Norman x Reader || SAUDADE

09-N-octurne

Light turned to dark and the day turned into night, cascading the sky with a blanket of inky voidness. I finished bathing the little kids and doing their hair, which I had pretty much mastered by now, being one of the oldest kids, it's one of the skills you must learn. 

"There, all done!" I place a bow on Jemima's hair for a final touch. They twirled around with sparkles on their eyes at my work. 

"Run along now, to dinner off you two go!" I gently patted their heads. After that, I cleaned myself and proceeded to head to the dining room for dinner. Once we're done preparing dinner, everyone settled down to give thanks for the food. My eyes wandered for a while looking for a certain white haired boy. 

"Eh, where's Norman?" I asked Emma and Ray who were happily munching on their food. 

"Ah, we were wondering as well earlier. Hayato told us he returned to his office right after breakfast this morning." Emma answered. He's not having dinner? After dinner, I met Hayato who was conveniently around. 

"Hayato, I was wondering where the boss is right now, he's not here at dinner." I asked him. 

"Oh! _______!" He looked a bit flustered at my statement. Is there something wrong with what I just said? 

"Well, he's always cooped up in his office, rarely comes out. Food is delivered to him whenever he asks for them." He explained avoiding my gaze. 

"That's not good for his health." I muttered trying to grasp his statement. No wonder he looked very frail as well. Even though he's busy with all of Minerva's work, he needs to pay attention to his own health too. I was thinking about what I could have done to help, until an idea waltzed into my head, 

"Ah, Hayato can you show me the way to his office?" I smiled at the boy. 

"R-Right now?" He stared at me again. "Yes! Well, I need to take several things with me, but it'll be quick. So wait just a second!" I immediately left the flustered boy at the doorway and left for the kitchen area.

Hayato took me to the main building, at which he's being way too secretive about along the way, it's like he's trying to avoid being seen by people. and we stopped in front of a tall double door in a secluded level of the building. It's a very silent place and not many people can be seen so far. He must have wanted a quiet place in order to be able to think of plans clearly and thoroughly hm. 

"Er, he's inside." Hayato knocked on the door gently. 

"Boss, it's me Hayato." He stated politely. "I brought along _______, she said she wanted to go and see you." He gave me a timid sideway glance. Is- is he feeling okay? I am worried about him. 

"Come in." That familiar voice called out from behind the door. Hayato opened the door and waited for me to enter. Once I stepped inside the room, Hayato immediately closed it and- I presumed- ran off. 

"Norman!" I straightened up at the sight of him sitting on his desk writing something in a very serious manner. 

"I'm sorry to have interrupted you, I guess." I felt a little guilty for disturbing him while he was doing his work. He smiled slightly, not taking his eyes off the paper yet. 

"It's fine, you can always come whenever you want." He finally stopped writing and looked away from his paper and pen and he made an immediate eye contact to show that he's paying attention to me. 

"I didn't see you at dinner, so I was worried you're not eating well. And it didn't help that Hayato told me you weren't eating properly at all." I explained. His expression was tinted with a hint of surprise, however he decided to stay silent. 

"Knowing you, you'd forget things while working, and that's not good. You don't have an exactly strong physique. So, I came to bring you some fruits. At least, they will provide you the nutrients your body will need. Just like," I stopped a little on my sentence, pondering whether or not to continue. 

"Just like what mom always told me, to always cut up fruits for you and the others." I smiled showing the plastic bag I had in my hands. He laughed a little at my reaction, 

"Sure, you can do that. It's been a while since I had some too." He smiled and stood up from his chair. 

"But before that, tell me," He walked towards me and stopped right in front of me. He- he's really growing well despite everything. "Did you go all the way here wearing that?" He sounded like he tried to stifle a laugh. I looked down at my attire, just a regular sleeping gown, what is wrong with that? 

"Is-Is there something wrong? Hayato was acting weird as well earlier." I pointed out at him. He emitted a very soft laugh, "You're not supposed to go out anywhere using only your nightgown. We've lived together with the others our whole life, so it's not a weird thing at all for us. But, it's different when it comes to living as a society, it's not appropriate to go out especially meeting the opposite gender, only wearing this." He smiled. I can feel heat rising to my cheeks and I immediately crossed my arms as a reflex. 

"I-I-I didn't know about this!" I immediately crouched down, which made Norman a bit taken aback. 

"No wonder Hayato was-," I trailed remembering how secretive he was all the way here. I wanted to disappear immediately to the ground. I didn't think much at all, because I was in a hurry to visit him after dinner. He let out a laugh that seemed to lift up the serious mood of the room. 

"It's fine, it's only the both of us here. You can trust Hayato too," Norman chuckled and draped the cloak, originally laying on his chair, to my shoulders. 

"Just wear that once you're ready to return." He stroked my head for a bit before returning to his seat. 

"Thanks Norman." I sighed feeling as if a huge amount of weight was taken off of me.

I patiently peeled the skin of the fruit I brought with me, and then cut them into pieces, arranging them neatly into a plate. This scene is a very usual scene that happened in our house. 

"What are you writing about?" I asked him after sneaking a few glances at him. 

"It's a contract in order for us to make alliances." He looked at me and explained before returning back to his work. I nodded in understanding while stabbing a fruit into the fork and putting it near Norman's mouth. He automatically opened his mouth and took a bite from it. This is what we always do back in the house, we cut up fruits and feed them to the young ones and each other, so it's a usual thing you would see. Time passed by quickly and soon the fruits on the plates were all gone. My gaze flickered to the old clock on the corner, ten minutes passed midnight. 

"Norman, aren't you heading to bed anytime soon?" I felt my eyes gradually getting heavier and yawned several times. He glanced up at the clock after hearing my words, and he stretched for a bit. 

"I'll go to bed after I finish this. Let me send you back first." He stood up and offered his hand for me. 

"Oh no-no, I'll be fine. You just finish that letter and go to sleep." I put up both of my hands in front of me in defense. 

"I can't let you wander off alone looking like that." He chuckled and tightened the cloak around me. I looked down and nodded in agreement. 

"Fair reason, alright." I nodded tiredly. I felt like my head is too tired to even function properly, having someone you trust nearby can provide more sense of security as well. So, the both of us left the building making our way back to the dorm housing.