Work Text:
It was the middle of the night, but it really didn't matter. Warrick didn't exactly sleep.
He admitted it was a bit suffocating having to spend all his time in Calliope, never allowed out of its confines. Of course, this was mostly for his sake, considering that straying too far from Emma was a recipe for disaster.
There was also the fact that he really didn't have much interest in the human world.
Frankly, he was a scholar, not an adventurer, so staying in the library, researching, and learning was just fine by him, thank you very much.
Which is why it was almost three in the morning and he was returning to his room, where he was pretty sure he'd spend the rest of the night with his eyes glued to the ceiling, feeling the steady pulse of calmness that irradiated from Emma just at the other side of the wall.
He sighed and looked over the courtyard before his eyes were drawn to a figure in the rooftop of the building to the other side.It was a bit far, but that was definitely Emma.
What was she doing there?
It was completely out of curiosity, and not at all a sense of pure unadulterated thrill at being able to spend some time alone with her that made him gently float over quietly, landing just a few feet behind her turned back.
"Emma..?" he called, and wow, his voice was raspy.
But he wasn't nervous. Honest.
She shifted a bit, and it was only now that Warrick realized that her hair was too short. That she was too short.
Elaine turned around and stared at a dumbstruck Warrick, looking a lot like an idiot, standing in the rooftop.
It took him more than a second to register that the lights of Calliope reflected on her face in just such a way that let him see the silver slivers under her eyes that confessed that she was crying.
"Elaine?" It was amazing how much more steady his voice was, and how much it totally didn't have to do with the fact that this wasn't Emma. "Are you alright?" The bubble of nervousness in his chest popped into a cold sense of dread as he saw her crying. "Are you hurt?" He stepped forward, as if proximity could cure her.
Elaine rubbed her fists against her eyes, effectively erasing the trail of tears, but increased the redness of her eyes. She turned her head away. "Go away," she mumbled feebly.
Warrick sighed.
He knew that he couldn't leave her here by herself.
Without waiting for an invitation, he sat down next to her. In the back of his mind he registered that if it was Emma, he would've sat closer, but didn't know what to make of that thought. There was a good foot and a half of space between them.
"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked, gently as he could.
Elaine was still angrily trying to erase all traces of tears from his face. "Nothing."
But he was a mender, and he knew when something was broken, even if it was inside. He stayed quiet for a few seconds, letting her gather her thoughts, and pretending he wasn't seeing her cry, even if they both knew he was, only for her pride.
"What are you doing here?" she grumbked after a few seconds of silence.
"I, uh," Warrick still didn't know how to handle women. "I saw you up here..." he scratched his neck nervously, "I just--"
"You thought it was Emma," Elaine finished, her voice steadier than before.
Warrick nodded dumbly. Elaine smiled weakly.
"How'd... How'd you get up here?"
Elaine shrugged. "There was a stairway in the attic. You?"
"My float coats." He blurted. He blushed. "I mean-- my coat floats."
To his utter surprise, Elaine laughed.
"You're pretty awkward, you know that?" she asked, her face more relaxed than before.
"I, uh," Warrick replied, "I don't really have much experience at dealing with crying girls."
Elaine hugged her legs and sighed.
"What's wrong?" Warrick nudged gently.
Elaine looked down at Calliope. "I miss my dad." She confessed. "I write letters to him every day, but I miss him so much. I don't know what to do," she sighed. "I can't talk to Emma about it because she's so mad at him, and I don't want Fred to worry... Alice's got too much in her head and Selva... I don't think she'd get it."
Warrick eased a bit back on himself. He was doing quite alright, for someone who was so bad at dealing with females.
"My dad's a bird." Warrick blurted. Elaine stared. "He's a bird. He was my minion." Okay, so he was still awkward as hell. "Its, uh, its a dumb story. Just-- forget it."
But he supposed Elaine didn't forget it, cause she melted into laughter.
"Are you serious?" she asked, covering her mouth. Warrick half smiled at her. "Your dad's a bird?"
He shrugged, not wanting to go into the more nefarious details. "Yeah. Its a weird story. I'll tell you about it some other time."
Elaine's laughter died, but her smile persisted, albeit smaller and smaller, but the effect lingered in her face. She stole a sideways glance from Warrick.
"So," she asked, changing the subject, "how do you like the human world?"
Warrick frowned. "Its dangerous."
Elaine stared. "You had plants almost kill my sister after they impaled you."
"Yeah, but that's just something that happens." He replied. "Besides, I only got impaled because I was protecting her."
Elaine thought for a few seconds and sighed. She turned her head fully towards Warrick.
"You really care about Emma, don't you?"
A little blush spread over his cheeks, but Warrick hoped the night was enough to hide it.
He cleared his throat. "W-well of course, she was the first clue I had of worlds that were not Oz. Besides, I need to be close to her for the soothing effect. "
Elaine half smiled. "Emma's pretty special." She said quietly. "She's always been my hero." She glared sideways at him. "Don't tell her I said that."
Warrick smiled a little. "You guys get along really well."
Elaine shrugged. "I suppose so. Its more situation than anything... Its not hard to be close with a sibling when your parents dropped off the face of the earth."
"To be honest I was always a little jealous of Selva." Warrick confessed. "Healing magic is not half as fun as offensive magic. Even if all she did was turn people into hats."
Elaine laughed a little. "Frankly I have a hard time picturing you being on the offensive about anything, though I'd pay good money to see you turn someone into a hat. Preferably one with a flower."
Their conversation unwound them both until they fell into a comfortable silence, staring at the moon, high up in the Calliope sky.
"She cares for you, you know." She informed him. Warrick's heart skipped a beat, but he chided himself. As if she'd known about this little internal dialogue, Elaine continued. "Deeply."
Warrick shuffled a bit. "I care about her too."
Elaine looked somber for a second. "You know, I'm not sure how far my Writer powers extend to this world, but rest assured that if anything happens to my sister, you'll be the first to find out." The shade fell from her face just as quickly. "Assuming that she didn't stick you with the pointy end of her sword first, of course."
Warrick drew a blank.
"Why would I ever hurt Emma?" He asked, half to Elaine and half to himself, but images of everything that had happened with Ozma and his mother flooded his head. It wasn't until he felt the skin of his hand mend that he realized he'd dug his nails into his palms. Never again, he vowed. He cleared his throat. "I'd cut my own arm off before ever hurting Emma. You know that, right?"
Elaine watched him over her shoulder, trying to appear disinterested, but Warrick could read the intensity in his gaze, and how much she was gauging every word that came out of his mouth. He held his breath.
"Good." She conceded, and relief replaced the air he'd been holding. "She deserves the best."
Warrick tried not to think about the implications that his mind just wanted to connect.
He smiled halfheartedly at Elaine. "We should go. If Emma wakes up and finds your bed empty, you're gonna be in a heap of trouble."
His words were gentle and reasonable, and they swayed Elaine. She stood.
"You're right, lets go." She turned for a secret door he'd just noticed before turning to him again. "Actually," she smiled. "Can I catch a ride with you on that cloak?"
Warrick smiled, and he was only too happy to oblige.
They set foot gently on the marble floor. Elaine's hair was messy, but she seemed excited.
"That was awesome." She grinned. Warrick couldn't help a half smile.
"When I first started learning how to do it I slammed my head in the roof more times than you'd believe."
Elaine opened her mouth to reply, but she was cut short by a new voice.
"That explains a lot," Emma strode into view, long-sleeved pyjamas covering up from neck to ankles. She glared at Elaine. "Exactly what are you doing awake at 4 in the morning? You have class in four hours."
Elaine grinned at her and turned to Warrick quickly.
"It was great talking to you. Thanks, bye!" She quipped before running in direction of her room, leaving Warrick and Emma alone, standing in the moonlit illuminated hallway.
Emma watched Elaine disappear before turning back to Warrick. "Where were you guys?"
She looked pretty, he couldn't help thinking, and almost smacked himself in the head.
"I saw her sitting up in the roof, and..." Warrick blushed just a smidgen, "I thought it was you, so I came up to see if you were okay..."
Emma thought about it for a second and smiled, just enough to make something in Warrick's belly stir.
"So you watched out for my sister? What did you guys talk about?"
Warrick remembered his conversation, and Elaine's resistance to talk to Emma about it.
"Calliope, mostly." He answered. "How we're both adapting to a place so different from our homes."
Emma nodded. "Yeah, I guess it must be hard for Elaine to change places so suddenly... sometimes I wonder if I'm a terrible guardian..."
"Don't be ridiculous." His voice was confident enough to scare himself. "Elaine is better off with you than she would be in any other place," he half smiled, and to his heart's joy, Emma returned his smile, "I bet she's happy to be with you, regardless of all circumstances."
"I hope you're right," Emma said, and stared at the courtyard.
For a second, they both stared outside, watching the cloudless night and infinite stars lighting up the entire night sky.
She cares about you, Elaine had said. The words bounced in his head, over and over and over again.
The silence engulfed them for a second, but the constant beat punched the inside of Warrick's skull over and over again.
"Hey Emma," he heard himself say, even though he most definitely wasn't wanting to say this at all. To his horror, Emma turned to look at him, and his lips kept moving, and the words kept coming out. "Elaine really cares about you, you know..."
Emma looked at him sideways and smiled. "Of course I know." She said, and thought for a second, "I just wish it was easier for her."
Warrick nodded, still another person in charge of his words, "You're doing a great job."
This time, when Emma looked at him, her gaze was unguarded. This look made his heart skip an entire beat.
"You really think so?" she asked, rather hopeful.
Warrick smiled a tiny, almost inexistent smile. "Definitely." He answered. "I wish you could be Selva's sibling, too." He joked.
Emma shoved him playfully with her elbow in his ribs. "Selva wouldn't have anybody else and you know it." She said. "Besides, nobody would be as good to her."
And for some reason, she looked at him when she said it, and he looked at her back. It was a whole moment of staring-at-each-other that he just couldn't get out of, and it slapped him across the face how beautiful Emma really was.
She cleared her throat, and for a second Warrick could've sworn he saw a tiny blush creep up her cheeks.
He must've imagined that, right?
Right?
Emma tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, looking anywhere but at him.
"I... I think I better get going." She said, clearing her throat. "I should be up soon, too." She risked a glance at him.
And oh god, that glance was all it took for Warrick to lose himself.
It was strange, at first, being so lost.
It was like he was caught up in a boook so good it was difficult to keep track of reality. Looking at Emma was like remembering there was something better from life that itself in its simplest form. It was warm and wonderful, just being the object of her gaze, and the only thing she seemed to be aware of at the moment.
His fingers itched and his chest throbbed, and all he wanted to do was get closer to her.
But Emma shifted and broke the spell, and he was still in the same position.
Warrick cleared his throat, and Emma just smiled shyly.
"I better get to bed," she said, aloof, "before Elaine starts demanding answers."
But she didn't move.
And he didn't dare to, either.
She cleared her throat.
So did he, burying his glance on the ground.
Emma licked her lips before spinning on her heel, the threat of a blush threatening her face. "I... I'm gonna go back to bed." She informed. "Thank you for taking care of her... I owe you big time." She smiled, a tiny, sincere smile.
Warrick was ecstatic. he didn't know why, but Emma's gratitude sort of... filled him up with warm air completely. He smiled awkwardly. "No problem."
Emma started, but didn't walk.
Warrick didn't move.
"You were looking for me?" she asked, her voice so, so tiny.
"I... yeah." He confessed.
It was truly unfortunate that they were facing away from each other, for their blushes matched perfectly and neither of them could appreciate it.
"Maybe..." Emma began, and then again with more confidence, "maybe next time it will be both of us hanging out in the roof." She encouraged.
"I'd... really like that." Warrick said, a tiny smile slipping his lips. Emma looked over her shoulder and caught it, and this time, her heart skipped a beat as well.
"I, uh, I should go." Emma conjured. Warrick didn't move. He kept the tiny smile plastered on his face.
It took them a full two minutes before actually being able to part.
Even after Emma left, it took two whole minutes for Warrick to school his heart back to a normal beat.
He went to bed facing the wall that separated the males from the females, and for a second he wondered what Emma was doing.
From the other side of the wall, Emma was wondering the same thing.