Paradox [Blue Exorcist x Male Reader]

Emerald Enigmas

Rin sighed as he and [Y/n] finally finished moving the piles upon piles of stacked papers from one side of the temple to the other. All this damn grunt work was getting on both of their nerves. After the initial weight of their heavy-hearted conversation drifted off, the pair were back to their old selves and, while [Y/n] felt a little more relaxed having gotten everything off of his chest, Rin was quietly beaming at how much closer he felt they had gotten. 

Letting out a tired breath, [Y/n] reached up to take his headband off, feeling a rush of relief as his [h/c] hair flopped down over his sweat-covered forehead. The damn heat was a killer. Wiping away his sweat, [Y/n] pocketed his headband before getting back to work, unaware of the strange look Rin was giving him at the sight of his hair down. Not that [Y/n] thought anything of it. After all, Rin had seen him with his hair down plenty of times.

"Psst! You two!" Their quiet company and silent musings were pulled to an abrupt halt when they heard a whispered yell from behind them. Turning in confusion, the two boys looked back to see an older man standing half-hiding behind a screen door that led out to one of the rock gardens. "Could you give me a hand over here, boys?" He asked, gesturing for them to follow him as he stepped out into the garden. [Y/n] and Rin shared a confused look, as did Flor and Kuro, before they ultimately shrugged and decided to follow. After all, it wasn't like they were doing much else of value.

"Sure?" [Y/n] replied, moving toward the garden with Rin and their familiars in tow. Stepping into the sunlight, he finally caught a good view of the man; he was older than the exorcists they had met earlier and was dressed in black and yellow monk garbs. He was bald with two short eyebrows and a moustache to match. He also appeared to have some unkempt stubble and a missing tooth. "So what do you need help w-?"

"Aww, yeah! Watermelons!" [Y/n] was cut off as Rin suddenly bound past him, dropping to a squat as soon as he noticed the two bright green watermelons floating in a bucket of cool water. [Y/n] couldn't help but chuckle slightly at the sight of both Rin's and Kuro's eyes practically sparkling. He quickly noticed that Flor was eyeing the watermelon much the same way. Strangely, the older man nervously shushed Rin as soon as he started excitedly rambling. 

"Do me a favour, if ya slice 'em up and hand 'em out to the injured, you can have a couple of slices for yourselves." He offered, flashing them both a soft smile. [Y/n] raised a brow in confusion, wondering why he wouldn't just do it himself, but opted to shrug it off, placing Sema's case on the ground as he rolled his sleeves up.

"Fair enough."

"You got it! I'll slice them up good!" Rin grinned, his tail waving rapidly from side to side excitedly as the thought of sinking his teeth into that bright red fruit filled his mind with bliss. At the sound of the older man's shock, [Y/n] glanced back to see him staring at Rin's tail with a look of shock and confusion, clearly taken aback by it. Eyebrows furrowing, [Y/n] faked a cough.

"Problem?" He asked in a not-so-subtlely angry tone. Shooting a quick glance from the man to Rin's tail and back. At the sight of the younger man's defensive glare, the older man put his hands up.

"O-Oh, none at all!" He stammered, rapidly shaking his head. [Y/n] didn't believe him in the slightest. But... Judging by the smell of him...

"Kuro's right. This guy smells hammered." Flor announced, pretty much confirming [Y/n]'s suspicions that the smell coming from this man was, in fact, the same cheap-ass beer that Shura always rushed through whenever he'd seen her drink.

"Yeah..." Rin breathed out quietly, most likely agreeing with Flor and Kuro. "Yo, have you been hittin' the bottle? That ain't very monkly." Rin mused, leaning down to pick up one of the watermelons.