Classes were cancelled for the day.
Due to the amount of supernatural creatures which escaped the classroom, it took a considerable amount of power from Mirren and a couple of students to track each and every one of them down. It didn't help that they ran amok inside the hallways and invaded the other classroom, causing some of their teachers to become startled at the sight. Niven was still drifting off into his own hazy state of mind, his words still slurred together because of the large force of Mirren's ability which affected him greatly.
But when Mirren finally captured the creatures and set them back into jars, he and Niven were given a free pass for the day, and the brunet didn't hesitate to scoop the smaller male into his arms and teleported themselves back into his dorm room.
Mirren had to stop for a moment, standing at the entrance of the door to get a quick breath. He fumbled with the door knob, sluggishly entering the room and almost dropped Niven.
Warping himself out of the classroom was a bit of a difficult task considering the distance between the academy and his dorm room, but after having to use his abilities several time, his energy drained even faster so he needed to take a minute and get rid of the blurriness in his eyes.
But when he finally settled the limp blond onto his sofa, he dropped to his knees and groaned from the soreness throughout his body. Mirren used a hand to cover a part of his face, rubbing his eyes from exhaustion while trying to ignore the pain pounding inside his head.
Niven could faintly hear the brunet groan, and he tried to life a hand toward Mirren to hell himself sit up on the sofa properly—but then he heard it, stopping himself immediately.
He heard a bit of a growl.
Niven thought to himself it was probably Mirren's familiar. After all, he did say he keeps his familiar inside his dorm room so maybe the growl came from them instead. But when he sluggishly looked at Mirren, a sudden shiver went through his body when he locked eyes with the brunet, finding his blue eyes glow a bit brighter and... somewhat aggressive.
Mirren blinked several times, removing that aggravated look off his face before sending a weak grin to Niven. "Hey, baby. Sorry if you wanted to be at your own dorm, but I didn't have that much energy left so we're at my place now. Are you hurting anywhere?"
Mirren reaches out to touch the soft locks of hair, but Niven squirmed and garbled his words a bit, "Don't... touch me. Don't wanna... let ya touch-" Niven couldn't say anything after that, it was already hard enough to keep his gaze focused on Mirren without having his eyes roll to the back of his head and fall completely limp again.
Mirren already knew what Niven was going through, and he felt that small pang of guilt building up inside. He sighed, "Okay, I won't touch you, but I'm moving you to my bed in just a minute. I'll have to take my familiar out of my room though so she doesn't bother you. The effects of my abilities will last for another hour or so, and the victim affected by it go through a series of... ecstasy. Your senses will grow numb during this time and may even get a little bit delirious—scratch that, with the amount of force I used on you, you're definitely gonna feel more elated."
"Ugh..." Niven moaned, falling to his side in the sofa. Mirren winced at the sound and quickly stood up.
"You probably don't even understand what I'm saying now, but give me just a moment. Gotta take her out of the room first," he muttered the last sentence before he walked off.
Niven just laid there on the sofa, groaning from the effects as his sight started to grow a bit white. He vaguely heard some of the symptoms Mirren just described, and he's definitely feeling more than numb. There was something heating up in the pits of his stomach, and it grew to a point where just lying on the sofa was uncomfortable... a bit painful. Slowly, Niven weakly clutched the armrest of the sofa before getting up.
Unfortunately, he fell right on the floor, emitted a soft moan from his lips.
He would've cursed at this point, but the floor was made of wood and it was cool, it helped him focus his senses. At least, for a few seconds before his eyes had white blanks enlarging at the corners once more. He was about to pass out when he felt something land on his back. The sudden weight caused a small whimper to leave his mouth, but other than that it wasn't actually hurting him.
"For fuck's sake, get off him!" He drowsily craned his neck up, looking at the blurred form of Mirren grabbing onto something and tossing it over to the sofa without a care before gently holding Niven's shoulder, pulling him off the ground and then settled his body into his arms.
Niven stirred, moaning against Mirren. "God..."
Yeah, he was completely out of it.
For a couple of hours, Niven slept on Mirren's bed. There were several times he woke up and tried to drag himself out of the bed, but then a strong scent of vanilla wafted and covered his senses. Niven couldn't help but fall limp in the bed, curling himself across the sheets and tangled his body within the blankets. The blond groaned when he bumped into something, but he chose to ignore it and settled himself. He grew a bit more delirious, drowning himself that smell, not exactly knowing where it came from. The vanilla was soon joined by cinnamon, so the student couldn't help but sink deeper into the mattress, losing his strength and passed out again.
When he finally woke up for the last time, he drowsily sat in the middle of the bed, his hair sticking out from every corner as he realized that he cocooned himself in a large blanket. Niven reached up to touch a sore place in the side of his neck, slightly bumping his fingers against his earring. He also looked down at himself, noticing the new attire he wore. His uniform was gone, replaced by a large black shirt that hung off his small frame, and some normal shorts.
At first, looking around, he didn't exactly remember where he was. His thoughts drifted to King, who was probably going crazy back in his dorm. The penguin must be paranoid since Niven hasn't returned.
Niven leaned forward, preparing himself to get off the bed when something tightened around his waist. He looked down to see an arm pulling him back.
"Mhmm... go back to sleep, baby boy," Mirren mumbled against the mattress.
Oh... Niven remembers now... and now he's slightly pissed from being submissive against Mirren.
Still, that strange scent loomed in the air. His head was still muddled by it, but he could vaguely tell it came from Mirren. Leaning down to the brunet, Niven took a small whiff.
"You smell good," he commented rather bluntly, probably because he just woke up.
Mirren snapped his head up at the sound of Niven, a blanket wrapped around his shoulders as the blond stared down at him. "Oh, you're up. You better now?"
"How long did I sleep?"
"Hmm... couple of hours, I didn't really keep track." Mirren sluggishly sat up, bringing his legs up to his chest, resting an arm against a knee as he yawned tiredly. He raked a hand through his messy hair, fingers getting trying to ease through the tangles.
Niven slightly backed away from the male, the scent getting stronger. "You sprayed cologne?"
Mirren darted his eyes at the blond, a bit confused. "Cologne? I don't use any—ah, fuck. Sorry, that's my fault. You probably had a harder time getting up because of it, huh? I marked this place a little too well, especially the bed." Niven didn't know what Mirren was talking about, and he could barely hear the last sentence.
Still, Mirren tossed the covers off and got up to rummage through his closet. It was only then did Niven realize the brunet was shirtless, showing several bruises littered across his back from this morning. Mirren was somewhat lean, but as the brunet bent down to snatch a pair of socks, Niven could see the toned muscles flex on his abdomen. The blond would've watched him more if it weren't for the glassy look in Mirren's eyes. They didn't have the usual light like they did everyday, and the atmosphere in the room was somewhat different than the days they hung out.
Niven didn't know if it was because of what happened this morning or something else, but there was a bit of a primal look in the brunet's eyes. He kept his shifting his gaze to Niven, slightly fidgeting on the bed and making a circle of blankets around himself unconsciously. Mirren's lips twitched a little.
"Here, wear these." Mirren turned around and tossed the socks over to Niven. "The floor's cold and I don't want you walking on them with bare feet."
Niven reached out to take the socks, slowly slipping them on his feet with drooling eyelids. He was still tired, mentally exhausted. Not to mention the fact how sore his arms were. Mirren slightly noticed the fatigue in the blond and walked over to him, sitting at the edge of the bed and reached out to touch Niven's shoulder gently.
"I'll prepare some food for you. You haven't eaten anything since this morning I'm guessing." Niven went to move, but Mirren stopped him. "Because of the amount of force I used on you, and the fact you couldn't get up from my bed for several hours from the... scent, you're gonna struggle with standing up and walking around. I suggest staying in bed, I'll bring the food over."
"Okay..." He didn't have it in him to protest, he really couldn't stand to sit up straight and plopped himself back on the messy pillows. Mirren reached over, calmly brushing his fingers against the golden locks and slid his hand down to Niven's nape, resting his hand there for a few seconds. And then he got up, abruptly leaving the room with the heady smell of vanilla and cinnamon.
Niven didn't know how long he stayed in the room, messing around with the sheets and throwing the pillows over. He usually isn't like this. He could go straight to sleep after a few minutes and wake up without messing up his bed, he doesn't have any bad sleeping habits either. The thought of leaving such a messy bed unnerved him, and he figured Mirren wouldn't like it as well.
But he was proved wrong when the brunet came back inside the room, one hand shoved in the side pocket of his sweatpants and the other carrying a tray filled with food. Mirren simply looked over at Niven for a moment, putting up a fond smile before setting the tray down in front of the blond.
"Cute nest," was all he responded. "I like it."
Niven blinked. "A what?"
Mirren didn't reply, only scooting the tray closer to Niven. "Eat up. My familiar helped me cook it. I don't usually make food so I barely use the kitchen. My familiar hardly helps as well, so I'm sorry if it doesn't taste as good."
"It's fine," he quietly murmured, taking a small bite of the food. He cringed at the salty taste, not missing the way Mirren sighed in defeat. Niven gave him a small smile. "It's not so bad."
"I literally never even cook for myself so I'm praying you don't die."
"Oh, no," Niven let out a weak laugh. Still hazy, still drifting into the back of his consciousnesses. Though he still forced himself to eat even if it didn't taste as good as King's. Mirren quietly watched, just sitting at the edge of the bed with a palm under his chin, watching the golden hue from the disappearing sun cover the boy's body. And then he saw that little halo again on top of Niven's head reflecting from those golden locks.
The scent of vanilla and cinnamon seemed to grow the longer Niven stays in bed, so Mirren grabbed a shirt from his closet and put it on before finally deciding to help Niven get up and walk around. Niven struggles a lot, always tripping over his own feet. Mirren caught him, having to steady the blond with that slight pang of guilt.
"You know you suck, right?"
"If we're talking dick, it's the other way around for me-"
"Mirren," warning him, Niven gave him a dirty look as he tightly held onto the brunet's arm, walking out to go to the living room. "I meant when you used your ability on me."
Mirren sighed, "Yeah, I get it. Sorry, baby. But you gotta understand how it isn't safe standing next to Agustine. His ability is Jinx, and something like that is powerful in its own way, but when Silas explained how deadly it was after Agustine's ability became unstable, you need to know when to back off. You're lucky you aren't dead now."
"Yet here I am. I can't even walk correctly," Niven snorted coldly. "And we were supposed to have class with Professor Vasili."
"Oh, I forgot he existed for a moment. Don't worry about it. And if you want I can carry you, I don't mind." Mirren began to reach down with the intentions of really doing it.
Niven pushed his head away. "I'm fine, you don't have to."
When they finally arrived back to the sofa, Niven saw his uniform all folded up neatly on the edge. He sat down, grabbing the soft material. "It's already late. I need to head back to my dorm room. My own familiar is probably going crazy without me."
"You can just stay here for the night," Mirren cheekily replied. "I can head to your dorm, take your little pet and come back here in a few minutes. You've already slept in my bed, what's the harm staying over?"
"I don't want to." Niven had that gut feeling Mirren would probably try and do something. But then again, with the way he is now, still affected from the brunet's abilities, could he even walk back to his dorm? Niven quietly asked, "Can't you just help me get back? You've warped from the academy to this place in a matter of seconds, surely you can do the same thing again."
"And miss the chance of letting our familiars have their play date? No way. Even Crescent is excited, just look at her!" Mirren pointed behind the male, making Niven whip his head back before flinching away at the sudden face of a creature standing so close next to him.
Niven hardly said anything, scared by Mirren's familiar. The brunet plopped down on the couch and cooed, "Isn't he a cutie, Cress? This is my baby, Niven."
"Wait, is that a sylph?" Slightly star-struck by the sylph, Niven moved forward to gain a closer look at her. He's never seen one before, but he's read a lot about different creatures.
The small male could see a faint resemblance of beauty Mirren and her shared with each other. He couldn't exactly make out her face and her body considering she was literally made out of air, but there were strands and wisps of Crescent's hair moving about, flying around the air as it shaped her humanoid-looking face. There were also wings attached to her back as well. Other than that, Niven couldn't tell if the sylph was smiling or not, but he decided she was. He was actually fascinated with the way Crescent moved, slowly floating around in the air as she looked down upon the blond, digesting what her master just said.
"She was a hard one to catch, but after using my charms, I was able to persuade her into forming a contract with me in exchange to get her out of that building where the other beasts reside in. Pretty amazing, right?" Mirren nudged the blond closer to the sylph, making him jump in nervousness.
"S-She's really pretty..."
The sylph gave off an expression of happiness, almost beaming at the compliment. Mirren grinned, patting Niven's shoulder twice before getting up. "Alright, I'll head over to your dorm and grab the first thing I see moving."
"Wait, listen to me, you can't-" Unfortunately, Mirren quickly warped himself out of the living room before Niven could explain. The blond leaned back against the sofa with a bit of a pale face. "He... could kill you..."
True to his words, the moment Mirren came back, he limped inside the living room with a pained face, holding a small penguin with a taser. Niven was busy hiding his time trying to braid the sylph's hair when the creature suddenly got up, enlightened at the penguin who came in the dorm room. She instantly snatched King up into her arms, twirling themselves around several times with joy.
King honked several times, lifting his taser up in warning before noticing the absolute mess in this place. He quickly slapped her arms away with his flipper, scurrying over to the messes and began cleaning them up after pulling a broom from his top hat.
"Fucking shit... I didn't know a damn penguin could use a taser these days. They're evolving!" Mirren moaned, dragging himself to land on Niven's lap. "I also don't remember penguins wearing top hats that have fucking cleaning supplies in them."
Niven frowned. "I tried to tell you. You should really stop and listen when someone's speaking."
"Where the hell did you get him?"
"I got king in the snowy biome. I ended up getting lost inside and had a mini-fight with the abominable snowman-"
"The fucking what?"
"I know, I was shocked as well!" Niven exclaimed as Mirren flipped himself over to stare up at the blond with amused eyes. Niven ranted on, "So there was this snowman family and I went to touch the little snow children-"
"No, you didn't!" Mirren mused.
"Of course I didn't because I got attacked by the yeti," he deadpanned. Niven continued on his rant, describing his time inside that building while Mirren simply lied on the blond's lap, listening to him with that familiar grin of his.
Thinking about it again, Mirren really liked having Niven inside his dorm room. It was always boring being alone in this place. Having Crescent around was great, but considering how the sylph didn't know how to do any domestic chores and hardly cooked like him, she barely ever showed up in the brunet's presence and only hung out in his room. But now he was enjoying himself in the presence of Niven. He was also glad the male liked his sylph, and how their familiars were getting to know each other. He spare a simple glimpse to the side, watching Crescent clumsily copy King as she tried to sweep the floors without getting honked at from the angry penguin. He looked back to Niven, settling himself nicely into the student's stomach and closed his eyes.
The glassy look in his eyes were long gone now, and he didn't feel so irritated in the bedroom anymore. Now he can just laze around, calmly listen to Niven while King continues to boss Crescent around with chores.
Mirren should really bring Niven over more often.