Work Text:
Yuu was gone for the day, and if moonlight could pass for daylight, surely it was only because of the beam spilling through Ramshackle's window.
Malleus did not wish to become so exacting about Yuu's return, especially when they had not sent him a message since that morning. Yet he found himself measuring the passing hours all the same, growing increasingly particular until he was entertaining explanations that could scarcely be called scientific.
He sinks back into the decrepit couch in the living room, his elbows digging into the worn plush. He notes that even Grim and the ghosts who usually occupy the dorm are absent.
Yet traces of their routine lingered throughout this one room: the mug left on the table, the blanket abandoned over another chair, the notebook still open where Yuu had last been sitting. Ordinarily, Malleus would not have paid such details any mind yet his gaze caught it time and time again as he awaits their return.
...Was he being too impatient?
Surely not.
But, again, what would he know? Human customs alluded him too many times. What he did know is that if one were to be "friends" with another, some level of attachment was only natural.
Malleus restrains the urge to bury his face in his hands; perhaps the rough leather of his gloves would be enough to deter him from returning to Diasomnia altogether.
The thought dissolves when a cold draft slips through the room, and he exhales slowly.
He should arrange to see Yuu another time if they were this busy… and yet the urge to remain here, rooted in place like a statue, persists regardless.
Instead, he wills his attention to drift back to his surroundings. The fireplace stands neatly, the wood underneath was small in quantity, partially burned that it wouldn't give any meaningful warmth right now. Malleus finds himself briefly wondering whether Yuu keeps matches somewhere nearby - until he recalls that Grim is a creature of fire by nature. Manual ignition would hardly be necessary.
Still, beyond the pale beam of moonlight spilling through the window, the room remains cold enough to draw a faint scowl from him.
That is when he notices it.
A grey lump of cloth rests over the very couch that had occupied his thoughts for the past several minutes. He moves closer and carefully pulls it free from its position, watching as the hood flops forward in his hands.
Ah , Malleus muses to himself, This must be how Yuu has been keeping warm, aside from relying on Grim.
Of course, the fabric is thick enough to shield against the chill, and yet…
The edges were shrewd, almost rough to the touch, and he knew this because he had known finer cloth before. Whether from idly worrying at the hems of his own garments or from the occasional brush of his hand against fabrics presented by palace tailors, Malleus possessed a passing familiarity with quality. This garment possessed very little of it.
It seemed old enough to be softened by years of use, and Malleus wonders where Yuu had acquired it since it hadn't been that long since Yuu even came here.
The dye itself since faded from its original shade, yet not so old that the printed design had completely disappeared. He turned the sleeve over in his hands, eyeing one cuff more worn than the other, with a small line of repaired stitching ran along one sleeve.
It was, objectively speaking, unremarkable.
At the very same moment, the room is still cold and Malleus finds himself glancing toward the fireplace. The wood remains unlit. The chill persists in the corners of the room, quiet but prickly and insistent on his skin.
A traitorous thought bubbles up in his head, and it would've been inefficient to ignore it.
Malleus shifts slightly, adjusting his grip on the hoodie. Fingers working until one sleeve falls open, and without much thought, he threads his arm through it. The motion is not deliberate so much as continuous, and Malleus keeps a thought to return this clean to Yuu.
The fabric settles against him, against his expectations given the quality of the material, it does retains heat more effectively than anticipated.
He lets the other sleeve hang for a moment before slipping his arm through as well. The hood rests behind his shoulders, heavy in a way that is not unpleasant, and Malleus does not seek to adjust it further.
Well, there is no immediate reason to remove it, especially since strictly speaking, this is because he wishes to inspect it further, and it's practical for the cold.
The fact that Malleus remains wearing it for the next hour is entirely unrelated.
When his phone finally alerts him later, the message from Yuu is brief - a sincere apology, a note that they will be delayed, and that they should simply see each other another time. This was what Malleus had suspected was going to happen, but it was only with confirmation does he stand, and teleport back to Diasomnia
It's still dark when he returns to his room; therefore, no immediate reason presented itself to put much thought into his appearance.
He's still wearing the hoodie...
Omake (Yuu's POV)
It’s so cold.
Like, aggressively cold. It makes Yuu question whether Crowley even checked if Ramshackle is legally considered indoors or just “outdoors but emotionally depressing.”
“Okay,” Yuu muttered to themselves. “It was here. I put it here. I know I did.”
From somewhere deeper in the dorm, Grim’s voice echoed back, muffled and unimpressed. “How am I supposed to know where that ugly thing is, henchman? I don’t touch your human junk.”
“You literally sleep on my stuff,” Yuu called back.
“That’s different!”
Yuu exhales through their nose and continues down the hall, pushing open the door to the living room where Grim had curled up. The cold follows them in immediately, and they shiver with a wince.
Instead of continuing the search, Yuu flops face-first beside Grim who was like their mini heater sometimes. “…If I die here, tell the others I fought bravely against hypothermia,” they whine into the cushions.
A beat passes before Yuu adds, "And it was Ace's fault, because I'm pretty sure he stole it." At that, Grim finally shifts aside with a grumble under his breath.
“Oi. Didn’t you leave something here earlier?” Grim asks, and Yuu lifts their head slightly. “What, my dignity?”
“No henchman! Your hoodie.” That gets them to sit up properly this time to look around. Everything else they've put before - messy blanket, scattered notes, the usual signs that Yuu has not, in fact, been organizing their life properly told them everything they needed to know.
“…I definitely left it somewhere here.”
Grim squints. “So, where’d it go?”
Yuu slowly sinks back into the couch again, and mutters, “That is a problem for Future Yuu.”