Chapter Text
Unfortunately for him, the commissioner he was meant to meet up that morning had to change the time for next week.
High pitched chatter and giggled bounced off the walls of the school hall. Shadow Milk with the other adults present.
Three teachers, four parents including him, and about eighty year fours. He occasionally looked over the sea of children to pin point Black Sapphire.
He was sitting in a circle with about seven other listening to him talk. Having more social skills than Shadow Milk did as a child, or well he at least seemed happier talking to people than he did.
"Okay, everyone! One, two, three all eyes on me!" Foxglove called out as she stepped forward. She was Black Sapphire's teacher.
The room gradually got quieter, though there were still some students quietly whispering in their groups. Black Sapphire being one, but went silent seeing Shadow Milk giving him a small glare.
"I need all of you to line up in your classes," She instructed. While every student got up and lined up, she turned back to the adults. "When we get there we will split up into smaller groups with two adults in each. We'll you go into groups with your kids, to make things a little easier," Foxglove said.
Her eyes glanced at Shadow Milk when saying the last sentence.
"Since we couldn't get enough parent volunteers we had get one of the school nurses to take some leave to join us on this," Foxglove said. "So that's four parents and four faculty members. One parent and teacher with each group." she said.
Turning back to the students who had now lined up, she led everyone out to the front of the school where the two buses waited for them.
Making sure there was an even number of adults on each bus before setting off. The journey being thirty minutes.
The chaotic noise of young children talking made her head hurt. It didn't help that the school nurse with them was Pure Vanilla and he kept pulling him into conversations.
He noticed the other parents slight hesitation when speaking, he knew why. Shadow Milk was well known by for community for being the fallen angel of this side of Beast-Yeast.
A former top student, setting the example of an ideal child but now is an unpredictably explosive person. Some see him as threatening, others as insufferable.
He always noticed while many don't like him for his overly switching personality. Though too many were scared on being on the receiving end of his outbursts. Meaning majority of people left him alone most of the time, which was good.
However Pure Vanilla does not seem to get this message.
"I haven't been to Beast-Yeast's museum before, it's a lot bigger than Crispia's one," he commented at one point.
"Beast-Yeast is the bigger city-"
"I didn't know you were from Crispia," Arum Lily commented. Shadow Milk gave her a small glare at interrupting him. "I've heard it's a lovely place."
•~•~•~•~•
"Okay, we're here," Foxglove said, standing up at the front of the bus. "Everyone get in an orderly fashion, and don't leave anything behind," she instructed.
Once the bus had stopped and opened it's door, the mass of children stood up. Pushing and shoving as they got off. Pure Vanilla repressed a quiet chuckle; so much for orderly fashion.
They had the classic field trip spiel; to be on their best behaviour as they were wearing school uniform and were representing the school. Some things don't change.
The groups had been predetermined, Pure Vanilla had been paired up with Shadow Milk for one group.He remembered the other teachers saying they were sorry about the decision, but he couldn't understand why.
"Okay everyone, listen up!" Foxglove called out. "One last thing before we start!" Continuing once she had their attention. "Though we want everyone to enjoy looking at their exhibition, we will be having lunch at the main park at 1:30, so please manage time wisely!" She said. "We can start now."
It was slow at first, Pure Vanilla carried the list of exhibitions and map for their group. He had no idea where to go and quickly put Shadow Milk in charge of guiding instead.
Many of the children walked closely behind, looking around the building as they walked. Pure Vanilla having to push along the few stragglers.
"Here we are the cultural history section," Shadow Milk said, as they came up to a large archway with beautifully carved pillars. "This section contains many smaller exhibitions of the different cultures present in the Beast-Yeast region," He explained.
As they walked through the exhibitions Pure Vanilla listened intently as Shadow Milk explained in surprising detail what different painting were showing or how items were used. He noticed a bright shine in Shadow Milk's eyes as he spoke.
The way he was able to capture the young students attention, feeding them knowledge while keeping it fun. A skill even some teachers don't have.
"I've done enough talking go explore on your own but stay within me and Pure Vanilla's sight," Shadow Milk said.
The students didn't need to be told twice, as they immediately scattered like ants, some revisiting displays they had already seen others looking at new displays.
"You would make an amazing teacher," Pure Vanilla commented as he walked up next to Shadow Milk.
"That's silly," Shadow Milk muttered with a roll of his eyes.
"But it's true, everyone was listening and fascinated by what you were talking about," Pure Vanilla assured. "That's a skill most teachers would love to have."
"I'd hate being a teacher, children are little shits," Shadow Milk muttered.
Pure Vanilla blinked a few times, tilting his head a little to the side. It felt like an odd thing to say when you have children of your own.
"It's different when my kids, because they're mine," He explained.
Did that make it better though?
"Okay."
Pure Vanilla turned his gaze to the students. It'd be best for him to go check on the students.
The minutes passed. They walked through the exhibits, the bright shines in some of the children's eyes at the displays warmed Pure Vanilla's heart.
He spoke with the different students, each excited to share what they found most interesting and how they couldn't wait to share with their parents.
As they went about their walk through, there was a large haetae statue, or a recreated statue from a real one. Pure Vanilla read the small sign by the statue.
'A recreated statue made for visitors to take photos with. Climbing on the statue is allowed but do not damage it.'
"What does the sign say?" Black Sapphire asked. His sudden voice made Pure Vanilla jump a little.
"You can climb the statue if you want a photo," he answered, turning to the boy.
Black Sapphire's eyes blew wide with excitement.
"Mimi! Mimi!" He called, turning to run up to Shadow Milk, pulling on his sleeves.
Pure Vanilla could hear what their conversation but it ended with Black Sapphire guiding Shadow Milk to the statue.
"I'm getting a photo with Mimi!" Black Sapphire said with a gleeful smile.
"Aww, isn't that sweet," Pure Vanilla cooed. He noticed Shadow Milk scrunch his face slightly. Did Shadow Milk still not like him?
Pure Vanilla would've figured after everything that happened last week, with him babysitting Black Sapphire and Candy Apple, but apparently not. Shadow Milk still didn't seem to like him that much.
"Can you take the picture?" Shadow Milk asked, holding out his phone to the other man. Black Sapphire had already started to climb the statue.
"Sure," Pure Vanilla smiled at the other. Taking the phone and switching to the camera.
Shadow Milk moved to sit a top the haetae statue with Black Sapphire. A small smile on his face while Black Sapphire had a massive grin.
"Okay, 3, 2, 1!" Pure Vanilla said before taking multiple photos. "There you go," he handed Shadow Milk his phone back.
Black Sapphire hopped off the statue, looking at Shadow Milk with wonder.
"Do I look good?" he asked.
"The prettiest," Shadow Milk answer, with a pat on his head.
Pure Vanilla smiled softly at the two before walking away, to tend to the other students.
The time eventually came for all of them to leave the museum and head to the meeting place for lunch.
The students clearly getting restless as some where trying climb into exhibits, or touch items they are not meant to. Even getting a point Pure Vanilla found himself scolding the kids, which seemed to straighten them up until they regrouped with the other adults.
Once they did a roll call, verifying everyone was there, they sent off to the park where they'd have their lunch break.
The students all sat around in their friend groups with their lunch boxes in the laps, munching and chatting away.
Pure Vanilla stood with the other teachers. Conversation about their respected groups time in the museum.
"By the way, how was it with Azure?" One teacher asked Pure Vanilla. He remembered her name was Gingernut.
"Oh yes, was she crazy?" another asked, Butter Scotch.
"What?" Pure Vanilla looked at the other teacher with confusion. "Why would you ask that?"
"Ms Azure, has a tendency to be difficult to deal with," From his memory she was Foxglove. "She's snappy, and sarcastic, but will still help out if asked. Even if it's begrudgingly," She explained.
"I guess…" That description did match what Pure Vanilla has seen of Shadow Milk.
"I had her son in my class last year, it's currently my second year with Black Sapphire," Foxglove said. "I know how… unpredictable her emotions can be."
"And we thank you for your service," Gingernut said. "Gods know I wouldn't be able to handle her."
"You all keep saying her," Pure Vanilla pointed out. "Shadow Milk goes by he/him pronouns," he said gently. It wasn't his job to correct them.
"Is that why she's been dressing more masculinely this year?" Butter Scotch pondered out loud.
"Oh, I didn't know," Foxglove said, her fingers pressed gently against her mouth.
"How do you know that? She told you that today?" Gingernut asked.
"I found out a week or two ago, we're neighbours," Pure Vanilla said. Switching his weight between his feet.
He earned a collective oh from the three teachers.
"And I thought Foxglove had had it bad, you're suffering just as much," Gingernut said, crossing her arms across her chest. Her expression didn't match the sympathy in her voice.
"I wouldn't say suffering-"
"Has she had a shouting match with you yet?" Butter Scotch asked, before getting jabbed lightly in the ribs by Foxglove. "Sorry, has he yelled at you. I've heard a story about that, from Arum Lily, she was telling me how at the time it was Azure who ran out to go yell at her. It was completely unfair in her opinion."
"That can't be true," he blurted out.
"No, I would listen, that woman is not to be dealt with, I wouldn't try talking to her too much," Gingernut said. "Isn't Arum Lily also a neighbour of hers? Did you witness her getting yelled at?"
"Well, kind of, but-"
"Then you can understand, you need to be careful, she's mental." Gingernut stated.
"Guys can we let him finish his sentence," Foxglove said, she gave a small glare to her two co-workers before turning her gaze, now gentle, to Pure Vanilla. "Pure Vanilla go on."
Pure Vanilla took a deep breath, internally thankful for Foxglove. "I don't really see your guys' points. I mean I've seen Azure and well Shadow Milk get angry but every time there was always a reason I could understand. I don't think I'd describe him as mental but rather burnt out." He said. "Not to mention Arum Lily made a post shaming Azure for something that wasn't even happening. She even took a photo without consent from either parties- but everyone has their own opinions."
Pure Vanilla could feel himself getting annoyed remembering the post Arum Lily made about him and Shadow Milk when he first moved. Now she was passing on lies, it was horrible, he hated lying.
"Do you remember when the post was made?" Gingernut asked, she had her phone out.
"Gingernut we shouldn't be prying into other people's business," Foxglove gently scolded.
"It's a public post on the community page I'm guessing, meaning it's not wrong if I find it," she replied. "Now what time was it?" She looked at Pure Vanilla.
"Like January 13th? It was the day I moved," he replied.
"Okay it's far back but I'll find it," Gingernut declared.
"Tell me when you do I also want to read it," Butter Scotch said.
"Okay, I going to go supervise the students," Pure Vanilla said. Not wanting to continue this gossip talk any more.
"That would be good," Foxglove said. "You two better get on to that as well," she said to the other two teachers.
Thankfully the parent helpers were watching the students while they had that conversation. The amount of trouble those kids could've gotten in would be… Better not think about it.
A few students had finished their lunch and begun to adventure the playground. Running around in their friend group.
Pure Vanilla only supervised for a few minutes before getting a tug on his arm.
"Hey we need to talk," Shadow Milk said.
"Sure."
Pure Vanilla let himself get pulled to the side. Seeing Shadow Milk was not in a good mood.
"What's wrong?" He asked.
"What were you and teachers talking about? I heard my name a few times," He said bluntly. A small scowl on his face.
In that moment Pure Vanilla could've chosen to lie and make something up to try and assure Shadow Milk it wasn't a big deal, and it wasn't anything rude. he could've said something like that if Pure Vanilla didn't value the truth.
"They believe, quoting them, you're mental and wanted to know how it went being a group with you," Pure Vanilla summarised.
"I also heard Arum Lily's name."
"Something from the post Arum Lily made of the two of us from when I first moved here," Pure vanilla explained. "It was honestly ridiculous when she did that, like was there an actual reason for it other than wanting attention or just hating you- I need to stop talking about before it annoys me further."
He could see Shadow Milk's posture visibly relax. The scowl on his face slowly disappearing, changing to a spaced out distance expression.
"Are you okay?" Pure Vanilla gently spoke. Reaching out a hand but not quite touching the other in case of over stepping boundaries. Because he wasn't going to lie, Shadow Milk did make him nervous.
Being friendly and kind to others always served Pure Vanilla well, even when he wasn't asking for anything in return; however Shadow Milk was the only one who didn't seem to appreciate his kindness. Like a stray cat hissing at anyone who came near.
"Just thinking," Shadow Milk answered. His eyes still gazed off into the distance. "You know more about me than I know about you, that's not a fair exchange," he crossed his arms while turning to the other.
"I guess that's true."
"Okay, so answer my questions, don't worry they won't overly personal," Shadow Milk said. "Like why you still wear a wedding band but have no wife," he jested.
Pure Vanilla forced a small chuckle despite the twist in his heart.
"You've said you were from Crispia city region right? So which part of the region were you from and why did you move to Beast-Yeast?" Shadow Milk asked.
"I was from the Vanilla plains, though my family lived on the outer edge closer to the mountains in that area," Pure Vanilla explained.
"Isn't that place mostly farmland?" Shadow Milk asked.
"Yeah, I grew up on a sheep farm. I remember as a kid I got to name some of the lambs we had," Pure Vanilla explained. A bright smile on his face. "I would enter into shearing competitions, I had won some prizes at those."
"Never took you as a farm boy," Shadow Milk commented.
"I get that a lot," he replied. "I went to intermediate and high school in the city over, taking a really bus daily. The education out in the plains weren't very high. I wouldn't say terrible but most kids were expected to take on their family's farm."
"And you didn't, instead you became a nurse."
"Yeah, I originally wanted to be a vet but changed to nursing instead. The goal now is to be nurse practitioner, I just need the working hours before I can finish my studies." He explained.
"Oh, a high paying job," Shadow Milk nodded along.
"Does that satisfy your questions?" he asked.
"You still didn't answer why you moved to Beast-Yeast," Shadow Milk retorted.
"I guess it was for a change of pace, I had seen all of Crispia and wanted something new," He answered.
"hm, basic answer," Shadow Milk shrugged his shoulders but didn't question him any further.
"It's the truth," Pure Vanilla chuckled.
•~•~•~•~•
The field trip eventually came to an end. Pure Vanilla returned to his home, and was quietly humming as he cooked dinner. He believed his day had gone well, no children had gotten injured, and he made some more connections in his community. Everything was on the rise.
he had begun plating up when he heard a firm knock on his door.
Leaving his plate on the counter, he walked up to his front door and opened it.
"Hello!" Black Sapphire said. A bright smile on his face. He wasn't the only one there, Shadow Milk stood behind him carrying Candy Apple.
"H-hi! What an unexpected surprise!" Pure Vanilla said. Unsure of where this interaction was bound to go.
"Well, after our many interactions we can call ourselves friends, and we are here to formally invite you to attend the Autumn festival with us on Sunday," Shadow Milk said.
The Autumn festival. He had heard about it, it had been advertised since the start of the month.
"Really?" He was surprised Shadow Milk was suggesting this. Earlier today Pure Vanilla had been debating if they could ever be friends.
"Yes! A fun outing to officiate our budding friendship, sounds fun?"
"Yes, yes it doe," he said with a nod.
"Take this," Black sapphire said, handing Pure Vanilla a piece of card. Decorated to be an invitation card.
"That has all the information about the time, we'll be going, now bye!" Shadow Milk said, before taking Black Sapphire's hand and walking back to their house.
Pure Vanilla closed his front door, reading the card. 'Your invited to join us at Beast-Yeast's Fall Fair! March 8th'
Add this to the list of positives for the day.