Chapter Text
Productivity-based wage incentives
Increased flat wage
Paid time off
Medical coverage
Azul flipped over to the next page of his ragged personal notebook. He let out a heavy sigh while glancing at the papers littered with all manner of random phrases only he understood. His father had always said to write down any good idea that struck his mind, because you never know which one could end up making money some time later. If the pen wasn't immediately put to paper, then it could disappear as suddenly as your finger in a snapping turtle's mouth.
Full access to Lounge equipment for personal use
Access to Floyd and Jade for … purposes
Blackmail material (within reason)
Blackmail material (with less reason)
His pen glid through one last item in the list, but his fingers were clenching at the thought of adding yet another strikethrough.
Partial ownership of the Lounge
Azul blew raspberries out his lips. This juvenile show of frustration was thankfully left unseen by anyone else. To get his classwork done, he always chose a particularly secluded section of the NRC library; the area behind some dusty, half-empty bookshelves all the way at the back. Azul was still just a student too, after all. He also handed the Lounge over to Jade for a few hours during periods like these.
But at this point in time, it was apparent that he hadn't departed from his lovesick (or "businessman", as he'd believe) self. Instead of completing Professor Crewel's homework about the uses of rafflesias in alchemy, he was still racking his brain on you know what . Some might say that Azul was borderline obsessive for Jamil. Crazy for him. One could even claim that he had some sort of… fixation. There's probably a word out there that perfectly encapsulates it.
He fiddled with his expensive fountain pen. For a merman-turned-human, his fingers were quite deft, allowing him to do spinning tricks on the piece of stationery using his slim digits. With a little toss and an index-with-thumb catch, he chuckled and smiled in resignation.
Ah, who am I kidding? Nothing was ever gonna convince Jamil to work for me. Not money, not special equipment, not even blackmail material (and particularly damning ones at that), could defang that snake. By the Seven, he didn't even bat an eyelid at me offering part of the Lounge!
That amused expression he showed this morning wasn't one he needed to practice often, I'm sure of it. It wasn't his usual rehearsed polite smile or neutral look. It wasn't to fulfil social formalities like what was necessary in those royal functions. The way he slightly bared his perfect teeth, that small bit of air playfully blown out his nose, and how his grin reached his alluring charcoal eyes… those were all real.
He knew that that was the last trick up my sleeve. And he savoured it.
Now here I am. Sleeves trickless.
Crewel's rafflesia homework was still there, untouched. Azul was falling behind on his productivity hours, so he decided to just catch up.
For the next hour, everything was quiet. He didn't move from his chair, apart from once where he had to search for an additional grimoire on the shelves. There was just the low buzzing of distant whisper-talking students, Azul's own pen gliding across his worksheet and the turning of grimoire pages.
"The defining characteristic of the rafflesia is its corpse-like pungent smell, which is used to attract insects which in turn spread pollen ," he read from the grimoire. "Due to the foul odour, it is advised to exercise caution with rafflesia extract in the laboratory. Additionally, nose and face protection is highly recommended."
"The plant has no stems, leaves or roots. It is a holoparasite of vines in the genus Tetrastigma (a plant in the Vitaceae , the grape vine family), spreading its absorptive organ, the haustorium , inside the tissue of the vine."
Azul hummed in curiosity. "Huh, interesting. But, why does it feel like I've heard this last part before? It's like–"
"–mushrooms?"
The octopus almost jumped out of his skin as his glasses were knocked off his nose and his knee painfully banged the underside of the table. He turned around to see an unwelcome tall figure with mismatched downwards eyes, shabby clothes and a shit-eating spiky grin. "By the Sea Witch, why in the world are you here, Floyd?"
The chaotic tweel could hardly contain his laughter and amusement at his boss's reaction, earning some shushes in the distance. "Whaaat, you too busy fawning over Sea Snake to notice me?"
"Oh, do shut up." Azul picked his glasses back up in a manner hopefully not too ego-bruising. "I can't even be bothered with him right now. You're disrupting my alchemy homework, of which you should be doing right now, unless you fancy Crewel's punishments. Can't you see I'm busy?"
"Aww, reallyyy?" teased Floyd, leaning closer and closer to the point you could smell the takoyaki on his breath. "Then–" he yanked Azul's notebook away– "what's in this!?"
Azul's eyes widened like a colossal squid's. He lambasted himself for being so careless and not securing the damn thing earlier. Now Floyd's grubby hands were all over his written catalogue of thoughts. See, he wasn't worried about revealing that he had offered him and his twin's services up to Jamil; he was sure that they'd be offended if he didn't at least try.
It's that he had… other things in there.
With Azul's body frozen in place and mouth agape, Floyd opened a random page and read from it. The now-statue peered intently as the Leech's heterochromatic eyes scanned left to right, left to right, left to right, just waiting for him to break out in unrestrained laughter and alert the whole campus on the Ashengrotto's embarrassing secret.
He winced. Here it comes.
"Monthly rent, utility bills…" The eel released a mighty yawn, not even bothering to cover his mouth with gloved hands. "Boooooringgg. Blegh." He tossed the notebook back to Azul, who slightly fumbled the catch. After tucking it into his tote bag away from volatile individuals, he (shakily) pushed his glasses back up with a scoff and went back to his grimoire.
"I say again, why are you even here, of all places? The library does not welcome personalities like you, so I suggest making yourself scarce," suggested Azul with faux assuredness. Floyd in a conducive studying environment will always turn it into anything but. He was also just plain disruptive, but that should be obvious enough.
Still, he was beyond relieved that he had opened a page from his notebook filled with numbers instead of words. Azul recollected its contents inside his head. Goosebumps crept up on his skin, and it wasn't from the air-conditioning. Imagine if Floyd saw that one note. That lengthy paragraph.
Those… drawings .
Azul visualised them in great detail. Even more detail than what was actually in the book. A lifelike visualisation, you could say.
The eel shrugged to the earlier question, body slouched down while sitting as to allow his chin to fully rest on the table like a child. "Dunno. Bored. Shift's over so I can't have fun at the Lounge. Those Ignihyde freshmen are fuuuunnn… heheh, seein' them shiver is hilarious, stuttering all over the place 'til they can't even order a Mountain Doo. And those Savanaclaws are all bark and no bite. Seen sardines scarier than them, but all that's done for the day. Figured I'd, I dunno, catch you here makin' out with Sea Snake or something."
Floyd turned to his boss but only saw Azul fixedly staring into nothingness, eyebrows and corners of the mouth barely raised in what could be best described as an expression of restrained pleasure.
"Mmm~"
…
Floyd waved his hands around like a drunk. "Azuulll???"
The image of a particularly attractive dark skinned boy shattered in his head by the sonic waves of a grating sing-song voice. He straightened his back and shook his head clear of imaginings. "Oh, nothing. I um, I was too preoccupied with this passage to make sense of whatever it was you just said."
Floyd peered at him, long and hard. He had an unusual habit of doing these lie-detector stares at people when he wasn't entirely convinced with their words. Azul wasn't affected by this ritual of his, but his current state was sure as hell threatening to change that. Thankfully, just as the eel was going to say something, both his eyes lit up. He moved his head to the side as to glance past Azul. Not a moment later after a gasp of excitement left his lips, the whole library could hear him shout out:
"Goldfishie!!!"
Riddle Rosehearts—yes, the fearsome Housewarden of Heartslabyul—could be seen hiding behind a book titled "Law on Magical Trade". Despite his tiny stature in relation to the book's largeness, Floyd could still pick him out and was swiftly making his way with those lanky legs of his. As the two held a one-sided interaction far too loud for the current premises, Azul cursed himself out for that little lapse in concentration earlier. He cringed at how much of an absolute fool he must've looked like then.
Hand behind his neck, he spent more than just a moment contemplating.
In no time at all, his notebook was becoming more and more like a diary with all these... pointless entries about Jamil. Last he checked, he repeated day in day out inside his head that he wanted Jamil purely for his expertise in the kitchen and general management, not for his pretty-boy face, back-handed comments which he found strangely arousing, impressive athletic stature, nor the millions of other things he embarrassingly had in mind let alone put on fucking paper. All these unimportant thoughts were swarming into his head all at the same time. While they all instilled a sense of worry and dread in his soul, there was also an equal sense of fondness. Happiness. Even... warmth. Sharp pangs of excitement struck his heart whenever his snake-like silhouette crossed his mind, even if just for a moment.
God, I... I can't believe it.
I like him. That damned snake.