzzle of the puzzle sphere when he got back, and was making good progress. Mal let him finish it before moving onto what he actually wanted to teach him for the day. It was probably too basic for João, but his foundations in magic were non-existent, and as his mother demonstrated when teaching him and his sister, fundamentals were fundamental.
Mal didn’t spend too much of their two hours on them, however, instead he gave them to João as homework to practice on his own so they could move onto learning how different forms of a weave interacted with each other and how the resulting spell might vary.
By the end of the session, João had made enough progress for Mal to be happy and he sent him on his way. He felt a bit bad for the kid when his mother met them at the door with a pile of freshly cooked and baked food, all magically packaged to stay as fresh as possible. It was enough that João needed a wagon to take it all with him, but it had to be done. It was right.
Closing the door behind João, his mother turned to face him. She had a smile of pride on her face and she pulled Mal into a tight hug, rainbow tears of light dropping from her eyes.
----------------------------------------
Christmas Eve was not a significant time in Mal’s household. His father often said that any religion he might have had was swiftly eliminated upon the Merge, and Etens didn’t celebrate the holiday at all, religiously or otherwise. As a cultural event in America, it was unavoidable, but they only made a minimal effort at best. His mother liked the excuse to have a grand feast on Christmas, but otherwise they didn’t celebrate in any way, even to put up decorations.
To Mal, who experienced Christmas secondhand through his friends, but mostly through television programs and movies, the Christmas season in California was a little surreal. Malls, homes, and even the schools decorated for the event. Red and green was everywhere, often with a sparkling of silver or white to represent snow. The problem, of course, was that the temperature rarely dipped below sixty degrees, people still wore shorts, t-shirts, and other light clothing, and all the decorations looked out of place to Mal, who was used to seeing them in their ‘natural environment’, surrounded by snow and freezing people.
For Mal, the only difference between the day and any other, besides the plethora of tacky decorations, was that Sherry requested he move up his session with Cassidy from the day before Christmas, to the day before the day before Christmas. The second session was a little better than the first; Cassidy seemed legitimately excited for Christmas, though less so for Christmas Eve. Mal had yet to meet either of Cassidy’s parents, but learned she had an older brother who would be home for the holiday.
“He’s very busy at university,” Cassidy said, “He only comes home once or twice a year.”
Her general mood being up, the session was more productive than the first and he left feeling like it perhaps hadn’t been a complete waste of time. It was a strange thought, given that he was paid either way, but there was something about teaching that made Mal not want to accept the minimum.
Now, on Christmas Eve, he was left with nothing to do. Ophi had been invited to one of her friend’s homes for dinner, the family convinced they might be able to convert her to Christianity through observation of the holiday. Ophi knew it, and her friend knew it, but Ophi went anyway. She was still able to have fun with her friend.
Both of his parents were working until the evening, leaving Mal alone in the house with no way to find a reasonable excuse to get away from the text on his phone.
[Do you want to go see a movie tonight?]
The text was from Tian, and it had Mal in a mild panic. It was uncharacteristically short and didn’t have any emojis. Plus it sounded like she was asking him to a movie. Which she was. But it sounded like a date. Which it definitely wasn’t.
[What movie?]
As a delaying tactic, it was highly ineffective. Tian responded right away.
[Time to Kill. It’s an action movie.]
The title was appropriate, given how bored Mal had been less than a minute ago.
[I’ve heard of it, I think.]
What a terrible message. It put the entire burden of conversation on Tian. Why was he awkward even over text? She just wanted to see a movie with a friend, he was probably the only person she knew who wasn’t currently doing something to do with Christmas. He typed out another sentence.
[I’ll go. Thanks for the invite. It’s supposed to be good.]
[Yea! I’ll pick you up in half an hour. See you then!]
The emojis were back, and out in force. That was good, right? Probably.
[Sounds good. See you then.]
Mal thumbed through his phone, bringing up Rudy’s conversation.
[Tian just asked me to go to the movies with her. What do I do?]
He would have sent Adrien a text as well, but he had the same amount of experience with girls as Mal did, which was to say, none. Mal stared at his phone for a full five minutes before giving up and taking a shower. That burned another ten minutes and when he returned to his phone he saw that Rudy got back to him. With a single sentence response.
[Just be yourself.]
Mal threw the phone at his bed as hard as he could where it bounced off a pillow with a dull slap. How could he do anything else?
----------------------------------------
The doorbell rang, causing Mal to jump half a foot off his chair. That was definitely Tian. Mal smoothed his clothes out and he forced himself not to run down the stairs to answer the door. He was wearing dark blue pants, not jeans, and a less dark, but still dark gray polo shirt. He hoped neither clashed with his skin, or with each other. His mother bought both articles of clothing for him, so he was probably safe.
Did he have everything? Money? Check. Phone? Check. A knotting ball of anxiety, slowly growing larger and larger, firmly planted in his gut? Double check. Mal opened the door.
Tian was standing behind it, just as predicted. “Hey, Mal.” She smiled, “Ready to go?”
“Yeah. Let’s go.”
“I like your outfit, We’re opposites!” Tian said as Mal closed the door behind him. Crap. He forgot his keys. He stared at the closed door for a second before leaving it shut. A robbery was definitely a fair price to pay for avoiding the embarrassment of running back inside.
“Yeah, we are.” Mal said. Tian was wearing a light blue sweater that managed to go well with her glossy blue hair and gray pants. She also looked like she was waiting for Mal to continue talking. “You look good.” Mal said. That was definitely a second too late.
Tian didn’t seem to care, smiling at the compliment anyway, “Thank you! I especially like my hair.”
His heart pounded. She liked the hair. “Why did you want to see this movie?” Mal said.
“Didn’t you hear? It’s one of the first Hollywood movies to have Etens in its main cast. It’s the first big budget movie to do it for sure.”
“Oh, cool. I don’t even think I can name any Eten actors.”
“Well you will be able to after tonight.” Tian smiled, unlocking her car as Mal walked around the side. “I thought we could go to a closer theater, no point driving all the way back into LA.”
“That works for me,” Mal said as Tian tapped a few buttons on the dashboard of her car, directing the small screen to bring up a map to the nearest theater.
The theater in question was close enough to Mal’s house that they probably could have walked, though Mal was glad they didn’t. He didn’t know if he could maintain a conversation that long with the prospect of the movie still ahead of him.
The drive was quick and short with most of the city celebrating Christmas Eve with their families. As they pulled up to the theater entrance they rolled over a giant spray painting of a pig wearing a police hat. Tian snorted at the image and parked on its face.
The theater was nearly empty, a single employee standing, bored, behind the theater counter.
“Why do theaters have the ticket booth and the concessions at different places?” Mal said as they walked their way over to the concession.
“Maybe to make sure that everyone inside has a ticket?”
“Why bother? They check the tickets before we can go to the theaters anyway.”
“Who knows?” Tian approached the concession and a second, equally bored looking employee. “Can we get two large drinks, and whatever the biggest bag of popcorn is?” Tian looked back at Mal and smiled. “To share.”
“Thirty-three fourteen,” the teenager behind the counter said, not even looking over the register at them before she turned around to fill the order. Tian moved to pay with her card, but Mal slapped down the cash on the counter before she could.
“You paid for the smoothies,” Mal said, hoping the theater lighting was dim enough to hide his ferocious blush. The employee saved him from finding out, placing their cups and a giant bag of popcorn on the counter and scooping up the cash, handing him a few dollars in change.
“You can fill the drinks over there,” she said, pointing past Mal and Tian to an island of fountain drink dispensers.
“Thanks,” Mal said, picking up the popcorn and his cup to cover his glowing red face.
They filled up their drinks, making their way across the sticky carpets of the theater and into the theater proper soon afterwards. As expected, the entire theater was empty. Tian walked to the center of the seating area, stepping from side to side as she tried to find the very center of the room.
“I don’t think it’s going to make much difference,” Mal said as Tian glowered at an armrest that she had determined to be the exact halfway point of the giant movie screen. “You can have one side of the center and I’ll take the other.”
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
“I guess equality is a fair trade for a suboptimal movie-going experience,” Tian said, sounding unconvinced but sitting down. She grinned, “Now give me some popcorn.”
Mal sat beside her, handing her the entire bag. Tian took it and lifted the offending arm rest that sat between them, placing the bag in its place and letting it sit on their seats. “Now it’s easy to share.”
Mal took a small handful of popcorn. It was over-salted and soaked in butter. “Now we can eat through it before the movie even starts.”
“I know! They always put so many commercials before the movie.” Tian said. “I mean, why bother? It’s not like anyone has gone to a movie theater and said, ‘Wow, that movie sure made me want to buy a car.’ If they want to advertise their cars, pay to put them in the movies!”
“I think it’s better before,” Mal said, taking another bite of popcorn. “If everyone paid for their products to be in a movie, it would just be a two hour long commercial.”
“But being forced to watch the same five commercials over and over makes the wait feel like two hours,” Tian complained. She frowned. “Distract me.”
“What?”
“Distract me.”
Mal blinked. “Okay. Um, my mom still wants you to come to dinner since you haven’t yet.”
“My mom and dad also want you to stay for dinner after you finish tutoring Wern one of these days.” Tian said. Was she blushing? “But I already know that. Tell me something new.”
“I’m tutoring someone named Cassidy Bennett who apparently knows you.” Mal said.
“Yeah, Cass told me. I’m glad you’re tutoring her.” Tian gave him a cheery smile.
“Well, I'm not so sure I agree.” Mal muttered. “I know she’s your friend, but she’s kind of rude.”
“I know. I feel so bad for her, though.” Tian bit her lip, “She sees that personal assistant of her father’s more than she sees her mom or dad.”
“Oh. That sucks.” The mood had dropped precipitously. “She’s excited about Christmas at least. Her brother is supposed to be coming home for the holidays.”
“Yeah, she misses him.” Tian said, “He went to the other side of the country for school and now he only comes home a few times a year. I think it was easier for her when it was the two of them together.”
“Now I feel bad for her too,” Mal said. And worse for dreading his sessions with her.
They chatted for a few more minutes before the movie started, but it felt awkward with the heavy conversation hanging over them. Though that could have just been for Mal, since he felt awkward anyway.
The movie turned out to be a buddy cop movie featuring a human police officer who was forced to team up with an Eten vigilante to fight crime in New York City. A gang of werewolves was running a new, magic drug through the city and it was up to the heroes to stop them.
The movie was boilerplate for a buddy cop movie, with a few small modifications to the formula. The first was that the vigilante filled the role of the straight laced character, with the police detective acting as the wildcard badboy. The real surprise came when the main love interest for the movie was revealed.
It was a by the book introduction, the detective and the vigilante cornered the woman as she was coming out of the shower and dressing herself, facing away from the camera the entire time. She spun gracefully in place, acting as though she knew the pair was present the entire time.
“Tian!” Mal nearly shouted, “That’s your mom!”
“Yeah. Sorry I didn’t tell you.” Tian was blushing in her seat next to him, “To be fair, I didn’t know her introduction was going to be like that. We could see her whole butt.”
“Since when is she an actress? You told me she was a model!”
“She is,” Tian blushed further, “She only just started auditioning for roles with this film. But quiet, you’re missing the movie.”
Tian’s mother had just finished slapping the cop across the face, so Mal figured he probably didn’t miss anything important. Her character was set up as a classic femme fatale, a mysterious Eten woman who was seen with the gang of werewolves from time to time. Her implementation in the story was standard, with both the Eten and the human being drawn in by her seductive demeanor. Tian was forced to suffer even further as her mother’s character seduced both main characters of the film in two separate scenes.
When the film finally ended, with the ‘surprise’ twist that Retynia’s character was working for the bad guys the whole time - a group of Eten mages that were controlling the werewolves from afar - Tian had her hands over her eyes and Mal was flushing from second hand embarrassment.
Mal stood, helping Tian from her seat, as she refused to take her hands from her face. “I’m sorry,” she said, sounding on the verge of tears, “I thought it would be a fun surprise. Now I can’t get mom’s cleavage out of my head.”
Neither could Mal, but he definitely wasn’t going to say that. “That’s okay,” Mal said, “It was cool. I didn’t know anyone who had ever been in a movie before this. And the movie was…okay.”
“It was awful,” Tian said. She grabbed Mal by the arm and dragged him out of the theater. “The movie villains were Etens who created drugs that took magic away from humans and were controlling the other extranormals in an attempt to take over the city from the humans. It was basically an anti-Eten conspiracy theory made into a film.”
“I didn’t think of it like that,” Mal admitted. He had noticed some choice words were used to describe the villains that had him remembering the worst parts of his childhood, but he was too distracted by the revelation of Tian’s mom and the fact their arms kept touching when they reached for the popcorn.
“I should have listened to my father. He said it was trash.” Tian grumbled, “We could have seen Blinding Lights.”
“Rudy’s parent’s say anything that features the police in a positive light is propaganda.” Mal supplied, carefully ignoring the fact that Blinding Lights was a romance movie. “But they are both criminal lawyers, so they don’t have a high opinion of the police. That’s lawyers for criminals, not lawyers who are criminals.”
“Gah! And I ate way too much popcorn. I don’t even like popcorn.” Tian said, dragging Mal outside of the theater and into the parking lot. Evening had come in the time they were in the theater and the sun had set. A scant few stars were winking overhead in the evening sky.
“Why did you order it then?” Mal said.
Tian stopped, rant forgotten. “To have something to share.” Her voice was high and timid. She didn’t turn around, standing in the quiet parking lot, hand sticking out behind her as she held onto Mal’s arm.
“Uh, right.” Mal scratched the back of his head. “Y-you should probably know that sharing food like that is really aggressive flirting. For Etens.”
Tian’s shoulders tensed at his words, relaxing in a great slump a moment later. She let out a long sigh. She turned around, releasing Mal’s arm, her dark blue hair was almost black in the evening light. “I know, Mal.”
“Then why did you do that?”
Tian opened her mouth to speak but didn’t say anything. Instead she made a quick beckoning motion at Mal. Mal looked around, confused, and moved closer. Tian raised herself up onto her tip toes and kissed him on the corner of his mouth.
“Because I was flirting, stupid.” Tian said.
Mal touched his mouth where Tian’s lips had just been. He could feel the warmth from her skin on his face still, it was burning like a tiny fire, spreading to the rest of his face as the blood rushed to his head. Mal didn’t think. Heart pounding, he bent his knees and ran as fast as he could in the other direction.
----------------------------------------
Mal was most of the way back to his home when he felt his phone ringing in his pocket. Tian. Mal let the phone ring once, twice. He answered it.
“Hello?”
“Mal, are you okay? I’m sorry-”
“It’s my fault.” Mal said, interrupting Tian before she could finish her apology. “I’m sorry. I was really surprised. I didn’t know what to do.”
“I understand, I do.” Tian sighed, the sound coming through the phone in a rush of static. “I guess I was just hoping the first guy who might not care that I was Eten would like me back. Though as far as rejections go, it’s very to the point.”
“Rejection?”
“Yeah.” Tian’s voice cracked a little. “Running away is a pretty clear signal, no matter where you’re from. If you don’t want to continue with our training, I get it, but please don’t stop tutoring-”
“I like you!” Mal all but screamed into the phone. There, he said it. No going back now.
“Ow, Mal! That was too loud. I couldn’t hear you.” Tian complained.
Oh god, there was going back. But he did it once, he could do it again. “I like you, Tian.” Mal squeaked. “It wasn’t a rejection. I got nervous and didn’t know what to do, so I ran away.”
“What?” It was Tian’s turn for her voice to squeak, “Mal!” his name came out in a long exasperated whine that ended in a half sob. “Really?”
“Pretty sure, yeah.” It was a lot easier to talk with her, now that someone had taken all that weight off his back.
Tian laughed, “Mal, you asshole! You made me cry in a movie theater parking lot.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.”
“I should have run after you.” Tian sounded a little giddy now, “I could have caught you in about a second with a direct expression.”
“Yeah, probably,” Mal said.
“I’m sorry for calling you stupid.”
“You called me that?” Mal honestly didn’t remember.
“Yeah. Before you ran away, when I-ah-um, before you ran away.” Tian’s voice got squeaky again.
“Oh.” Mal tried to remember, but always got distracted by the soft feeling of Tian’s lips on the corner of his mouth. He could still feel the spot burning on his face. “I forgive you then. I don’t really remember anything after you,” Mal gulped, “kissed me.”
“Yep.” Tian said in the same high pitched voice, “Anyway I have to drive home. Goodnight. Merry Christmas.” She hung up the phone before Mal had the chance to wish her goodnight in return.
Mal looked up into the night as he walked home. It was the same as before, dark and chilly, with a few stars winking in and out of sight high above his head. It was a beautiful night.
----------------------------------------
Mal opened the door to his home and was greeted by a warm swell of air and the comforting aroma of his mother’s cooking. He entered, trying to sneak past the living room and up the stairs to have a moment to himself, but it was not to be.
“Malenthiar! Is that you? Where were you? The door was unlocked but you were nowhere in the house and you weren’t responding to any of our texts.”
“Sorry. I forgot.” Mal said. That wasn’t technically a lie. Or not fully one, at least.
“So, where were you?” That was his father. He was home a little early, but that wasn’t abnormal around Christmas.
Mal entered the kitchen. His father was sitting at the table reading something on his phone. His personal phone, not his work phone. Oscar Thomas had a strict No Work At Home policy. His mother was standing over a tall pot of what smelled like stew. Mal could feel the magic coming off of the pot, his mother was practicing her cooking weaves again. Mal bit his lip. Those meals didn’t usually turn out too terrible.
“I went to see a movie.” Mal said, sitting down at the table and avoiding his father’s gaze.
“By yourself?”
“No. With a friend.”
“A friend? Singular? Rudy or Adrien?”
“A friend. Just a friend.”
His father raised his eyebrows at the evasion. “With this Kottianny girl who your mother has told me about?”
“Oooh!” Eeleei turned away from her cooking with an excited smile on her face, “What movie did you two see?”
“I bet it was romantic.” His father said.
“It was an action movie. It’s called Time to Kill.” Mal answered.
“Is that the one with the Eten actor in it? What was his name? Something hard to pronounce.”
“Gororgodo Relfth.” His mother said. “He goes by Godo.”
“Makes sense with a name like that. Was the movie any good, Mal?”
“Not really. It was kind of awkward.”
“How so?” His mother asked.
“It had a bunch of plot points that felt bad.” Mal said, “The bad guys were Etens, manipulating the fake bad guys who were also extranormal. Their motivation was to take magic away from humans and rule the world or something. It was kind of hard to follow.”
“Bad writing will do that.” His father nodded.
“It was mostly something else.” Mal said. “Tian’s mom was in the movie.”
“That sounds like fun!” Eeleei said, “I didn’t know she was an actress.”
“She’s a model, mostly.” Mal said, “This is her first role. She played the main love interest of the two leads.”
“And that made the movie hard to follow?” Eeleei said.
“Her scenes were kind of provocative,” Mal said, trying to think of a good way of putting it. “It was really hard to watch with Tian right beside me and especially since I see her when I tutor Wern.”
“Hot moms make things awkward.” Oscar said.
“Dad!”
“Oscar, really.” His mother scolded. She looked at Mal with a smile, “Did Tian enjoy the date?”
“I think so,” Mal said, feeling his face flush. He looked around for something to hide his face in and found nothing. He settled for holding his head in his hands.
“Oh, he’s embarrassed,” Oscar teased, “Did you get a kiss?”
Mal didn’t respond, but felt his face heat up even more.
“Oh, you did!” Eeleei exclaimed. “I should have guessed. You know that Tian fed him in private the first time they were alone together.”
“Eeleei, honey, you know I don’t know what that means.”
“You do. Do you remember our first private meal together?”
“Was that in the embassy? In my office, when-”
“Yes.” His mother grinned.
“Oh-ho-ho,” His father laughed, “Tian is bold.”
Mal couldn’t take it any more. He fled to his room.
----------------------------------------
[Please someone respond, I need help.]
It was the third text Mal sent to the chat he, Adrien, and Rudy shared. He hadn’t heard a word from Tian since she hung up on him. That wasn’t a problem, it was only the next day. The problem was that it was Christmas and Mal had no idea if he was supposed to send her a message or not.
Conventional wisdom said yes. It was a culturally significant event and she was a friend. Or something. You were supposed to say happy holidays to friends. Or somethings.
But they were both Eten. Christmas wasn’t important to them at all. Plus Tian hung up on him right away last night. Maybe she wanted her space.
But then again, she had said merry Christmas to him. Mal decided to risk it.
[Merry Christmas, Tian.]
There. That was done. Unless she texted back. At least he would know if that was the right thing to do that way. He looked at his phone. No response. That was fine. Only seconds had passed. It would be so much easier if she were human,
Mal blinked. He knew humans, beside Rudy and Adrien now. Should he send his students a Merry Christmas text message? Actually it would have to be just Cassidy. João didn’t have a cell phone. It didn’t feel right, only wishing Cassidy happy holidays. He would have to do something else for João.
[Merry Christmas, Cassidy. Hope you enjoy your holidays.]
She probably wouldn't bother responding.
[Thanks Mal! I hope you have lots of fun today as well! Tian’s family doesn’t celebrate Christmas, though, do you?]
Huh. That was a strangely earnest response from Cassidy.
[Not really. My dad isn’t religious and my mom doesn’t like or understand the traditions, which may or may not be related to each other. Either way we don’t celebrate.]
[lol! I bet they are! Are you doing lots of studying? I think you mentioned you need to take the assessment test at the Institute?]
Was Cassidy feeling alright? She was never this chatty before, even in person. Maybe she was just more comfortable talking over text.
[Yeah, my test is coming up in the new year, actually, so I’ll be gone for a few days.]
[That’s so cool! I want to go there, too. But not in the lame combat program, I want to just play with magic for the rest of my life.]
Okay, something was definitely going on. She wasn’t asking for anything, so maybe she was sick? Was it rude to ask if someone was sick when they were being polite for once? Maybe her brother was just a really, really good influence.
[Yeah, that’s what I wanted too. Americans have to do the hybrid program at the very least though.]
[I know, it’s so lame. At least we might get a chance to fight some aug athletes though.]
Mal frowned at his phone. He had not expected the conversation with Cassidy to go on so long. Not that he was complaining, he just had other things to do, like figure out how to wish João a merry Christmas. He continued chatting with Cassidy, determined not to be the first person not to respond to a text as he figured that would be rude.
A few messages later, he realized that he could actually do everything he wanted to while texting Cassidy. It wasn’t a real conversation. It would only make him slower as he went about his day.
So he changed out of his pajamas and into some ‘going out’ clothes, pausing when he saw his puzzle sphere. That would make a good Christmas present for João. A really good one. Mal frowned. His sister still used it, but she could always get one of her own. The puzzle sphere only took his record once, as far as he could tell. And right now, it would benefit João more. Mal put it under his arm and made his way over to the Costa’s home.
He had to be careful when leaving. Ophi found out about the kiss from their father and would not stop asking him about it. She seemed to get a thrill from seeing him freeze up and blush over and over again. She insisted she was just curious about this mysterious girl she had never met, but Mal knew she was doing it on purpose.
The house was empty when he arrived. The family was probably visiting friends for the holiday, or maybe they were one of the few people who still went to church. The Merge had not been great for world religions. His father was not the only one who tossed the whole idea away when Etens, vampires and everything else appeared to the world.
It struck Mal as odd. Wouldn’t the presence of magic make a person more likely to believe some kind of all powerful extranormal being could exist? Mal thought so. But most people seemed to see it as a sign that everything strange about the world had a much more explainable nature now that people were running around doing magic.
It did not help that several major religions denounced all forms of magic as blasphemy against their god. When one guy was healing the sick with the best modern magic techniques and the other was calling him a demon spawn and not doing much of anything else, most people didn’t listen to the other guy.
Mal left his gift for João on the step of the house. He didn’t think to consider that he might not be home when he visited, so he didn’t have a card or anything to let them know that he came but or who the gift was for. They would likely figure it out, João did use the sphere previously, but Mal sent João’s mother an email with his phone anyway.
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