Work Text:
"And there~!" the pristine table reflected your triumphant expression as you put away the cleaning rag, "Ahh, finally," you smiled in self-satisfaction at the many tables you have cleaned and the chairs that you have put away. Another night almost done with post-closing period in the Mostro Longue.
As much as you have done this every night, you still complain and grumble at the fact some students are more unruly than the other. If this is supposed to be a classy place for well-mannered students and gentlemen alike, then why are there still Savanaclaw jocks screwing the place? You suspect it has something to do with the longue's slow days where it accepts anyone at that point.
Well, whatever. At least the pay is handsome to compensate your task of serving people, cooking some dishes, and cleaning after closing time. Also — babysitting Floyd is your mandatory job too, but you don't get paid! You suppose Jade letting you buy stuff from the cafeteria, albeit a limited selection only, with his wallet is a nice payment... sort of.
With a mop in hand and a more specialized mop bucket at your side, you do a metaphorical tango with it, dragging the bucket as you move farther away. Dip it in the water, dry it in the squeezer, mop the floor, and repeat. It's such a boring task than wiping the tables, honestly. Even you accidentally almost slipping is more amusing than the whole process of mopping. It at least jerks you back to reality from zoning out.
'Ahh, why must the longue music be so relaxing?' you thought to yourself in exasperation as you look around at the spots you haven't cleaned. Ah. There's still a lot, 'Oh...' you blankly stared, your lips pressed into a straight line. If the mop were sentient, it would have probably cried at how tight you gripped on it.
And like that, you're done. Several minutes passed, and you're finally done! After putting the cleaning supplies back to where they belong, you enter the common room and walk towards the couch, slumping your exhausted body on the leather plush. A content and relieved sigh came out from your throat while your eyes closed in bliss. God, your body ached so much.
When you really wanted to relax for just a tiny bit, you suddenly registered two pairs of eyes gazing at you, bothering your mind right now. Even if you can't see them, you can feel them. You swear, the Leech twins are just that intense for a good reason or none at all. Sometimes, you forget that you're semi-friends with them.
You really want to ignore them, but you eventually cracked when their stares wouldn't cease. You sat up straight and finally looked at the two, exasperation written all over your face, "Spill. What do you two need from me now?" you asked.
The two of them perked at the attention you have graced them with. Floyd's grin stretched even wider while Jade merely smiled, unchanged. Your mind would have let their odd behavior slide right now, but you can't help but notice how eerie they seemed. Yes, they're eerie for the most part, but it feels different right now...
After some time, the rational of the two, Jade, finally breaks the silence, "Azul wished for you to come to his office earlier, however it looks like you didn't follow through. Instead, he requests for your presence right now," his tone is calm and soothing just like normal, but you swear it feels a bit more forced? Urgent? Whatever it is, he's not exactly the same, you think.
But the mention of Azul did make you raise an eyebrow in confusion. Did he really call for you earlier? You don't think he did, but who can blame you when you were given copious amounts of tasks that you didn't focus on anything else? Whatever. You're sure he can let that slide. After all, you carry much of the longue's burden when it comes to serving and maintaining it.
You wonder humorously when will you be roped in doing the longue's not-so savvy business as well. When they get desperate perhaps?
You blink wearily, "I don't think Azul called me earlier, though," you voiced your confusion as a yawn threatened to spill from your mouth, "Also, can I just meet him tomorrow instead? I'm so tired..."
A pause. Unnerving silence is what you're met with. Floyd who was grinning to creep and pressure you just stops. Instead, his mouth quirked down into a small frown, and his eyes boring into you. Jade, on the other hand, still smiled at you, however it looked to be strained. His expression is unreadable too.
"Oya? How bold of you," Jade politely chuckled, his hands folded on his lap, "But I suppose it's your decision. You're entitled to such thing after all," with that, like a switch, he pointedly ignores you in favor of talking to his brother. He... He acts as if there was no conversation with you that had just transpired...!
Grumbling to yourself, you get up from the couch and leave the common room, ignoring the chatter the two are creating as you do so. Their behavior is annoying, but screw them! Rest is more important than anything else!
And like that, you fall asleep on your bed when you finally reached your room.
/ /
The next day came, and you luxuriously stretch as you fight off morning drowsiness in your eyes. The sound of bones cracking in a satisfying way drowns your ears. Whatever tension your body felt had eased off for a bit which is enough for you to kick start the day now with a good mood.
But your mood turned neutral at the thought that despite it being a weekend, the Mostro Longue never finds itself rest unless it's a major holiday. Double the fact you have to juggle student responsibilities as well like homework that you unfortunately have to accept is becoming a backlog. There's never any moment of respite for you... but at least working is a coping mechanism? At least the longue's pay is great?
Shaking your head in disappointment at your rumination, your fingers make quick work of adjusting the finishing touches of your dorm uniform. In the vanity mirror, you nod to yourself in satisfaction at how polished you looked, as expected. You look at the fedora hat that's just been sitting on top of the dresser, waiting to be worn eventually. Unfortunately for it, you just styled your hair with much effort that it pains you if you were to conceal it.
Now looking in the mirror again, you practice your smile — your charismatic smile to be specific. Be refined as you can for it is the image of the Octavinelle dorm, they say. Uphold the image of the dorm as its member. Your smile didn't break off for one bit. You're used to this.
Your mind flitted back to the Leech twins. You can't deny that they're suave (although it's mostly Jade) in their own right. But you also can't overlook the fact they're unnerving, especially to their clients taking upon the infamous contracts made by the dorm head. It's a shame they have that other side of them, but trying to call out such thing will result to something unsavory.
Whatever happened yesterday night, you just chalked it up to the twins being weird as ever, probably trying to provoke you. They can be a little cruel to you, but they'd never seriously mentally or physically harm you. You're not sure why that's the case, but it probably has to do with the dorm leader, not some favoritism towards you.
Prepared as ever, you finally leave your room to prep the longue for opening.
...Unfortunately, you don't make it that far in the hallway since you bumped into someone who is blocking your way. Craning your neck up, your throat felt dry seeing Floyd of all people. He's grinning down at you as if you were prey that went astray. It grew wider when you made the most uncomfortable eye contact with him.
Though you may be very much creeped out by his sudden appearance, you act like you're nonchalant just to delicately dance around his signature, yet sometimes violent, mood swings. Whenever you're alone with him, it's like you're walking on eggshells with stilts on.
"Oh, hey, Floyd," you greet the turquoise-haired male with a small smile, however it wavered when you note the subtle clench of his fists, scaring your heart, "...Do you need something? Um, aren't you also supposed to be with J–" you didn't get to finish your question as the Leech twin gripped on your forearm tightly. You yelped in pain and surprise.
Floyd giggled, "You did a horrible mistake..." he ominously trails off, and without warning, immediately dragged you with him carelessly. He doesn't care if your legs are stumbling. He doesn't care if you're so close to falling.
"Hey! Ugh— Where are we going, Floyd?!" you yell out as you feel his fingers dig on the relatively thin fabric of your dorm uniform sleeve. You receive no answer from him, but as you decide to just accept your fate, you realized the two of you are headed to the general direction of where the Mostro Longue is at.
Okay? He's dragging you to work when you can just do it by yourself. Did he want you to work with him or what?
"You can let go of me now," you said when the two of you stepped in the longue. Floyd paused but hasn't let go of his iron grip on your forearm. Confusion overwrites your face, so you call out to him one more time, "Floyd? I have to set the tables and chairs, so could you—" your words died down when the eccentric male dragged you off once more without a word spoken.
'Why is he acting so weird?!' your mind cursed as your body tried its best to pull itself away from the male. His grip on you looks slack, but the fact it's ensnared you says a lot about his strength. Still, you pull and pull, but with little success. Without much of a choice, you think of the most logical way to get out of this situation.
Biting, of course.
It's a bad idea, but if it catches the eel off-guard, then it could give you ample time to slip away. This is a good outlet to let out your frustrations towards him as well!
When Floyd's pace had slowed down, you brought his arm up by tugging your forearm. Without much hesitation, you open your mouth and latched on his uniform sleeve. You unfortunately don't have the serrated teeth the twins have, but you at least try to angle yourself so your canines can dig in the most.
And like that, Floyd stopped and giggled. You took that opportune time to pull away, but he refused to relent. He turns to look at you and leans dangerously close to your face, "Ow~ What was that for, (Name)?" he quickly flashed his teeth in a twisted grin before dropping it altogether in favor of staring you down with the most intimidating expression.
"Try again, and I'll squeeze you so tight before throwing you against the wall. Okay~?" and as if nothing happened, he continued dragging you but with a grip tighter than before to the point you swear he's going to leave a remarkable bruise.
You want to curse at him and say he has no right to be so mysterious right now... but all you do is hang your head low as if you were a child that got scolded. At the same time, you felt oddly smug at yourself that you managed to tick the male who's been annoying you for a long time. It's like revenge in a childish way.
As you relish your very minor victory, you were suddenly caught by surprise at how Floyd abruptly stops, causing you to crash into him which he ignores. He opens a door, and without warning, grabs you and pushes you inside the room, closing the door behind you afterwards.
Your form almost staggered into the floor, but you luckily managed to regain balance before that could happen. You swear to the Sea Witch, you hear Floyd giggling just outside the door. How annoying. And he did actually leave a bruise on your arm...!
But the moray eel quickly became a faint memory when you finally scan the room. Your eyes immediately recognized the surrounding area of shelves with books, two black couches and a small coffee table, and the man seated on the chair behind the wooden table right now.
Seeing the familiar male, you lit up. Maybe you can get your revenge again via the dorm head, "Hey, Azul. Could you please reprimand Floyd or something?" you clutched your pained forearm, "Floyd went up and hurt me..." you complained audibly, very much oblivious to the tense air between you and him. You continued to say your complaints to the awfully silent octo-merman.
"...Do you hate me? Am I not enough, dear...?"
Every word that was about to come out of you came to a screeching halt as you realize what's unfolding right now. The silver-haired male in front of you stares expectantly at you, ugly tears streaming down his face. His hand tries so hard to conceal his teary eyes afterwards, but it's shaking. He's faltering so badly.
Your frowned, "No? I never did, Azul," you approached his desk in worry, "Are you okay...? What happened?" you're so confused at the same time you're concerned.
"T-Then why did y-you ignore me...?" Azul murmured, his hands muffling his voice and subsequent sobs.
"Oh, is that why you're crying?" you sighed, relieved it isn't as serious as you thought, "I didn't mean to ignore you, really. It's just I got so tired," you explained lightly, hoping it can soothe his emotions. Perhaps he's mad over some silly confusion.
"I can make up to you if you wa—" "B-But you didn't come wh-when I called for you..."
Your eyebrows furrowed in slight irritation, "It's because you didn't!" you accidentally raised your voice to which Azul seems to visibly startle at and tried to make himself seem smaller, "I'm sorry... but I didn't even hear you call for me," exasperated, you shake your head.
"It's a weekend, yeah? I can make up lost time with you, Azul. We can go on a date right now," you offered urgently, wanting to lift the dorm head's mood. It wouldn't do the whole dorm any good if he's like this.
"D-Did I do something w-wrong?! Tell me... Tell me... please... please.... please. I'll fix it. Please..." Azul disregards your offer as he begs. Whenever he'd utter out another word, he sounds so broken — so pitiful. He's sobbing so hard that his body tremored badly.
Your heart broke at the sight as you approach his side, hugging his shoulders as you place your cheek on top of his silver hair. He flinched visibly but makes no move on pushing you away. Instead, he leans towards your warmth like the touch-starved he is.
It's been some time you showed him affection like this...
"No... It's never your fault, Azul. Don't blame yourself, please..." you muttered out, rubbing his arm. The confusion and irritation you felt earlier turned into guilt — guilt that effortlessly expands in your mind.
Countless of times your peers have commented the relationship between you and Azul. It's a strange one because the two of you aren't even close to begin with. Despite it being public knowledge, people can't help but comment how you two look like mere friends — acquaintances, even. He wanted this. You didn't. He had a genuine liking towards you. You only see him as your boss and dorm leader.
But, you wanted to see him truly happy since... isn't it nice? However, it's just you who's the problem. Bluntly, you can't play the role of a significant other correctly. You're too tunnel visioned as your peers say because you're goal-oriented. You value your work over people. You value fleeting happiness because it's spontaneous. It's a short-lived euphoria that, at that moment, all a person could think of is the experience.
So you thought that if you spend time with Azul at alternating days — like the first day you hang out with him, and the next day not — then it will make him happy and satisfied. It's logical, and it barely burdens your job. You thought of it as a win-win for the both of you.
That's why you expected him to be all right with you not spending time with him for only three days. It's a short amount of days anyway in your eyes.
Unfortunately, it's become a lose-lose situation to you that's unfolding right now. You didn't expect Azul to be this clingy and needy. Isn't he mature and dignified? During your dates with him, he just gave off such aura. You didn't see any childish aspects in him.
In the end, however, this is all your fault. Your fault for unintentionally stringing him. Your fault for showing him ingenuine love. Your fault for making him cry.
"...I'm sorry," your voice automatically whispered, repeating the words over and over again as if it were a chant. They say apologizing lifts a person's burden, but why can't it lift yours? Why did such burden feel even heavier? Every sob he wracked — you felt even worse.
Eventually, your eyes feel glossy. You grit your teeth to prevent any tears from slipping. This is about him, not you.
Words always fail you. You're never the best at comforting people, so you opted to hugging Azul tighter, causing him to fully lean against your body. As if prompted by your action, the silver-haired male quickly latched onto your waist, holding you tight. He buries himself deeper into your chest as if he's hiding from the world, his tears forming wet splotches on your uniform.
Ragged breaths can be heard from him, straining his voice, "Never leave... me.. please..." he shuddered when your hand moved to stroke his hair.
"I won't... I won't, Azul," you repeated uncontrollably as if it were a mantra. You can't stop. You can't stop the audible guilt slipping from your mouth.
You're not certain, but you feel the wet sensation of a slimy appendage curling around your waist. Many of them, actually. You can't see them because your face is hidden in Azul's hair right now, but you can feel and recognize them. You feel one slither right up your neck just below your chin. The others greedily perched on top of your shoulders.
They're all so cold, and it makes you shiver.
Breathing in shakily, your face peers up at the surroundings before you. Inky tentacles are what you see, confirming your suspicions. Ah, it seems as though Azul transformed into his octo-merman form. His hold onto you tightened when he realized you're staring at him. Subconsciously, his many inky arms do the same. He's ashamed.
You close your eyes once more as your fingers rake his hair carefully. You don't know why it feels natural for you to do such thing. With that, he gave in, shyly peering up, taking in how soft your expression is. Your face leans against his, hands on his cheeks, and you press a sweet kiss on his forehead. Just like putty, he melted at the affectionate gesture. And lucky for you, his crying had ceased, but it had ruined his face.
A frown etched on your face in worry, "Let's get you fixed," you tried to move away from him, but he wouldn't budge, "Azul...?" you uttered out, concerned why he's all tense.
"But... you said you w-won't..." Azul's quiet voice trembled, his teeth clenched in silent frustration, "Leave me..."
When you opened your mouth to explain yourself, the tentacles that were once deemed harmless by you suddenly tightened its grip even more, gradually restricting your breathing in the process. Your vision is getting blurry as black squiggly lines enter your sight.
You gasped when a tentacle jerked your chin forwards. Despite your blurring vision, you can tell you're staring into his eyes, but you can't recognize what expression or face he's making. Maybe he's mad. Maybe he's anguished again.
"A-Azul..." you winced as you feel light-headed. Your body violently flailed, trying to untangle itself from the many tentacles' iron grip. Futile as it is, your body can't stop even as the slimy appendages readjust you firmly every time.
Panic is setting in your mind, 'Air... Air... Air...' your head repeated, unaware of the feeling of cold ink smearing your cheek. Unaware of the now-overblotted dorm leader's love-ridden visage.
Unaware of his touches.
Azul's cold hands caressed your cheeks slowly, his free tentacles greedily wrapping itself on every part of your body that has yet to be tainted with ink. He grinned with crazed eyes at the marks his appendages had left on your exposed skin when they'd attach on it. Just like what he wanted.
Despite how unaware and oblivious you are of the situation, he leans forward and captures your lips without care. At first, it was chaste and shy. Inexperience is his friend, however whatever he held back, he couldn't do so anymore as his kiss turned angry and bitter — desperate as well. It all mixed into a toxic mess that is blinding him to the point he doesn't care that you have passed out.
Manic giggles escape Azul's throat as he fully pressed his weight against you. He embraces you tight, nuzzling your hair, while his tentacles loosen their grip but still possessively tangle around your body, leaving no exposed skin untainted. He relishes the moment between you and him even if the air in the room is heavy and corrupted. It's such a perfect environment for a pathetic being like him.
He knows your unspoken admittance to you being a horrible lover. He is too by being so selfishly attached to you, but it's not like you mind it, right? After all, don't you have guilt that burdens your shoulders? You're the reason why he's crying!
So you might as well make it right, but with his own guidance. His own way.
"We can... start all over again, dear..."
Oh, he knows how to play his cards right. Leave him, and he'll make you feel so miserable. You won't do that for the second time, won't you?