The Angel and the Fairies

Chapter 26

Somehow, the group of friends managed to enter the hospital room (with Moses dragging Angel by the hand) without any fuss despite being over the visitor limit. Rubert was awake, her short hair pulled back with plastic clips and her right leg wrapped in a cast, and she gave them all a bright smile when she saw them.

"You look pretty good for someone who got attacked by a monster." Angel couldn't help but deadpan, surprising the others because he was so hesitant to talk to them before in the courtyard.

Rubert snorted, nodding. "Thanks, I try. Which one of them dragged you here?"

Angel answered by lifting up his arm, revealing that Moses still had his hand wrapped around his wrist. "He won't let go."

"You tried to escape three times already." Moses informed him as if he wasn't already aware by how the others were eyeing him and the door warily. Gavie was even looking at the window, which was valid as it was beginning to look more and more tempting to Angel.

"Anyways," Angel continued as if the other hadn't spoken. "My name's Angel. I'm his new roommate. I'm a music major."

She grinned, her brown eyes shining in amusement. She had a feeling that he would make a great addition to their friend group. "Nice to meet you. Moses can be a bit much, but he means well."

He nodded and moved to sit in one of the visitor chairs by her bed, acting more relaxed and casual than her friends, who've known her for over a year now. "So, word around here is that you got attacked from some weird creature."

Normally, when someone worded a sentence that way, it was usually followed by the question "Is that true?" but Angel just gazed at her with poison-green eyes, waiting for her to tell her story. She took a shaky breath as she remembered the monster and the growl that haunted her even now. "It was the scariest shit I have ever seen, dude, I swear. It was like this thing made of shadows and- I swear, it was real! It was big and dark and could move through walls."

"People have tried to tell you it wasn't real." Angel stated, not questioned. "They're wrong."

"How-" She cleared her throat. "How do you know?"

"I don't think Mr. Yasuhiro would have made a request if it was fake." He shrugged. "Hey, but you don't have to worry 'cause someone at Fairy Tail accepted the job!"

Rubert's eyes widened in surprise. "Really? Do we know who?"

Dara shook her head, her curly hair swinging a bit around her face. "Nah, they're here undercover apparently. No one knows what classes they're going to be in or anything like that, but I wouldn't put it past the drama department to find out."

Angel rolled his eyes. "The whole point of undercover is so no one knows who the person is."

"Yeah, but I've always wanted to meet someone from Fairy Tail!" Gavie beamed at him, crossing their arms. "Just like a quick chat or something."

"If people found out who the Fairy Tail member was, no one would leave them alone and they'd get nothing done." Mia reasoned, drawing nods from everyone and an exasperated look from Angeles, who pointed at her as if to say "see?" 

Angel turned back to Rubert, who looked simultaneously relieved at the news and even more tense. "Do you know when you're going to be released?"

Rubert nodded. "Maybe tomorrow morning. I officially get to move into my dorm in two days, though, 'cause my parents want to make sure I'm actually okay."

Even though the group had just met Angel, they all collectively tensed when Moses draped an arm around his shoulders, absentmindedly petting his hair like he was a house cat. "Angel's part of our friend group now." Moses said in what was probably supposed to be a calming voice but just sounded like a serial killer going in for the kill.  "He's one of us now."

Angel didn't know what face he made but it had Gavie and Rubert bursting out laughing to the point where a nurse had to ask them to quiet down because they were disturbing the other patients. He didn't, however, attempt to get out of the man's grasp because he had gone back to petting his hair and it was actually a bit soothing.

"It's like adopting a feral cat." Mia whispered to Dara, who snorted unattractively but nodded all the same.

At that point, the conversation turned into mindless chatter and the group couldn't help but grin in amusement when Angel ended up nodding off in the hospital chair where a ray of sun conveniently sat. 

Maybe Moses was onto something.

--

Due to the way the roommate system worked, Moses and Angel had a few of their general studies classes together. It was only mathematics, English, and astronomy but Moses knew that Angel would fly through them quickly. Something told him that the man could have been placed in his fourth year if he actually tried harder and that was a bit intimidating to think about.

"You're thinking too much." Angel murmured tiredly from where he was curled under Moses' fluffy blanket as retaliation for dragging him around. "It's annoying."

"You have such a way with words." Moses batted his eyes and pretended to swoon.

The green-eyed man snorted, brushing his bangs back. "Save that shit for Rubert."

Moses could feel his cheeks heating up and he sputtered, shaking his head. "I don't- There's not- Wait-"

Angel, despite not smiling, gave an air of amusement before wrapping the blanket tightly around himself. "We start classes tomorrow, right?"

He couldn't help but feel relief at the change of topic, latching onto it quickly. "Yeah, but they're really only introductory stuff while everyone fully settles in- get to know you shit and whatever."

"Ugh." His roommate said in disgust, deciding to fully burrow under the blanket as if he could hide from their classes that way. 

"Come on, it'll be fun!" Moses said with a large grin, bounding over to his friend to poke the blanket lump. "Think of all the cool people we could meet!"

"I will hurl all over your shoes if you say that to me ever again." Angel said sincerely, his voice only slightly muffled.

Moses raised his eyebrows. "Are you scared?"

The blanket moved to reveal poison green eyes peering at Moses. If Moses wasn't as determined as he was, he would have taken a few steps back and retreated. "I literally meet new people every day back at home."

"Then there's nothing for you to worry about!"

Moses was very aware of the fact that Angel was glowering at him, but he bravely ignored it. He was determined to make the best of the year despite the fact that he was now 75% sure his roommate was planning his murder.

"It'll be fun!" Moses repeated because he was interested in seeing if his new friend's glare could get even more deadly and, sure enough, 10/10 would not recommend having it aimed at you.

--

The next morning, Angel got his revenge by flipping his mattress over and tossing him on the ground before proceeding to switch the coffee for decaf.

Introvert: 1

Extrovert: 0

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words: 1,220

song: Burn the House Down - AJR (lyrics)