Work Text:
It was on a surprisingly sunny day that Floyd noticed something. It was a small twitch in his Goldfish's eye, the somber face he'd make when he thought no one was facing him in the hallways; it was the way his usual vexed remarks sounded more like a whining kid and not the Heartslabyul housewarden. To all of his concerns he'd reply with the wave of a hand and a "no, I'm fine, no PDA at school," yadda-yadda-yadda.
From Trey he had also heard the same things, and if Riddle was being secretive about it even with his most trusted childhood friend, surely there was something awry. He'd had to corner Li'l Goldfish after class in the rose maze, sneaking into Heartslabyul when Azul's back was turned away, finding him studying in the little gazebo at a dead end that he preferred for tea-parties. The table inside was littered with various papers and books as Riddle flicked through several at once, writing something down every now and then, and even if he thought his Goldfish exceptionally cute when focused, he had to snap him out of it.
"Li'l Goldfish! How's life?"
He drawled, drawing closer to the gazebo as he climbed inside. He had to flick Riddle's forehead to finally get his attention. "Floyd! Do you want to get beheaded?"
"No," he stood, hands on his hips, "but Goldfish has been worked up over something. Mind tellin' me?"
"It's nothing," Riddle sighed instead as he scribbled something down on a long to-do list inside his planner, "I've just had tons of work recently. As usual."
"It's not as usual," Floyd scoffed; before even he himself realized, he was frowning, surprisingly serious. "Yanno you don't have to go through with every single thing you plan? Like schoolwork and all?"
"I must!"
"What you must do is take care of your fucking self," the eel hissed out, "all you do is just study and study and do nothing fun at all! You're going to break one day, dumbass! What are your friends to take care of you? What am I, huh? Your goddamn mom?"
Riddle's face paled.
Ah, right. Shit. Too close to home.
Floyd attempted to backtrack, grimacing. "I mean, you just should rest a bit, yeah?"
"My mom," Riddle repeated, savoring the words, "my mom."
In an instant, the makeshift study of the gazebo was turned over and about. The Heartslabyul housewarden stood up, face reddening as a prominent vein bulged from his forehead. "What do you even take me for, a child? Someone who's incapable of taking care of himself?"
"Listen, Goldfish, I didn't mean..."
"Oh, to hell with you," he heaved, banging the table, "I won't fail! I mustn't! I mustn't... Fail. Fail..." His screams echoed into slower sobs as he sunk down upon his knees below the table, a single hair sticking out from below the tablecloth.
"Shit, Goldfish," Floyd leaned down to follow, hitting his head in the process. "That's not what I meant."
"I know it's not," Riddle hid his face, wiping his nose with the side of the cloth, "but it's so tiring. Working so hard just for my attempts to bear no effort. I got an 85 on my last potions test, an 85! How messed up is that? Not even a 90!"
Floyd sighed; he had no idea how to take care of Jade when he was in another mood of his, so how was he going to go about his boyfriend breaking down? Patting Riddle's head, he helped the other boy sit back up on the gazebo benches.
"All I'm sayin' is that you need some rest. You can't really work yourself so hard and expect not to be tired, yeah?"
"Rich coming from you," Riddle replied, teasingly; Floyd made a face back at him, grinning in delight at the soft chuckle he made as he wiped away the remnants of his tears. "But, it is most improper of me to... Show such unseemly behavior. I'll make it up to you."
"No need," the lanky boy hummed, "oh! But you can get me one of those tarts you keep in the Heartslabyul lounge fridge, hehe!"
Riddle stilled. "How did you... Is Jade spying for Octavinelle?!"
"He's not," Floyd locked his hands behind his head, laughing, "I was just messing with ya! But since it's true, I'd really, re-e-eally like one!"
"Oh, you- you know what, fine!"
(He didn't say it, but he was glad to see Goldfish respond to his teasing after such a meltdown.)
"We should share one as a study break for you!'
"...so be it."