How to Make a Sinner Sleep

68 | time; a story about himself

A certain dragon was one foot in the library before being whisked away by a brown-haired student, mischief written all over his face. Noah allowed his body to be dragged, with some struggle, around the corridor as he gazed at Niklas dismissively.

"Try to look enthusiastic, please? You'll wound my feelings."

"What do you need, Niklas?"

Niklas huffed loudly, exaggerating offense for a few moments before he grinned. "Fine, fine. I heard it's your precious day of birth Noah, congrats! What're we doing to celebrate?"

The words swooped over Noah's mind that were more focused on the books tucked into his arms. He gave one long blink and frowned. "Birthday? Mine?"

Niklas nodded, as if he expected it. "Well, Holly's sources are rarely wrong. I'm pretty sure she's even snuck into the office to find some of her information, but it's better not knowing. Anyway, what do you want? A flower, some books? A handsome self-loathing fool wrapped in a bow?"

A cold gaze pierced Niklas, and the man laughed. "I wouldn't make jokes if it wasn't clear. Nobody likes being paired with somebody they don't actually like. That's awkward. What you feel, however—"

"Is not to be spoken of."

"....." A lopsided smile tugged the corner of Niklas' lips as he allowed silence to roll between them, waving at a passing cluster of students before the hallway grew silent again. "What happened yesterday, Noah, do you want to talk about it?"

"...I made a mistake. That was my immaturity."

"It's not a matter of being immature or mature. You can't just blame everything on yourself. Issues rise because of two people, not one."

Noah said nothing in response, well aware that Niklas spoke the truth. But despite his confidence, there was a disdain for all the things that made him, Noah Bellamy, the son of the dragons. 

Uncontrolled, violent, frightening—all these adjectives he didn't want associated to his existence.

Niklas sighed. "Listen, I get it Noah. I get that you're waiting for the right moment too, that you're being excessively cautious. But what happens when time doesn't allow you to wait? When you can only regret what you haven't done?"

He waited, then clapped his hands together loudly, an echo bouncing down the hallway. "Anyway! Happy birthday Noah! What's the plan?"

The change of subject made whatever answer that Noah had intended to say disappear. 

He shuffled through his thick stack of papers and books, confirming the date on an assignment slip. It'd slipped his mind, although he never put any importance to it to begin with. It was only another day lived, and a few hundred made it another year lived. 

There wasn't any importance in celebrating.

Of course, his little sister was the opposite and insisted on gems and gold, or random trinkets that could be found in the forest and river. It was her life, and she insisted it to be celebrated grandly.

Who was Noah to refuse?

He wondered how that little dragon fared back in their home, and that he missed her, but had no desire to return.

Then, another thought slipped into his mind.

If Niklas knew, then did Kaden as well?

Niklas read Noah's expression easily and wriggled his eyebrows obscenely. "The all-knowing me has heard rumours of a frightening, pink-haired man creating some mysterious concoction in the culinary room. What do you say about investigating that?"