Almost every magic user in existence has a mate, a soulmate as Kaila put it. Although, Ethan himself would never use that word, because it made it sound too important, to life-changing, to momentous. It was all those things but with an element of choice that teenage authors didn't seem to be able to capture in their novels. And there was absolutely, certainly and absolutely no love at first sight.

Unfortunately, I can't say the same thing about lust.

Ethan ignored those feelings, deciding right now probably wasn't the exactly the best time to act on them.

Ethan watched the boy as he nibbled happily at his chips. Ethan whipped them up quickly to feed the poor boy who apparently hadn't eaten a proper meal in days. His growling stomach was what ended their staring match.

The two of them were in the restaurant's kitchen, with only two other people bustling about sorting out customers orders, a waiter and a dishwasher.

"Th-Thank you," The boy shot him a small, heart-stopping smile as he finished up his fish and chips then set the empty plate down on the counter.

The green-eyed boy smiled, walking toward him slowly. "Are you okay?"

Ashley nodded, to shy to speak.

"You don't talk much do you?" Ethan asked as he sat on the chair next to him, just a few inches away from Ashley, slowly so he wouldn't startle him. Ashley seemed a bit jumpy. "My name's Ethan, what's yours?"

"Ashley W-Wren," He whispered softly, voice barely audible.

"Do you have somewhere to stay or...?"

Ashley shook his head, curls bouncing as he did.

How do I offer him a place to stay without sounding suspicious?

"Do you need a place to stay?" Might as well just blurt it out. "You can stay here."

Ashley wanted to trust Ethan, he really did, but he'd only known him for about an hour, so that wasn't going to happen. Ashley paused, weighing his options. "I-I... I can't."

"Fine, I'll just get you a hotel-"

"No!" Ashley blurted out before catching himself. "I mean- I can't let you spend your money on me."

"But you can't just-"

"-go back out on the streets? I kind off have to."

"I can't just-" Ethan sighed then got up. "Just... wait here. I need to get somethings."

Ethan left through a door in the back of the kitchen with Ashley gazing up at him in confusion as he did so. He glanced around the kitchen, watching the few people left working at this hour run in and out of the kitchen and bread as it rose steadily in the oven.

Ethan came back a few minutes later, clutching a pair of keys in one hand and a bundle of fabric and a sleeping bag tucked under the other.

"Take this." Ethan handed him the sleeping bag and the rest of the cloths, which turned out to be a blanket and some clothes.

Ashley took the bundle with a slightly puzzled look on his face. "What do I need these for?"

"I can't just let you out on the streets, but I understand why you don't want to go to the apartment," He hands the key to Ashley, who just stares at it with his eyebrows drawn together. "You can stay in the kitchen, the counter should be big enough for you."

"E-Ethan..." Ashley wanted to protest, but his heart wasn't in it. Would it be so bad to trust him just a little?

It beats sleeping in a dirty alley again.

"Just hear me out; the keys will let you out of the kitchen through the back door and up into the apartment- if you want. That way you can come and go as you please."

"But-"

"Please?"

Ashley grabbed the key. "Fine."

Ethan breaks out into a grin. "I'll go get you a pillow."

🍴🍰🍫☕🍹🍴

Ashley woke up groggily to the smell of bacon and the sound of toast popping out of the toaster. He looked up to find Ethan working over the stove.

"Hi." Ashley greeted Ethan with a wave as he sat up.

"Morning," Ethan greeted in return, smiling over his shoulder as Ashley yawned sleepily into the arm of the oversized sweater Ethan borrowed him. "Breakfast?"

Ashley nodded and scooted off the counter quickly then scrambled over to the stove. Ethan chuckled and began to set a plate for the smaller boy.

"So..." Ethan started after a few minutes of silence Ashley took a bite of his bacon. "...hobbies?"

Ashley almost snorted into his coffee, laughing at the awkwardness of it all. They were very clearly avoiding the elephant in the room; why exactly was he on the streets in the first place?

"Reading mostly," And spending copious amounts of time on TV and YouTube, but Ashley decided not to mention that. "You?"

"Music and cooking," Ethan responds, setting his empty plate aside. "Video games too, but I haven't had a lot of time for that."

Ashley was about to ask why when the door to the kitchen swung open and a man with wavy sky blue hair dressed in all black aside from a pair of tricolour blue, white and black sneakers burst into the room then rushed over to them once he spotted them.

"Oh my god! He's so cute!" The blue haired man gushed. He had almost unnaturally blue eyes that matched his hair; Ashley wasn't sure if they were contacts or not.

"Sky, calm down, you'll scare him," Ethan warned although he didn't seem too serious as he tried to suppress a grin. "Ashley this is Sky. Sky; Ashley."

"Aw, he's got a girl's name."

"It's unisex," Ashley blurted out. He was slightly defensive about his name since it helped people mistake him for a girl.

"Sure it is."

"Don't be a hypocrite, Skylark."

"Touche, Ethan," He pressed his hand to his chest in mock offence before breaking out into a wide grin. "So why did I have to learn that you found your mate from Kaili and not you?"

"Because up until five minutes ago I thought you were still in Amsterdam," Ethan answered then spoke to Ashley. "Sky's a travel Vlogger."

"Oh."

"Got home early," He shrugged then made his way towards the door. "I'll leave you two to yourselves for now, but tomorrow we've got to talk. Bye!"

And with that, he was gone.

After the initial awkwardness and the surprise of Sky's entry, the two managed to flow back into talking about everything under the sun with only a few hitches in the way.