Chapter Text
Banishment. Affogato had it coming for him, to be fair... he couldn't be THAT angry.
All he wanted was a place to stay! Where he wasn't an outcast. Too sweet to be Cacao, too bitter to be Vanilla, too much of too many different things to belong anywhere. Maybe the need for belonging could've been figured out with less drastic measures, less lust for power, less lives being put in possible danger, but Affogato did what he wanted, and paid no mind to the horrible things he's done.
No longer being a Dark Cacao citizen, most likely never returning to that status, he had nowhere else to go. Well, to say that was a lie.
There was Crème Republic. The final remains of that one part of Affogato he'd rather drown away. The part of him considered 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘵. And that place never was the greatest, a bunch of divine-loving freaks. Spouting bullshit in his ears he never believed. But he knew the right boats, the right directions to the city-state in the middle of the Soda Seas. It was the only place that dripped the same jam he did left, the only one that would let him in.
Yes, the shaman had no chance of ruling over the place himself. An entire council of Elders would most likely prove MUCH too difficult to take down. But did he really have any other choices?
So Affogato did it. Traveled back to that Republic he never thought he'd be near again.
And now? He needed to secure a place to stay. He could probably crash someone's place, he had no real options beside that, not nearly enough gems to pay for his own place. And he didn't want to be homeless.
Affogato wandered the streets, not quite remembering the layout of this place. He hadn't been there for a while, and hadn't even been there long when he had. His temporary home was shared with, one Affogato was certain never wanted to see him again. Which was perfectly fine, he had never liked that smartass anyways.
It was then that the man spotted someone wandering off the side of the street, the youth's whole being radiating with naivety, an easy target. The boy was clearly in teenage years, body freshly out of puberty. His figure was concealed by a white and blue school uniform, his fingers mindlessly fidgeting with the tie wrapped sloppily around his throat. Wings upon the young teen's shoulder blades twitched at even the softest movement in the air. His whole attention was focused upon kicking rocks down on the sidewalk he strolled upon.
Not even wasting any time, the shaman approached. "Hello, dear boy." He spoke, falsely soft. Affogato's smirked slightly as he watched the boy flinch at the sudden voice. "No need to fear, I simply have a favor to ask of you.."
"A favor? Well, I'd be more than happy to comply!" The teen puffed his chest out, voice fairly high-pitched for his age. "What do you require from me, the great Madeleine of the Paladin Academy?" Madeleine bowed down with a boast, clearly up in his own head.
"Ah, I just need a play to stay." Affogato thought of a lie as quick as he could, making sure to raise any suspicion with the truth. "You see, after an argument with the family I used to stay with, I was kicked out." That wasn't entirely a lie.
"A place to stay? Why, I live in the dorms at my school so-" The knight in training clamped his mouth shut mid-sentence, eyes lighting up. "I shall sneak you into my room! The professors do not check our rooms for the purpose of privacy, so as long as we remain quiet, you'll be able to reside there!"
How.. easy.
"Now, dear sir-" Madeleine bowed, holding one of his hands out. "Follow me! I'll lead you to my Holy Dormitory, where you may have a place to stay until your family accepts you again!"
Affogato clamped his palm on to Madeleine's, feeling the oddly cold flesh of the boy. The teen quickly whisked them both away, heading in the direction of the academy.
"Must've been the work of the Divine that we stumbled upon each other!" Madeleine exclaimed, walking along. "Clearly, the light guided you to me! And I, a Child of the Great Divines, shall care for you, as they've tasked upon me to do!"
Okay. He was one of those. A boy with no purpose outside of supposed angels watching over him. At least it made him accepting.
"I haven't introduced myself, have I?" Affogato said, intertwining his fingers between the teen's. "I'm Affogato, it's nice to meet you. And you've already said your name.. Madeleine, correct?"
"Yep! That's me!" As he spoke, Madeleine fluffed his wings out, grinning smugly. "Top student in my classes! The best paladin in training you'll ever meet!"
"Hm, really? How interesting that is. You seem quite exceptional."
"Oh I 𝘢𝘮! I've been blessed by the divine since I was born, I was simply constructed to be a being of such importance! The Divine needed perfection to be imprinted on this land, and they chose little old me to be that perfection! I'm incapable of harm, unless the creature deserves harm, of course!" The boy let out a harsh breath at the end of his small, self-indulgent rant, bringing up his hands to slick back through his long blonde hair.
So it was more like religious psychosis that this kid had. Great. This going to be a fun undefined amount of time until Affogato can find somewhere else.
Being a good, responsible adult talking to a child with very clear mental issues, Affogato said exactly the perfect, more NOT tone-deaf response he could give?
"So you're an.. angel then, I take it?" Subconsciously, he squeezed Madeleine's hand. "Perfection incarnate, hm? Ah, you'll be quite the interesting roommate of mine, if what you speak is true."
Madeleine snorted confidently, picking up his strides. "Yeah, basically! I am not one of the Divines themselves, of course, but they built me from their importance! My body was formed just so they could spread their light upon mortals, and they needed something such as I to do it for them! So in a way, I suppose I may be a sort of 'angel', but I'm sadly not one prayed to on Sundays."
Before Affogato could respond yet again, the teen cut him off. "Here's the Academy! I leave my windows unlocked to allow fresh air into the dormitory whenever possible, so we can just go through there instead of the front of the school. I don't think the teachers would want me bringing a grown man in. So it's better to just lie about it! Though the truth may be a virtue, your safety and roof to thrive under is a much more virtue in my book!"
It was such.. odd behavior from this kid. Being this open about himself to an adult he met maybe.. five whole minutes ago? And caring so much like they had been friends from birth? He was a pure soul at heart, clearly so deep-rooted in his own beliefs of grandeur. In its own way, it could be considered endearing.
The adult stood back as he watched his younger companion open up the windows from the outside once they had reached the outside of his room, opening it up with ease. Madeleine beckoned the older inside once he crawled in on his own, holding his hand out as though Affogato was a child who required assistance to enter properly. He ignored the proposal, easily moving himself inside.
It was a shockingly large room, at least for academy dorms. Awards hung upon the walls beside religious trinkets, a rather large mess of supplies all over the floor. Odd, dark, 𝘳𝘦𝘥? stains were present on the bed sheets, but otherwise the bed seemed quite luxurious. Madeleine quickly pulled one of the navy blue pillow above the crusted over puddles on his sheets, staring back at his new visitor awkwardly.
"You can sleep on the floor, I suppose. I think it would be a bit... odd... to lay in the same bed." Madeleine commented, using his hands to heave himself up on to the bed. "I have a sleeping bag in one of my drawers, so that way it won't be uncomfortable."
"Hm, understandable." Affogato nodded his head in a small dip, genuine understanding in his features. He didn't really want to sleep in the same bed as a teenager, anyways. Even if it was platonically. Affogato knew all too well the damage it could cause.
The shaman explored the room carefully, not wanting to break anything of his companion's, but still curious on what was within the room, what he could possibly take for his advantage.
He carefully opened a drawer, finding the previously mentioned sleeping bag next to a sloppily packaged emergency kit, bandages sticking out of the sides. Affogato chalked it up to the obvious.. this was a paladin school. They probably have these because there's fight training, even in training some injuries were to be expected. That would be where the bloodstains on the bed would come from too, right? A bad day out in class. Not even the best student in a room is entirely perfect.
Pulling the sleeping bag out, the adult male began to set up his sleeping quarters on the floor. Through it, Madeleine began to lay some ground rules.
"I've mentioned this already, but please don't be too loud." He began. "If any of the teachers find out I'm nesting a grown man in my dorms... ooohhh boy, that won't end well for either of us." The teenager sighed, wings drooping. "If you want to go outside, just sneak through the window, sneak back in the same way. Again, like I said before, I always keep these unlocked. Also, please be respectful! Do not tamper with any of my divine offerings or tokens, even if on accident. If you stain any of my precious offerings of light.. well! It won't be too bad, I'll just attempt to reunite you with that family of yours. But I.. really couldn't bear to keep you around if you ruined something so important."
"Of course, dear. I'll make sure all of your holy relics are as clean as they were when I arrived, maybe even cleaner if you'd allow me. I respect you, new friend of mine. I will not harm your belongings."
Madeleine grinned wide in response, genuine joy on his face. "You're one of the nicer ones out there, you know. Some people out there.. they'd never say anything like that. It's.. refreshing. I can tell you're another blessed by the light of the Heavens, it's clear through your kindness. So thank you, truly."
"Someone as sweet as you deserves kindness in return." Affogato stated simply. Even himself didn't really know if what he spouted were lies or not, if he was going to turn, ruin this boy's life, or if he was using at least a bit of decency for this young man.
"Thank you. Truly." Madeleine bowed his head. "Well.. the light in the sky is beginning to fade, it's about to night. Which means, it's around time to rest! Well, at least for me. I will not force you to sleep if you aren't tired, of course! You're quite free to wander the outside at night, as well, but don't wander around the Academy! You're uh.. trespassing, working by the technical terms sooooo.... stay safe out there, dear Affogato. Wouldn't want to lose you to the law as quickly as I got you as a friend!"
The adult didn't make a worded response, simply tilting his head down and back up in agreement. He watched as the teenager basically passed out instantly, having curled up in the sheets without even changing out of his school uniform, soft snores arising from him. Must've had a long day.
Affogato slipped into the sleeping bag he had gotten, which was quite a snug fit on his body. It was clearly a child-sized one, but Affogato would make do, he didn't want to sleep on the floor.
And soon enough, both of the males were asleep, wrapped up in the realm of dreams.
Both of them dreamt of guilts and regrets.