Work Text:
There were several knocks on Jamil’s door but he was too groggy to answer the door. His headache was accompanied by heightened senses so when the person slammed the door open he was hit by a wave of pain.
“JAMIL!”
Just as what Jamil feared, another headache appeared.
“I made you breakfast!” Kalim’s bright smile was the first thing he saw when he opened his eyes. Honestly, he can rival the sun at this point.
Jamil was still processing what Kalim said and immediately sat up, he fucked up both literally and figuratively. “I forgot about breakfast.”
“Don’t worry! I cooked with the help of the dorm!” Kalim then set down a mini table with a bowl of soup in front of Jamil. “I didn’t burn it! It’s impossible to do so anyway.”
Jamil would’ve been surprised if he managed to burn soup. He then took a sip of the soup and stared at Kalim. “This is… actually good.”
“Yeah?! Does that mean I can help out in the kitchen now?” Kalim excitedly asked while Jamil continued eating.
“With my supervision.”
“Finally!” Kalim jumped up and danced around the room while Jamil focused on his soup.
“Oh yeah, did you remember Azul taking you back last night?”
Jamil spat out the soup he was drinking. The bed sheets were the least of his concerns, that was the most scandalous thing he has ever heard. “Excuse me?”
“Azul took you back last night?” Kalim slowly repeated as Jamil dropped the spoon he was holding.
“Great Sevens. None of you brought me back home?” Jamil asked in disbelief.
“Well you were sleeping already and I thought that Azul will be nice enough to let you sleep in their dorm?”
“You do realize that he wouldn’t do that, right?” Jamil then lifted the mini table and carefully stood up. The news Kalim just said sobered him up enough.
“That was my mistake! I’ll do anything to make it up to you for last night.” Kalim grasped his hands together in a pleading way. “And I mean anything!”
Jamil sighed and handed the mini table to Kalim. “We’ll talk in your office in an hour. I’ll just clean up and get ready.”
“Okay!” Kalim took the mini table from Jamil. “Wait, get ready for what?”
“For school?”
“It’s a Saturday.”
“Ah, you still have studies today though.”
“Agh! I was hoping you’d forget.”
-
The room was filled with awkward silence. The clock’s ticking just made Kalim more anxious with what was about to come. Jamil was sitting in front of him in deep thought.
“What happened last night?” Jamil finally broke the silence.
“So, after we played on the stage I asked for a drink from Jade right? Then I was about to drink it you snatched it from my hand and drank a bit before giving it back to me.” Kalim even made hand movements to reenact the story.
“I remember that yeah. After that what happened?”
“I think someone snuck in alcohol without them knowing because you got drunk from how many drinks you had to check before letting me drink them.” Kalim then clapped his hands in realization. “It must’ve been a fruit flavored alcohol because you didn’t taste it that much!”
Jamil just groaned and buried his face in his hands. He can handle his alcohol well but he must’ve drank way too much than what he can take. “I’m just glad you weren’t as intoxicated as I was.”
“Oh no, I kept on giving my drinks to Lilia since I kept on trying different flavors of their drinks.” Kalim sighed sadly. “Too bad some of the drinks were spiked, I would’ve ordered a lot.”
Jamil hoped that Lilia has high alcohol tolerance or else he would be in a much worse situation than him right now. “Drinks aside, how did you know Azul brought me back?”
“I heard him knock on the front door when I was walking back to my room. I was supposed to open it but another student beat me to it.” Kalim then went silent before shouting.
“AH! I remember seeing you leaning against Azul while your arm was around his waist before he left you to the student.”
Jamil wanted the ground to swallow him that instant. He felt like he was going to faint. “Then what happened?”
“I heard Azul telling the student not to tell anyone that it was him who brought you here. Unfortunately I was there but the student didn’t tell anyone so he still kept his kinda promise to Azul!”
The more he hears what happened last night the more he wanted to erase the memories that kept coming back to him.
“Also you kept muttering about a deal with Azul last night when I took you from the student and brought you back to your room. I thought you never wanted to make a deal with him?” Kalim questioned with a tilt of his head.
That’s when it hit Jamil like a truck. “I don’t remember much, my memories are still groggy.” He remembers, but he definitely doesn’t want to.
“Let’s just ask Azul then!” Kalim happily suggested.
“NO!” Jamil shouted that shocked Kalim. “I mean, I’ll probably remember later so I’ll tell you when I do.”
Kalim looked at him warily before nodding slowly. “Yeah, be sure to get a lot of rest then.”
Jamil waved at him before standing up. “Don’t forget your school works, I’ll be checking them later.”
“Don’t worry! I’ll get them done in time, maybe.”
When Jamil left Kalim’s office he was greeted by empty hallways. The rest of the students were probably exhausted because of last night. He decided to cut them some slack for today, he also needed time to rearrange his thoughts.
Jamil was certain that it was a dream. But with what Kalim told him it was most definitely real. He can’t believe himself, how could he let that happen?
He opened the door to his room and instead of relaxing he just became stressed. Now that he was in the confines of his room where no one can see or hear him he threw himself on his bed and started hitting the mattress.
“Jamil Viper you’re one big idiot! Azul is an even bigger idiot!”
-
Azul sneezed which halted his writing. The letter he was writing was now smudged meaning he had to rewrite it again.
“Someone’s talking shit about you.”
“I’m sure that someone is you and Floyd.”
-
Jamil kept on screaming and hitting the mattress while his brain recalled the events that happened last night.
“Why would you kiss him? Are you crazy?!” He shouted to himself while gripping a pillow to its death. “And a date? With me? That sounds crazier!”
“Wait, what if I just avoided him? For two years? I must be overestimating myself.” Jamil gasped in realization. “We’re classmates in Alchemy!”
“Fingers crossed he won’t ask me about the deal. But that’s impossible it’s Azul we’re talking about!”
Jamil felt his headache come back. “I might’ve indirectly confessed to him last night too.”
He stared at the ceiling with hugging the pillow that was on the verge of death earlier. “The kiss felt amazing though. His lips were soft too.” He unconsciously touched his lips and shook his head as if it’ll do something to get it off his mind.
“I’m not supposed to be having these thoughts! My only priority is to graduate and look after Kalim. Nothing more, nothing less.” Jamil seemed like he was trying to convince himself which wasn’t that effective.
For the rest of the weekend Jamil had to be looked after by Kalim. The tables turned and it might be in Kalim’s favor.
First, Jamil almost burnt their dinner which was so unlike him!
“Jamil! You’re going to burn the steak!” Kalim shouted as he ran to turn the stove off while Jamil felt like he was broken off from a trance.
“Oh, sorry. I’ll focus more.” Jamil apologized before placing the almost burnt steak on a plate.
Kalim just sighed before patting Jamil on the shoulder. “Just tell me what to do while you sit down. We can’t afford to lose the kitchen again.”
Several Scarabia students snickered at what their dorm leader said. Kalim just glared at them, the best he could do, but the Scarabia students just laughed. He really wasn’t fit to be mean.
Second, Jamil forgot that he assigned him school works to finish during the weekends.
“Jamil! Can you check my work sheets right now?” Kalim asked when he entered Jamil’s room.
Jamil looked shocked when saw the stack of paper Kalim was carrying. “Um, yeah.”
“You told me you were going to check them yesterday but I’m guessing you forgot?” Kalim handed the stack of paper to him and watched as Jamil grabbed a pen to write corrections.
“Are you okay?” Kalim asked that made Jamil stop writing and look up at him like he grew another head.
“What kind of question is that? Of course I am.” Jamil resumed writing immediately.
“Well, you’re not being you since yesterday and today.”
“I’m just drained, don’t mind me.”
Lastly, Jamil wouldn’t easily admit that! There’s something bothering him.
Kalim grabbed the pen Jamil was using before throwing it outside the window. Jamil looked at him in disbelief.
“Kalim, with all due respect, what the fuck?”
“What deal did you make with Azul that it left you like this?” Kalim crossed his arms and stared down at him. “I’m not leaving until you tell me but I can just go to Azul right now if that’s what you want.”
“Wait!” Jamil sighed in defeat. “I’ll tell you if you promise not to tell Azul that you know.”
“Pinky promise!” Kalim put up his pinky finger and raised it towards Jamil. Jamil then did the same and wrapped his finger around Kalim’s.
“Whoever breaks their promise gets their pinky chopped off!”
Jamil nodded and set aside the papers on his bed side table. “Yeah, just don’t shout.”
“So that night, I may have indirectly confessed to Azul with my drunk ramblings.” Jamil can see how Kalim’s jaw dropped at the revelation.
“You like him?!” Kalim whisper-shouted.
“I guess, yeah. But that’s besides the point. I told him that whenever I hear people talk about him maybe I was mistaken that I knew the real him.”
Kalim just nodded with wide eyes, still shocked because of what he heard.
“Then, he asked me if I wanted to make a deal. A non-written one just between us.”
“That’s expected since Azul swore to never use a written contract again.”
“I agreed reluctantly since it’ll just be between the two of us but it might have a consequence I wasn’t prepared for.”
Jamil took a deep breath preparing himself for Kalim’s reaction. “He told me if I kissed him then we’ll go on a date to get to know each other better.”
Kalim grabbed Jamil’s shoulders and shook him. “Then what?!”
“I kissed him.”
Kalim gasped and started pacing around the room. “Dear Great Seven lend me the strength to go through this.”
“That’s supposed to be my line.”
“It’s mine now. What are you planning to do then?”
Jamil shrugged. “That’s what I was thinking about but the only logical thing I thought of was to confront him. But I think it’s better to avoid him for now.”
“You need to talk with him as soon as possible. You can’t stall this because sooner or later you’re going to dig a bigger problem for both of you.”
“I know, thanks for being here, Kalim.”
“That’s what best friends are for right?”
-
Jamil was pissed. At himself or Azul? He doesn’t know the answer either. They were currently making a potion for their alchemy class as a part of their final requirement.
Half an hour in and Azul hasn’t said a word or spared even a glance towards him. Jamil was in charge of reading the instructions while Azul was in charge of stirring the pot and adding the ingredients.
Kalim was right, they do need to talk.
“I think we need to add a little bit more.” Jamil purposely threw off the measurement of ingredients.
“Are you sure?” That’s the first time Azul looked at him during their session.
“Yeah, just a little bit though.”
Azul didn’t give it a second thought and just added a bit more.
Which was a huge mistake, smoke immediately filled the both of their visions. The explosion wasn’t dangerous but the smoke was a pain in the ass since it spread throughout the whole room. When the smoke cleared out Crewel immediately made his way to the both of them.
“You already know what happens to those who fail with their potions, don’t you?”
Both of them nodded. The two best students of Crewel getting into trouble? Sounds like new gossip for other students.
“I’m giving you two until 6PM to re-do your potion.”
It wasn’t as bad as they make out to be, but the fact that Azul and Jamil never got into trouble might be a factor that made Crewel gave them a longer deadline.
“We need to talk later.” Jamil turned to Azul while he was cleaning up the mess they made.
“We really should,” Azul answered before handing a clean towel to Jamil. “Clean up first then we’ll meet here again after classes, when no one is around.”
Jamil took the towel from him and nodded.
-
Azul was already in the empty classroom when Jamil arrived. He set down his things before making his way to Azul. The Octavinelle student was diligently reading the book they were to use for their final requirement.
“I know what deal we made that night.” Jamil decided that it was the best if he got straight to the point.
“Then what’s your answer?” Azul asked before he set the book down on the counter behind him.
“I can’t. We can’t,” Jamil answered sharply. His hands were shaking so he shoved them in his pockets.
“That’s not what you answered that night.” Azul met his eyes, as if trying to lure him in. “You already held your part of the deal so I should hold mine, no?”
“It’s not possible for that to work,” Jamil cried out, his strong facade slowly slipping. “I’m not someone you should be involved with romantically!”
“Why do you say that if we haven’t tried?” Azul was desperate to know when they’re aware of the mutual feelings they held for each other.
“There’s a large difference between our lives, Azul! I’m a servant for the Asim family. Who knows what my parents will say when I suddenly decide on acting on my feelings?!” Jamil’s worries did not come from himself but stemmed from his family’s expectations of him.
“That doesn’t make you less of your own person! You’re still Jamil Viper. You work hard to achieve your own goals, you enjoy things that you are interested in, and you care for everybody around you even if it was a factor of your upbringing. I can still list a lot of things that make you your own person.” Azul was frustrated, if only he can see himself through Azul’s eyes then maybe he’ll understand where he was coming from.
“You still get to make your own choices, regardless of who you are.”
Jamil’s lips quivered as he took a step back. Both him and Azul are in a vulnerable state and that scared him a lot. The whole room was getting blurry, his breathing was getting heavy, and his heart felt like it was about to burst.
Azul immediately caught Jamil before he fell. “I’m sorry for trying to force this on you.” He gently wrapped his arms around the crying Jamil. Guilt slowly seeping in as the stress of the situation is taking a huge toll on Jamil.
His sobs resonated in the room and that made Azul’s heart ache. If only he can take away all the burdens he was carrying by himself. “I’m with you, you don’t have to do this all alone.”
“I hate you,” Jamil whispered before repeating it over and over. “I hate you. I hate you. I hate you!”
Azul just stayed silent while Jamil was hitting him on the shoulder. “I tried so hard to build the walls around me but it only took you a mere minute to break it down.”
“I didn’t want you to know how I felt because you were too far to reach.”
Azul just chuckled. “You still managed to say that despite being in my arms right now?”
“Yeah, can I stay here for a little more?” Jamil asked, tiredness evident in his voice.
“Of course, you can even stay here forever if you want.”
“I’ll think about it after our date.”
Azul tightened his embrace on Jamil. “You’re agreeing now?”
“Do you want me to take it back?”
“No! I mean, no take backs.”
“We already laid bare our feelings, where else would we go?”
Jamil was content with being in Azul’s arms but pushed him away when he remembered something.
“Fuck Azul, the potion!”
“Shit.”