A Little Twisted

Lunch

"I can't believe you really punched that guy!" Grim snickered. "You're a lot cooler than you let on, you know!"

The two of you were cleaning around the courtyard. It was the same one you had jumped into last night. And by the both of you, you meant you were sweeping and Grim was sitting on a bench beneath an apple tree. His tiny legs swung back and forth while he watched you working. You would have been upset about it, but you expected that he wouldn't help.

You shrugged. "I wasn't just gonna let that guy make fun of us and walk away like it was nothing. I think he got what he deserved. But, uh, I wish the Headmaster didn't yell at us. That wasn't fun."

"You weren't the one who got tied up by his whip! That was awful! I think he ripped out some of my fur with it." He sighed.

The stone pathways were littered with leaves and sticks from the nearby trees and a thin layer of dirt that had blown over from the grass. It wasn't a hard job to sweep them away, but it was tedious and long. You still had a bit of a ways to go before you were even done with the courtyard, let alone the rest of your job. And then you had to clean a hundred windows at the end of the day. It didn't seem like that bad a punishment, at least.

You had already worked up to the well in the center. You leaned your back against it while you were chatting with Grim.

"Hey! Wait a second!" He suddenly cried. "We didn't eat anything yet!"

Oh yeah. Crowley didn't bring you breakfast this morning, did he? You guess you hadn't really paid attention. You weren't sure when lunch was either, so that was a bust for at least a little bit.

"I think we missed breakfast already. All the students already went to class so it's probably over by now." You glanced up at the apple tree. "We could have a snack break before lunch if you can't wait that long?"

Grim grumbled at the thought. "I hate fruit."

"Then eat some grass."

He hummed at the thought. Wait, was he really going to eat grass?

You made your way over to where he was sitting and dropped your broom to the ground. You stepped on the bench and hoisted yourself up to reach for some of the closer branches. You shifted to the edge of the bench and leaned as far over as you could. There was an apple right above you and you weren't going to pass up this chance. You were a little too short to reach it. You stood on the tips of your toes as you groped for the fruit.

The skin of the scarlet colored fruit was smooth and cooler than the air around you. Your fingers wrapped around it and you fell back to your feet. The branch the apple was stuck to came down with you, rustling the lush leaves. You pulled back, but the tree didn't give it up. The stem was still tightly attached. Grim laughed at you.

"You're gonna fall!"

"No, I'm gonna get this apple." You quickly corrected. Making sure you were balanced, you tugged and twisted the fruit, pulling with all of your strength. After a few struggling seconds, the stem snapped off and sent the branches flinging back. You had braced yourself enough that you didn't lose your balance or go falling back onto the cement, so you were fine. You gave a triumphant look to Grim. "See?"

"Oh. You're that person from yesterday, right?" A voice from behind you asked. It was soft, fragile. A little strained.

"Ah!" You spun around. You were met with the light purple hair and aqua eyes of a familiar someone. The sight of him made you smile. You hopped off of the bench. "You're the one from the ceremony last night!"

He nodded. He almost tried to hold his hand out to you, like he was going to give you a handshake, but quickly reeled his arm back and instead bowed to you. "Epel Felmier, lovely to make your acquaintance."