Demons, Witches, and Toads (BoyxBoy)

Wheeler the Goat-sitter

Three months had passed since Wheeler had officially enrolled at the Imperial Academy of Magic.

Things had been going surprisingly well considering he'd previously committed identity theft and nearly (by accident) murdered two students just to get in.

Having some friends would have been nice but...well...he at least had Mulock and Mister Pumpernickel. Everyone at the academy seemed rather frightened of him after the tree incident. The most interaction he'd get from his fellow students were frightened glances when he passed them in the halls. But hey, that at least meant more time to work on his studies.

And speaking of...the demon had been making sure that nearly every waking moment Wheeler was hard at work.

He stood in the stables now, adding new straw for the shipment of crystal goats that had just arrived at the academy. Perched on top of a large stack of hay sat Mulock, a textbook open in one hand as he continued to quiz Wheeler mercilessly.

"What would you say if you were trying to cast a rain spell?" the demon called down to him now.

"Aquəa Dəscendəs," Wheeler repeated from memory. One of the goats, made (as the name would suggest) entirely from crystal, began to gnaw at the edge of his coat.

"Good," Mulock murmured, absently flipping a page. "And if this kind of spell gets out of control, what do you do?"

Wheeler thought for a moment, finally managing to yank his coat back from the goat. "Um...deep breaths?"

"Nope. You're supposed to visualize the water slowly flowing out of you. You messed up which means we're starting over." With that, the demon flipped the book back to the first page once more.

It took everything in Wheeler to bite back a groan. He knew Mulock was doing this for his own good—but God did he sometimes want to hurl that textbook out of his hands and just start stomping on it.

Mulock opened his mouth to ask another question when Wheeler suddenly froze, hearing a rustle.

"Everything okay?" Mulock questioned, arching a brow.

Wheeler glanced around, his gaze darting over the stacks of hay. "I could have sworn I heard something..."

"It was probably just a goat," Mulock said with a shrug, his attention returning to the textbook. "Alright, so when casting a fire spell what do you..." and that's when a second rustle came, this time even louder. The demon's eyes narrowed as he slowly shut the book. "Okay, what the hell?"

Wheeler's gaze suddenly locked on the haystacks near the stable's entrance, a golden haired head peeking up from behind them.

His eyes grew wide. "Priscilla...?"

There was a loud huff as the girl popped out. She sighed heavily, brushing the straw from her skirt. "You caught me."

Priscilla hadn't spoken to him much since their first day, though he often saw her trailing at the back of Violet's posse of girls. He'd figured Violet had probably forbidden her from continuing to engage with him. But she was here now, wasn't she? Maybe she'd changed her mind about being his friend?

"What brings you here?" Wheeler asked with a smile.

"Oh," Priscilla said, sheepishly glancing down at her feet. "It's kind of embarrassing actually..." Her gaze drifted to Mulock who was staring down at her from his perch, quite distinctly human—not cat.

"Uh...who is that?"

"Wha...it's um...err...it's Mully," Wheeler stammered.

"WHAT?!?" Priscilla gasped.