Work Text:
The date is marked on his calendar, in clear rose-pink pastel highlighter. Riddle knew it well, having obsessively counted the days since the time he was kissed, shamelessly, on the field right after gym class. He can still feel the light breeze on his skin, sometimes, when he's distracted enough to fall into his memories; the way Floyd's hair was swung by the wind, the way he grinned and brightened up before their lips met. The way he melted right in, diving deep into this sweetness and the sea-salt of Floyd's lips; the way this crossed a line within the confines of Riddle's behavior, always bound by rules and morals, and the surprisingly nice aftertaste it left in his mouth.
It drove him insane, his mind repeating that breaking rules was always shameful and scornful, but this wasn't - and it felt so right - so what was up with that?
Riddle always thought he'd be wooed by a gentleman, all prim and proper, nice and neat, just like him. That they'd attend formal dinners together and act as any proper citizen would. He did not expect for his high school heartthrob to be a particularly annoying slob, who just happened to be an entire merman-eel.
Floyd drove him insane in all the best, sweetest of ways; the way he'd smile lazily when the two would cross paths in class, or the way he was always so intent on walking Riddle back to Heartslabyul, knowing full well his "fun" antics would leave him beheaded in the rose garden - the way he'd still laugh, muttering something about the look on his face being worth it.
So, of course, with all these budding, soft, disgustingly tender feelings bundling up within him, it was no great revelation that Riddle would keep track of their relationship over the time. It might have been silly, Riddle Rosehearts, of all people, wishing to celebrate a single month's worth of trouble a romantic relationship takes, but he was nonetheless bound to the concept out of tradition - and totally not out of sentimentality, no!
"Floyd," he tapped his foot on the Octavinelle lounge floors, looking up at the gangly teen in front of him as he ignored the side-eye other students gave him, "don't tell me you don't remember today's date."
"Eh? Li'l Goldfish is being troublesome."
Riddle was not about to take any more of this - he did not, after all, get through Azul's exasperating face and offers just to have Floyd bail out of their one-month anniversary - if it could be called that, given anniversaries usually signify years - due to his negligence! He felt his face flush, a vein threatening to bulge on his forehead as he grit his teeth.
"You!" He yelled, much to the dismay of half of Octavinelle, before promptly tugging Floyd by the collar of his shirt into his dorm room. "Do you truthfully not remember what day it is?"
The eel's face suddenly turned serious, however, without darkening. Riddle, however, kept his tirade going. "If you are so forgetful, how are we to get married? Would you run late to your own wedding, having forgotten of it? What about our ki-"
He trailed off, the red in his face shifting from anger to an exhausted fluster. He had completely forgotten that life, in fact, was not something that obeyed his every whim, and that daydreaming of a future with his boyfriend - let alone admitting that - was an embarrassing ordeal. "...forget I said anything."
Floyd grinned from ear to ear, laughing breathily; his expression brightened again, pulling Riddle close and flush to his chest. "Hehe, you're thinking ahead, aren'tcha? I didn't even say anything about marriage or stuff yet!"
Yet. Wait, yet?
"Of course I didn't forget what today is," his face morphed into a surprisingly serious emotion as he seemingly understood the gravity of the circumstance. "it's been a month since Goldfish and I have started dating. So, of course I got you something!"
Floyd ran off and out the room, leaving the housewarden to stand, confused, in his dust. He reemerged a few moments later, taking out a plastic container, balancing a couple of small dishes and cutlery on top of the transparent lid. When he lifted it, Riddle marveled at a fluffy cake, rose-red icing sliding off of its edges; adorned by strawberries and bananas, it was sliced into pieces already, mountains of strawberry jam and cream piling beneath the top.
"I asked Trey for a recipe," he giggled, and Riddle connected the puzzle pieces together, - of course, he thought, that's why Jade and Trey spent so much time in the lounge the other day, - mouth still wide agape. "We-e-ell, Jade did help me with the top! But the rest was my manpower! Aren't I cool?"
As he drawled, the shorter teen drew closer to the piece of pastry, reaching for the forks and placing a small slice atop a fine china plate.
"Are you trying to get me back in the infirmary, passing out due to hyperglycemia like after Valentine's day?"
"E-eh, no!" Floyd's eyes widened that moment, in the specific Floyd motion that yelled wait what the hell, and Riddle couldn't help but chuckle a little.
"Don't worry, I've been controlling my sugar intake lately." Reaching for the knife, he cut the slice caredully, then tasting the richness of its whipped cream and icing in his mouth. "I guess cooking for Mostro Lounge does pay off. How surprising."
"In any case, while I am... Positively surprised by this," he shied away from Floyd's smile, "I'm afraid I cannot just accept this gift. I'll have to retrieve you another present."
"Hehe, I can just get Goldfishie as my present!"
(He didn't expect Floyd to go out of his way and bake something for him. He had thought of simply inviting the other for tea, is all; but this made his heart explode a little more into tiny pieces of strawberries and the mushy remnants of his metaphorical heart alike. Just Floyd himself was enough to give him cavities.)
"No, no. Let me at least put on some tea, will you?"
The eel grinned, hugging the eating housewarden from behind and resting his chin on the crown of his head. "As I said, just Li'l Goldfish is enough for me!"
"Oh, well, maybe you can give me a piece of that cake," he snickered, reaching not for one but three entire slices, "it looks good! Maybe you can feed me those, too? Like, aaah?"
"Off With Your Head!"