Saccharine Secrets - Magna x Luck

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The months pass them by before Magna even knows it. It's been a small while since they resolved the elves' reincarnation spell thing and defeated the demon, and he could not be any more grateful that it's all over. It wasn't an easy path, that's for sure. There were some hiccups here and there, and a lot of the time it felt like it was nearly impossible to trudge forward. Clover, there's still some hiccups right now with how they have to research demons just to prove Asta's innocence. But, at the end of the day, they persevered through and managed to get it all done and dusted.

He wishes it were as simple as that. Physically speaking, both them and the kingdom as a whole suffered immensely in the aftermath of the incident. The casualties are far too numerous and some injuries are far too grave, and it'll take years to heal properly. But that's the thing with physical wounds: healing is just a matter of letting your body stitch itself back up. While it's not easy to deal with, it's certainly straightforward. The real issues are the mental wounds that cut deep into everyone's hearts. It wasn't as simple as just defeating a common enemy; some of these people have been hurt by people they trust, and that kind of betrayal, even unintentional, weighs on the kingdom heavily. This kind of wound won't heal so easily, and not even magic can fix them instantly.

When Magna looks up at Luck, he sees that very same mental wound scarring deep into his heart. It's a bit unsettling to see someone so headstrong fall victim to such an injury, but he shrugs it off knowing that no one is truly invincible from that kind of thing. They're standing in the forest next to their squad base, having gone out to spar for the first time since they fully recovered physically. He expected to be back to his training in no time, but the other boy keeps getting distracted and his mind keeps drifting away.

At least, that's what he tells Magna. He can take a hit just fine, but he freezes up when it's his turn to attack. Then, when he squints and sees the telltale signs of hesitation in Luck's stance, he knows that it's something else entirely. There's something stopping him from attacking Magna. A few more minutes of this nonsense, and he decides to put a stop to it. He walks up to the other boy, frowning when he doesn't acknowledge him. He simply stares at his trembling hands, zoning out even when Magna calls out his name. He decides to take both of Luck's hands into his, hoping that it's enough to get his attention and soothe him for a bit.

"Luck, stop it. You're shaking."

"Huh?"

"Here." He intertwines their fingers together, and the other boy visibly relaxes from the gesture. "Let's call it quits for now, yeah? We can always spar another time."

"Y-yeah." Luck falls quiet, shifting his weight from one foot to the other and refusing to meet his eyes. Magna sighs and leads them towards a nearby tree, beckoning him to sit down with him. Once they're next to each other, he pulls the other boy into his lap and gives him a tight hug.

"If you want to talk about it, I'm here." Magna whispers into Luck's ear, rubbing circles on his back in a bid to help him relax. When he freezes up at that, he hastily amends his statement so that he's not putting as much pressure on him. "Even if you don't want to, I'll still be here."

They sit in silence for a bit. It may seem like the moments where they are being loud and wreaking havoc are the defining parts of their friendship, but it's these moments of comfortable quiet that he loves all the same. Sometimes, things just don't need to be said. Sometimes, all it takes is one of them being welcomed into the other's arms to tell them all they need to know.