Aspen heard the creak of the front door and the sound of two voices alongside it. They heard Juniper and Cyrus talking at the door while they shed their coats and shoes when the conversation was interrupted by a thump and some kind of exclamation in a language Aspen didn't know. They assumed Cyrus tripped and fell, but what intrigued them the most was the unfamiliar language. They’ve heard Cyrus speak it a few times but never got the chance to ask them about it. They figured now was the best time to finally ask him as the duo finally entered the main area of the house.
“Hey Cyrus, what was that language you were speaking?” Aspen asked.
“Huh? Oh uh, it was undercommon why?”
“Oh, that's so cool! You gotta teach me, please, please, please,” Aspen begged.
Cyrus looked away and rubbed his neck. “Uhhhh, I mean I don't know-”
“Please, please, please, I’ll do anything,” Aspen begged, giving Cyrus their best puppy dog eyes.
“Yeah, yeah, alright, fine kid, I'll teach it to you,” Cyrus said with a poorly hidden smile and ruffled Aspen’s hair.
Aspen pouted, “Hey! I’m only 4 years younger than you, I'm not a kid”. Juniper watched the whole scene with a quiet smile and then grabbed onto Cyrus’ arm.
“Alright, Asp, Cyrus, and I are going to my room now, and night will teach you later,” Juniper said, already dragging Cyrus with her.
“Yeah, yeah, have fun making out or whatever,” Aspen replied, also walking to their room.
“HEY, THAT'S NOT- whatever dude,” Cyrus said as he let himself be dragged.
Cyrus rapidly knocked on Aspen’s door while carrying a stack of books, struggling to keep them in his arms. The water genasi opened the door and smiled at the sight of the books.
“Oh my gods, you were serious! This is so exciting, let's get started right now,” Aspen exclaims, dragging Cyrus into their room by his sleeve.
“Ey, watch it; you'll stretch out my sleeves, and then they'll look baggy and stupid,” Cyrus grumbles, but doesn't resist Aspen’s tugging.
“It's okay, all your clothes already look baggy and stupid, it won't look much different from your usual attire.”
Cyrus scowls at Aspen before brushing off the comment; it would do him no good to get mad at them. “Yeah, yeah, whatever loser. Let's just start on the lesson before I get sick of your shit and leave,” He jests.
“You would never get sick of me also Juniper said you shouldn't swear around me. I could tell on you.” The water genasi says with a smug look.
“Do that and I’m not teaching you anything kid, so I’d like to see you try,” Cyrus replies, a shit-eating grin on his face.
Aspen thinks about it before coinciding, “whatever… let's start the lesson now i've been waiting forever!”
“That's what I said 2 secon- whatever it's fine, it's all fine. Yep, starting the lesson now.”
The two practiced for a good few hours. Aspen reading from the books with Cyrus there to help elaborate on where the books didn't. A soft knock and a head peeking into the room interrupted their lesson. “Asp, come on, it's dinner time, and Cyrus needs to go home and eat with their family, right, Cyrus?” Juniper says with a pointed look towards him.
Cyrus rolls his eyes at that but doesn't put up much of a fight. “Alright sure I'll humor you; but don't be surprised if I come right back here or to our spot when it's over to complain about how boring it was.”
“And I'll be happy to listen moonbeam,” She says with a smile, her face might as well have lit up the whole room, but maybe that was just Cyrus’ biased view.
“Hey, can you guys stop flirting? I'm right here, and this is my room. Get your gross situationship out of here.” Aspen grumbles.
“Ah… sorry Asp. I'll walk Cyrus home then I'll make dinner.” Juniper says sheepishly.
Aspen mumbles something as they leave, but they can't tell what they said as the two walk to the front door.
Cyrus finally gets a look at the sky and swears, “Holy shit it's kinda late; time really went by quick, huh?”
“Yeah, you guys spent a lot of time studying. How'd it go by the way?” Juniper asks as the two start to make their way outside and towards Cyrus’ house.
“It was good, they're a fast learner. They might even surpass me at this rate, and it's my first language.” Cyrus exclaims with a bit of a laugh.
Juniper smiles at that, “yeah they're really impressive.”
The two walk in relative silence after the conversation dies down, but it's comfortable, peaceful. The sun starts to dip below the horizon, leaving a beautiful golden hour in its wake. They start to see Cyrus’ house in the distance, and he turns to Juniper and freezes.
She looks so pretty right now, oh my god. Shit, shit fuck my life, what the hell do I do?
Cyrus’ face flushes an almost dark purple as he quickly looks away, trying to get his heart rate to calm down and look somewhat presentable.
“Um, well,” Cyrus awkwardly clears his throat, “this is my stop, ahaha so I'll just get going now.. Um yeah..”
“Yeah, of course. Thank you for teaching Aspen. I know they really appreciate it, moonlight… and so do I,” she adds on quietly. “It's really nice that you two get along at least somewhat decently,” Juniper says with a radiant smile.
Cyrus’ blush comes back tenfold, and he turns away. “Yep, no problem. All in a day's work as they say. I'll see you later, starlight, gotta go,” he hurriedly rushes out and runs to his house, sliding down the door once he’s inside. Their hands cover their very warm face as they silently scream into their hands.
I'm so screwed.