𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦

one

She caught herself staring again.

Ever since Temperance had figured out that romantic love exists and it can exist between spirits too, her mind had always flown to her rival.

Gluttony.

It was hard for her to admit it, but Kindness' words, when she asked her what romantic love is, made sense and lined up with what she's experiencing.

To put it simply, Temperance liked Gluttony. In the romantic way, unfortunately. Feelings weren't Temperance's specialty—she's to-the-point and knows that everything will be okay. Her way of dealing with emotions are just to let them be, because, after all, it will be alright in the end.

Except that this feeling that she's experiencing keeps on nagging her day and night.

Flashes of golden eyes under the sunlight. Gleaming, silky pure-white hair illuminated by fluorescent lights, the glaring white luminosity forming a halo around the hair. Soft grazes of finger against finger whenever they worked together on a new project or research. It all formed a supercut, playing over and over again like a song she'll never be tired of hearing.

This thing that she's going through annoyed her, because she knew it affects her daily performance—Patience had noticed her slip-ups. If only she could stop it sooner than fate will.

"Hey, stop staring at Rhea! Listen to the teacher!" her seat-mate whispered urgently, jolting Temperance from her musings violently.

"I wasn't staring at her," Temperance whispered back, but she complied and looked towards the whiteboard and tuned out the teacher's lecture about angles and numbers. She was a good student, usually listening, but today, she's unable to concentrate on anything else except the clips of tender moments she'd shared with you-know-who.

And why did her seat-mate think she was staring at Rhea (Gluttony's seat-mate) out of everyone in the circle around Gluttony?

She realized that she was staring directly at Gluttony's notebooks. Since the two had a tense relationship that started with Temperance withdrawing herself, obviously she shouldn't be staring at Gluttony. Except that she was, and this wasn't really ideal—she knew people are going to start rumors.

Sighting internally, she focused back on the blurry lines on the whiteboard. This is going to be a long day, Temperance thought, just as the bell rang. It was, very luckily, break time already.

Maybe it's not going to be as long as I thought it would be, Temperance thought again.

She got up from her seat and walked out, knowing just who to talk about this with. The virtue walked through the hallways of the senior high school building, then crossed the glass dome that bordered the junior high school building with the former building. Some awe-struck kids stared, but Temperance simply ignored them for the time being. She's focused on her target.

Everything will turn out fine, Temperance knew, but before "fine" was achieved, she needed to talk about the issue first.

After much staring and talking with a nervous and stuttering kid, Patience slinked out of his classroom, a can of strawberry milk in his hand. He wore a pastel peach sweater over his uniform. His socks was the same color as his sweater. The school allowed that.

Patience looked adorable as usual, but Temperance was too distraught to notice that.

"H-hi! You wanted to see me?" Patience asked in his soft voice, tilting his head. His fluffy pink curls fell into his eyes, and he swept it away with one fabric-covered hand. Of course the sweater was oversized. For some reason, he settled his hands in the T-rex pose.

Temperance nodded. "Yeah," she said, "can we talk somewhere else?"

Patience seemed to realize his hands were imitating a T-rex's front legs, so he dropped the right one, the one not holding a drink. "We could go to the, uh, rooftop," he suggested, tilting his head towards a desolate staircase.

"Okay," Temperance agreed, and Patience led the way. He offered Temperance his milk on their journey through the crowded hall, but Temperance refused it.

They reached the staircase. Surprisingly, nobody stared, so they just walked up.

If there was one place that was always vacant, it's this place, though the wind was gentle and it was a rooftop garden. The peace was unsettling; Temperance had said once; this place should be more lively due to its atmosphere. But, because of its desolateness, people usually went here to gossip to avoid the others overhearing.

There was a group of girls on the far end of the rooftop, so Patience and Temperance closed the door and went to the other side, as per the unspoken laws and manners.

"So?" Patience prompted patiently, his drink on his lap, secured by one hand. "What did you want to talk about?"

"It's about, well, you know," Temperance said haltingly, pausing after every few words, "him."

A light of recognition lit up in Patience's eyes. "Oh, him," he said understandingly, nodding, prompting Temperance to continue.

"Well," Temperance started, wringing her hands, "to put it simply, this whole thing is starting to affect my daily life, and it's annoying," she said. "This may seem ridiculous—it is ridiculous—but please don't laugh."

Patience promised he wouldn't laugh, and Temperance told him everything. When she finished, she was suddenly grateful that their break time was one hour long. From her watch, she knew she'd wasted fifteen minutes talking about everything. But, at least, he didn't laugh, as promised. Instead his expression turned into one of deep thinking. The can of milk lay abandoned just on the ground, beside the swingset he was sitting on.

"This seems like a communication problem," he said simply. "Try talking to him. Sorry, Temperance, I'm not that useful at relationship advice. It's not my forte."

Despite her inner turmoil, Temperance smiled. "I saw what you did there."

Patience grinned. "Hey, have you heard about Charity's new farm?" he asked, and they discussed it until the bell rang, then they returned to their respective classes.