Awakened

{Ĺ̶̦̰I̴̯̽͋Ę̷̮͎̣̎͌̉!̵̵̢̢͎̯̼͎̯̼͒̓͒̓} Be quiet, disembodied voice.

I recognized that face, and the jittery disposition that came with it.

That silky bowl cut that couldn't be bothered to change. Those blue eyes of boundless curiosity, enough to kill at least a dozen cats. And that smile plastered on with a nearly imperceptible use of hypnotic magecraft, one that still slightly unnerved me to this day.

At least he had the shame to look just a tiny bit sheepish, considering that it was currently 2 AM and I was not amused in the slightest.

I still had to squint my eyes at the passive, aura-like glow of his massive prana signature though. It was an annoying trait to have, but it was a great perk nonetheless.

"Okay, uh, I was going to ask if I could borrow your laptop for an hour or two, but then I realized it was really early in the morning and I know that you regularly forgo sleep so I busted through your boundary field and wanted to check if you were awake so I could ask for permission instead of forgiveness just like you and Professor Charisma always tell me to but I realized a little late that I already broke your wards and I'm really sorry about that. Also, why were you crying in your sleep?" The accidental phenom said in rapid succession, his 12 year old voice going through puberty cracking a few times, with an innocent expression as if he didn't break through a high level bounded field just to get my attention.

I wiped the tears away and wore the glasses by my bedside, "Sad dream, couldn't remember even if I wanted to. More importantly though, Flat, how important is this for you to forget knocking on the door like a civilized person?"

Glasses put in place, I can finally look at his face clearly without the barrage of mystical energies and signatures obscuring my vision.

"Oh, I just gotta verify something on a website. Need to do some cross referencing, double check a cipher,  figure out the doodly things on some pages, and possibly get a ticket to another country if it comes down to it. Nothing much."

"And did that REALLY necessitate you to break an expensive Bounded Field? I use literal gemstones for the matrices of these things, man." 

I wasn't surprised that the genius could do it - this wasn't the first time I had to fix my magical wards - but I was a bit curious to know how he did it this time.

His smile widened in pride, "Well, you made it pretty easy compared to some of the other ones. It was both self replicating and continuously overlapping with every layer, so I just did the smart thing and gave it cancer."

"…huh. That is a drastically oversimplified, but still summarily correct answer. Why didn't I think of that?" I muttered the last part, still slightly unbelieving of that particular weak point.

Whatever, its not like I didn't have a large fortune of expropriated gems hidden away in a closet somewhere. So it was no big deal.

He still broke a topaz worth several hundred pounds, and that part was still hanging on to my early morning self, who had to deal with this stuff on a weekly basis, who still hadn't drunk his morning coffee, and definitely was not a morning person.

It was 2 in the morning and, while Reinforcement on my bed greatly shortened my sleep requirements, it was literally too early for this shit.

Flat then said, "Now, I know what you're thinking with that face. 'Should I dice my bestest junior into tiny pieces?'. Hold that thought for a moment, 'cause the answer may surprise you." 

I shook my head, "Nah, murder is one of the last things I usually consider. It's not like you killed my cat or anything. But by the year's end, I'm gonna cash in on that debt of yours. Mark my words, Flat."

The chaotic genius laughed, "See, this is why you're my favourite senior! Le Chien is never this merciful, he even ate my homework once out of spite." 

By this point, after several years of dealing with a variety of eccentricities, the logic breaking laws of magecraft, and witnessing the ungodly amount of metaphorical dick sucking that goes on in the Clock Tower…my tolerance for bullshit was pretty up there.

"Since you already broke in, I guess I could give it to you. Just make sure not to damage anything on it or in it." I said, gesturing to the laptop bag which was an enchanted item in and of itself.

The Mysteries on it wouldn't do much if Flat even barely tried breaking it, but I've learned to always have safety gloves on when doing the genius any favors.

"Thank, Caules! Oh right, there was that one thing too. Gimme a moment."

As he grabbed the bag, I could perceive a distortion of space for the split second he put his hand inside.

Of which a thermos flask seemingly appeared in his grasp {A̴̷͝ ̢̀P̨͜é̴̢̢͠r͟͠͞f̛͢e̷̡͜҉c̕͠ţ͢͢͢͝ ̡̧̡̧͞͞L̸̨i̵̕͜ę͞͡}, something that I definitely didn't put in there before.

In some of the ironclad laws of magecraft, even something as simple as what he did should've warranted a ten-line chant, several decades of proper research, and a proper mystic code(enchanted item) to cast properly.

Flat did it as casually as pulling a rabbit out of a hat.

But who was I to question someone that was bullshit incarnate?

I politely received the insulated flask, doing a habitual Grasp on its properties. And, realising that it wasn't poisoned or rigged to explode, I opened it up with a small expression of surprise once I smelled it.

"I really don't get how you guys can stomach that stuff. It's nasty, bitter, and full of sadness. I told Miss Sierra by the counter that I needed something as, uh, a peace offering, so she gave me that and told me it was part of your regular order at the café." My intruder said, with a hint of disgust.

Was I being bribed? With coffee of all things? Was I so shameless that I would accept this expensive and daring transgression to my facilities, and simply wave it off because of a polite attitude and a hot beverage?

I took a sip of the still steaming flask, savoring the distinct bitterness of the imported barako, "You're forgiven, but your debt still remains the same."

The blonde shrugged with the same carefree smile, "I can live with that."

The answer to all 3 of those questions was yes, I totally would. I was an absolute sucker for giving my ward the benefit of the doubt.

"Great. Remember to bring my stuff back with all pieces intact, yeah?" I added with a small glare.

Flat saluted, "You got it, Phantom Hive!"

"That name was never clever and you know iiiiit- yup, he's gone." By the time I responded, he had already bolted out through the door.

Well, time to remake my bounded fields. 

And, judging by the turmoil and incessancy of the spirits binded to my being, I still had a hitman to take care of. Some sneaky, spying sniper that thinks camouflage on a tile roof is gonna stop me from seeing his prana signature through my familiars.

Once again, I sighed, "Fuckin' Tuesdays."