ﾟ･stars were made for falling ﾟ･ (original)

14- the scorpion's ring

It was another full week before they heard from Aldrich again, which made everyone somewhat edgy. Yes, the break was nice, but the fact that New Years was getting closer and closer was making everyone nervous. Maybe, since Mordecai was the one getting visions about where to go, the Lightbringer was doing it deliberately? That's what Leo started to think, at least, though he didn't voice it to anyone, not even Casper. He already felt guilty enough about telling him about his dreams, he didn't want to burden Casper any more than he already had.

Casper refused to even look at Liz, not speaking a single word to her over the course of the next week. He continued to talk to everyone else, with the exception of Miles, who was also getting the cold shoulder. The person he talked to the most, as always, was Leo. And even though he was worried about Casper's relationship with his guardians, he couldn't help but enjoy the fact that he was Casper's clear favorite.

So he just ignored the devastated looks on Liz's face every time Casper refused to acknowledge her greetings, telling himself she really deserved it. Even if she couldn't really help how she'd felt back then, she did owe him an apology, and none were forthcoming. Really, she owed him more than she could give with just one interaction, and as nice as Liz was to everyone else, Leo couldn't help himself from disliking her. He forced himself not to give her nasty looks over dinner, knowing that Casper wouldn't appreciate him trying to fight his battles.

Not much happened, but the atmosphere of the house did become almost colder as the days wore on. Even Ivan and Halley could tell something was up, with Halley finally confronting Leo and Casper while they were in the barn.

Casper was letting the sheep and goats out, watching them with a careful eye, while Leo was just generally cleaning up after them. They weren't speaking, but it was a comfortable kind of silence, one that they didn't feel the need to break. Leo was humming a half-forgotten song from the radio while he worked, while Casper played with his hair, his eyes never leaving the animals.

Without warning, the barn door slid open aggressively, making both of them jump. Halley stood on the other side, looking somewhat agitated as she strode in. "Okay, its been four fucking days of this shit. What did you do?"

Casper almost cringed, shrugging in a passive aggressive way, while quickly turning his back on her. Halley scoffed at him, before turning her glare onto Leo, making him freeze.

"Oh, well if he's gonna be like that, then you tell me what happened."

Leo cleared his throat, tossing the broom he was holding back and forth between his hands nervously. "Liz and Casper got into an argument-"

"I know that much, genius," Halley rolled her eyes, almost scowling. "I just wanna know why you had to go and piss her off. Ivan's been complaining about her bad mood, and of course Miles has been mopey, too."

Casper visibly tensed, whipping around with borderline murder in his eyes; Leo held back a sigh of disappointment. Did his two closest friends really need to argue in front of him? Was that really necessary? He didn't say anything, but he did take a step back, letting them glare at each other. If they don't do this now, they'll just do it later. God, why do I surround myself with the angriest people?

"Honestly Halley, you have no idea what the fuck you're talking about." Leo gave him a dry look as he growled, trying to wordlessly communicate to him that it was childish to argue. Of course, Casper wasn't even looking at him.

"Oh my fucking Light, Cas, this isn't a personal attack." Halley placed a hand on her hip, almost smirking at his anger. "Like, fucking hell, do you really need to take everything so personally? I just asked what you did to piss her off, it happens."