Work Text:
Idia didn’t really think about why he had accepted to draw the comics for the novel. It had been spur of the moment- an ask in his tumblr inbox after he posted fanart of the lead and villain in a compromised position- and he had accepted. Now here he was, updating weekly almost 3 months later, almost halfway through the first book.
And now he was being made to meet the people who would be cast as the lead roles- a young knight of fair appearance, and his father. The Villain’s casting would be held later- according to Idia’s father, the young man that would be cast was practically Type Casted for the role. Strict, Beautiful- and although a reputation for villainous roles, Idia’s parents had agreed that he would be perfect for the role.
Idia didn’t really care, to be honest. He’d read the books as they came out, illustrated the comic and was well-known on Ao3 for a fic of his in the fandom- but really, the Movie wouldn’t be that big of a deal for him. Ortho enjoyed films- that’s why Idia had dragged his brother to the restaurant with him to meet the actors.
Apparently they were an actual Father-son duo, which was probably the most intriguing thing to Idia. After all, he didn’t care too much about the actors cast- as long as they fit the appearance descriptors in the novel itself and could portray the character correctly, it would be fine.
So that’s how Idia ended up at a table with his Mother and Ortho, Menu that he didn’t care about on the table between him and his brother. Ortho was reading a book in his lap- and Idia’s mother was talking on the phone to one of the actors that were supposed to arrive. He resisted pulling his phone out to start playing a mobile game- no matter how tempting it was to speedrun the update, he’d promised to stream it.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the actors showed up- and Idia choked on the glass of water he was sipping.
Vil Schoenheit walked over to the table with his father behind him, shaking Idia’s mothers hand, an ever-charming smile on his face. Makeup pristine and perfect- Probably way less effort put into his appearance than Idia and yet he still looked like a supermodel, in his black suit with his hair pinned out of his face. He had an air of elegance that Idia would never achieve- not without years of training.
Idia swallowed, standing up and offering his hand across the table. Vil took it, firmly shaking it, his polite smile burning into Idia’s memory.
“Idia, Ortho. These are the actors who will be starring in the lead roles. Eric Venue, and his son-”
Idia cut his mother off. “Vil Schoenheit. We- uhm- We’re classmates.” Idia made a mental note to never speak again, especially if it meant he’d stupidly stutter mid sentence again. Vil and his father sat down across from Idia and his mother.
“Well then, we can skip the pleasantries of introducing you two, then.” Idia’s mother chuckled. Idia wanted to bury himself in the floor- would it be obvious that he based the design of the main character in the comic off of Vil now, if he were the actor? Or would people assume a coincidence? Relief washed over him as he realized no one except the people at this table would know he was illustrating the comics.
“Idia, mind explaining why you’re here?” Vil’s father asked curiously. He was like a slightly older version of Vil- more toned face and older body, but still with the same handsome charm.
“I- uhm-” Idia took a deep breath. “I illustrate the comic of the book, upload it online. The Author- who cannot be with us due to being in hospital- asks me to represent him for this project, as I’m the illustrator.”
“I didn’t know you drew.” Vil placed his phone on the table, and Idia immediately started staring at his phone case. It definitely suited Vil- simple, with a slight purple tint, although the charm on it was a little out of place- an apple, bow and a peacock. It was cute at least.
“It’s a hobby.” Idia instinctively looked at his reflection in his phone. His hair was tidied- pulled back in a high Ponytail, and his fully-black Suit certainly was higher class fashion than what he was used to. Still, no matter how much effort he had been made to put into his appearance, he didn’t look as good as Vil.
The adults started talking, leaving their sons to discuss,,, Something. Ortho was still reading the book, leaving Idia silently trying to decipher what Vil was thinking.
“It’s quite intriguing. I didn’t know your parents were the sponsors when I accepted.” Idia sighed in relief. Vil was starting small-talk. It was like a weight lifted off of his shoulders.
“I think they accepted because I’m invested in the project. Probably trying to retcon their way into my interests and ruin things again.” Idia laughed awkwardly. “But having an SSR Acting duo like you and your father playing the lead roles is pretty cool I guess- it’s gonna draw traction to the comic and book hopefully.”
“We are a very marketable duo, are we not?” Vil raised an eyebrow and smirked, sending Idia’s brain reeling.
“Uhm- well- you- I-” Idia flushed red, the tips of his hair turning pink and sparking.
“I’m teasing, relax.” Vil smiled softly. “You’re very tense, Idia. I should be the one tense- a change in my career is riding on this role.”
Ortho looked up from his book at Idia’s red face, and giggled a little. “My Big Brother seems embarrassed by your comment from before! There’s a 67.8% chance that-”
Idia plastered his hand over Ortho’s mouth, his hair flickering a deeper red. “Not the time for an analysis on my emotions, Ortho.”
Vil chuckled. “I was looking forward to his input. Ortho, what are you reading?” Vil turned his attention to Ortho, letting Idia pull his phone out.
“The book the movie you’ll be acting in is based off of! I was curious since Big Brother illustrated the comics too!” Ortho pulled the Book up to the table, showing off the cover that Idia had illustrated. “And he illustrated the cover for the reprint!”
Vil raised an eyebrow curiously. “Interesting. To think someone who spends all of his time at school hidden away in his room playing games finds time for something like this- truly you are a curious person, Idia Shroud.”
The waiter came over, interrupting the conversation to take everyone’s orders. Idia mumbled his, and the moment everyone had finished ordering the adults excused themselves from the table to go outside, leaving Idia, Vil and Ortho at the table.
“Are you really going to fight three Princes at the same time in the movie?” Ortho looked up from his book excitedly, yellow eyes sparkling.
Vil glanced at Idia. “That part isn't in the Comic yet, is it?”
“Next update. Ah- Wait wait wait- Vil do you- read the comic?” Idia asked, confused expressions plastered across his pale face.
“Is there a problem with that? I thought you would be glad to know I’ve read the comics, as apparently the body language conveyed in them are some of the inspiration for the acting direction we’re being given.” Vil explained. “Also, I picked up reading the comic when it was being started, I needed something to read inbetween scenes. The art style was appealing, and it had a pretty main character.”
Idia snickered. “Eeehhh, the MC’s designed after someone at our school. I think it’s kinda egotistical of you to say he’s pretty, Vil.” Idia was definitely in the zone now with his comment- social anxiety be damned he was going to make a jab at the perfect housewarden.
“Egotistical? Do you mean he’s designed after me?~” Nope. Absolutely not. Idia couldn’t bring his brain to function when Vil responded in such a flirty tone. All of that cockiness and confidence died with that sentence that Vil blurted out so easily.
“Uhm- I so- kinda- maybe-” Ortho looked quizzically at his brother who was fumbling over his words, and Idia felt the urge to crawl under the table.
“Big Brother, please compose yourself.” Ortho whispered to Idia. Idia coughed, taking a deep breath to recompose himself before starting up an actual sentence.
“Uhm- yeah. Yeah I did base the design off of you.” Idia rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, noticing the fact his hair throughout the conversation had slowly been going redder. Remind me to make a mental note to never show my hair again.
Vil nodded softly. “Interesting. That might have had a hand in why I was cast, do you think?”
“Not really- I mean- I wasn’t involved in the casting. I just drew up the comics and covers. I’m no casting director or costume designer.” Idia’s hands were fumbling in his lap, him cracking his own knuckles nervously as he glanced over at Vil. “I didn’t think you’d be interested in this project, tbh. It doesn’t seem like a normie thing to enjoy. It’s like- the odds of you reading the comic completely on your own while I’m the person drawing it up is like- the odds of max uncapping an ssr limited edition card. Super unlikely for someone unlucky like me.”
“Big Brother, I think you’re scaring him by rambling.” Ortho shut his book, placing it to the side of the table as the three teenagers turned around to watch the waitress bring their dinner over.
“When are your Mother and My Father going to return? They both ordered hot dishes- it’s going to go to waste if they don’t come back in time to eat it.” Vil made a ‘tch’ sound at the back of his throat.
“Dunno. Not my problem.” Idia had already started eating by the time the adults returned- Vil had patiently waited for them to get back. Idia made a mental note that Vil was like, 100x more experienced at having dinner with people.
The rest of the meal was luckily uneventful; the adults went back to talking outside after a round of drinks were ordered- Vil and the adults getting champagne, Idia a cola- and Ortho had gone outside after the adults to keep reading.
Leaving Idia and Vil alone at a way-too big table, staring in silence at anything and everything to avoid eye contact. Vil had taken to staring at his very clean nails that were painted in a shade of purple so close to his eyes- which Idia had not been staring at. Idia couldn’t help but also stare at Vil’s hands. They were nice, sure- Idia had never gotten the whole ‘woa, hands are sexy asf’ appeal, but they were pretty. He guessed.
I mean, an SSR actor and model like Vil was like- 20x out of Idia’s league. It would be like comparing the attack stats of an SSR attack card to a R defense card- the difference was big enough that it would be painfully obvious the difference in skill. And attractiveness.
Idia couldn’t help but look at his own hands after spending like- 3 minutes staring at Vil’s. And he promptly shoved his hands under the table to avoid looking at them.
The awkward silence intensified with every minute that passed without them talking. Vil had moved from staring at his nails to scrolling mindlessly through Magicam- Idia could see the reflection of 30+ unchecked DM’s. Imagine being famous enough that you could afford not to check DM’s. Idia had maybe 2 messages- probably from Azul and his gaming partner- but he could never manage to get over like- 5 messages unchecked before it annoyed him. Except on tumblr- but tumblr was an exception to basically everything.
“Idia, do you have a Magicam?” Vil asked, finally breaking the silence. Normal enough question- a Normie question, if you asked Idia.
“Uh- I mean- I have like- 3? I’ll assume you want my school one-”
“Do you post art on any of them?” Idia swore his heart froze when Vil asked that. He internally raced over his feed- there wasn’t anything NSFW, nor anything exactly cringe- just fanart for the comics- a lot of miku- maybe a drawing or two of cerberus- so it should be fine to give Vil.
“Yeah- I mean- it's fine. Do you- do you want it?”
“If you’re okay with sharing it.” Vil slid his phone across the table, Magicam opened to the search function. It was surprising- to Idia at least- that Vil would trust someone else with his phone. Given any other time, Idia probably would have taken Vil’s phone and gone through all of his DM’s, cleared notifications and tried to find some dirt on Vil. But Vil was trusting Idia to simply search up a Magicam account.
So that’s what Idia did. Typed in his username, hit the follow button, and gave Vil’s phone back. The notification showed up immediately on his own phone, so Idia tapped on it and followed Vil back. It was going to change his feed from a stream of gaming content and Miku art, but he didn’t mind too much- he would just be another one of 5 million people who followed Vil.
And one of 5 accounts Vil followed. No big deal. Or maybe a big deal- Idia wasn’t physically freaking out, but internally he could feel a little bit of pride in getting a follow from Vil. After all, Cater had needed to beg Vil for months for a follow back- Vil had asked to follow him first.
“Uhm- I’m being asked to draw up concepts for some of the outfits for the movie- uhhh so my next few posts I was wondering if I could get some of your input- since you’ll be wearing them- if that’s okay-”
“It should be fine. Just message me the designs or find me at school to show me, I can make a few minutes to check my messages and talk to you. Rook will just have to deal with me being late to our late-night study sessions he insists on making me have.'' The sentiment was kinda sweet- Idia didn’t expect someone like Vil to want to make time to talk to him. It was weird- Normies didn’t normally talk to him. Again, it was the SSR/R card debate from before. Idia was a low-ranking card- like a level 5 player sending a friend request to a level 90 maxed player. It wasn’t supposed to work, talking to someone like Vil.
But it didn’t matter. If Vil was the one reaching out, it was more a High-level player supporting a low-level player. Maybe if Idia could get closer to Vil, he could get Vil to order some stuff that require an in-person purchase-
No. This wasn’t making friends. It was sharing a project for work. Something that would make Vil big figures, and set his career down a new path. Talking to Idia was a necessary part of making sure the product turned out perfectly.
“Idia! We’re going in 5 minutes, could you get the bill?” Idia’s mother called from a few tables away where her and Vil’s father were chatting up another customer.
“Got it.” Idia grumbled, going to stand up.
“I can pay, it’s not an issue.” Vil stood up too, and started walking to the counter at the same time as Idia.
“We’re equally as rich. I don’t mind paying.” Idia muttered.
“Well you wouldn’t think that from the way you dress at school. Honestly Idia, let me have a few minutes with you to work out a skincare routine and tidy you up before school, and I swear you’d go from looking like a homeless person to someone who dresses with finesse.” Vil chided, and got in front of Idia, paying before the blue-haired boy could protest.
“Not happening. I don’t have enough time between when I get up in the mornings and when I'm forced to go to classes by Ortho.”
“What is your sleep schedule?” They continued their conversation as they walked outside the restaurant into the cold of the evening- it had been long dark.
“Eh- Like- 6:30am until like- 5 minutes before classes? I don’t know, I don’t keep an eye on the time.” Idia shrugged. His fingers moved to his hair, tugging the hair tie out and letting his hair loose.
“You’re joking, right?” Vil actually- genuinely, looked concerned. “I can’t believe I’m allowing another housewarden to get away with having such little sleep.”
“Azul’s no better.” Idia pointed out, but Vil wasn’t having any of it.
“Nope, that’s it. I’ll be texting you at exactly 11pm every day to make sure you get sleep.” Vil sighed, pulling his phone out. “Anyway, since we’re heading back to school, care for a ride?”
Idia palmed some of the hair out of his face so that he could look Vil in the eyes. Hades, he probably looked a mess. He could already tell the concealer under his eyes were gone, the deep blue-purple bags probably making him look sick when combined with his pale complexion.
“Yeah. I’ll get Ortho.”
Vil punched a number into his phone as Idia walked over to the bench his brother was sitting on. Somehow, Idia felt that the robot was wearing the fancy outfit better- white jacket with gold accents- truly an angelic appearance.
Idia muttered to Ortho that they were going, and the brothers returned to where Vil was waiting. A car pulled up, and Vil opened the door, gesturing for the two to get in. Ortho slid in, and across to the far seat, and Idia awkwardly climbed into the Middle seat, and watched Vil ever so gracefully lower himself into the seat, shutting the door and instantaneously crossing his legs at the knee. Ortho opened his book again, Vil gave directions to the driver, and Idia simply watched what everyone else did.
Shoved into a car seat next to Vil wasn’t exactly Idia’s first choice to spend the 30 minute drive back to school- The were close enough that Idia could see the little flecks of pigment that covered Vil’s eyelid- he could notice how seamlessly Vil blended his makeup in. The slight hints of yellow in his purple eyes. The fact that Vil’s lipgloss was two shades darker than his natural lip color- the fact even without mascara Vil’s eyelashes were gorgeous.
Idia caught his breath in his throat when Vil turned to look at him, raising an eyebrow. “Do you need something?”
Idia couldn’t bring himself to talk, so he simply shook his head, and pulled his phone out. Anything to avoid finding himself staring at Vil again- Except he opened Magicam to a flood of posts about Vil. Honestly, Idia didn’t remember following so many accounts that posted about Vil, but when he checked he was on his account where he’d been stalking Vil’s posts- so really he wasn’t surprised after he realized that.
For the rest of the drive, Idia mindlessly checked Magicam stories and tumblr posts- watching Vil do the same periodically, although the blond seemed to find more interest in staring out the window than checking the ever-growing number of notifications.
By the time they got to school, It was just past 10. The three quickly ducked onto school grounds, muttering a hushed apology to whatever teacher noticed them out so late. Wind whirled at their feet, and Idia could swear he noticed Vil shiver.
“Well, this is where we should leave each other-”
“Come to Ignihyde for the night?” Idia really wasn’t thinking- surely someone had spiked his cola with alcohol, because to any other person he would have gladly left them to walk across campus alone in the dark.
“Why?”
“There’s a back way- closer to where we are. Plus rain’s forecasted to start in like- 5 minutes. You’ll be in the middle of campus, soaking wet in a fancy suit and wind making you get colder. Surely it’s better to just- come to a closer, warmer room?” Yep, Idia was going insane. Ortho had already rushed back to their room, So Idia’s only logical thinking was long gone, replaced with this strange confidence he had.
“What harm can it do?” Vil sighed. Idia offered him his hand, and led him through the shortcut to Ignihyde.
The inside of the primarily-blue dorm wasn’t cold. In fact, someone probably had turned the heaters on, because the moment the pair walked in they were met with warm air hitting their faces. The dorm was mostly quiet, save for a few students who Idia could hear yelling into their mics and the constant whirring of computers that never seemed to end in Ignihyde. Idia quietly guided Vil to his room, locking the door behind them immediately.
Ortho wasn’t in there- Idia assumed he was in another student's room by the discarded Book and the fact he could hear Ortho. Vil quietly sat down on Idia’s bed, scanning the room. God, Idia prayed he hadn’t left anything out that he didn’t want Vil to see.
“I uhm- have a change of clothes; if you want to sleep- you can have the bed, I have to do some work- uh and the bathroom’s there if you want to shower- sorry there’s not much in the way of beauty products, i have some makeup wipes though.” Idia mumbled, taking the vest and jacket off that he was wearing, leaving him in a black button-up. He turned around to Vil, who was nodding.
“I’ll keep that in mind. Thank you.” Vil discarded his own suit jacket to the floor beside Idia’s bed. Idia pulled a shirt and shorts out of his dresser, tossing them at Vil.
“Should be clean. I haven’t worn them before.” Idia proceeded to fumble with his shirt buttons, leaving himself shirtless as Vil walked over to the bathroom. The two housewardens locked eyes for a second- broken by Idia pulling a hoodie over his head- and Vil shut the bathroom door.
Idia practically collapsed into his chair, flicking his PC on in the same motion as he grabbed a half-finished can of drink and took a sip. Lukewarm- drinkable but still. Not the nicest. He heard the shower flick on, and as he opened some software on his PC, Idia let his mind drift.
Okay sure, he’d designed the MC in the comic he was illustrating off of Vil- and maybe the Villain’s design was inspired by his own appearance. And Maybe Idia had caught himself staring one too many times at Vil over this evening- it wasn’t the first time he found himself admiring Vil’s pretty eyes or done-up hair. And maybe Vil was the perfect typecast for Idia’s Oshi’s in video games- around his height with medium-length hair and fell more into the ‘sexy’ than ‘cute’ categories. But that didn’t mean anything. Nothing at all. Vil was a snobbish housewarden in his year who was addicted to shallow things like makeup and probably girls- a Normie. High class normie. But a normie nonetheless.
Idia tried to focus on his coding- a mini-website he had been setting up so Ortho could post his movie reviews somewhere other than 4chan and tumblr- but he was acutely aware of the way the shower ran. And when the shower stopped. And the sound of Vil’s feet hitting the floor. Honestly Idia couldn’t focus on anything when he knew Vil was in his bathroom. He should have just plugged his headset in- but really didn’t want to seem rude when Vil inevitably walked out of the bathroom.
The click of his bathroom door opening made Idia turn around. The shirt was a little short on Vil, and left a little strip of his stomach exposed- (the sight made Idia stare, but he pulled himself together quickly) but the shorts did fit properly. The blond made his way to Idia’s bed, tugging the blue cover over himself.
“You can keep the shorts, by the way.” Idia said, fishing his headphones off of the side of his desk and plugging them in.
“Goodnight, Idia.” Vil muttered, getting into a comfortable position and falling asleep. Idia hadn’t expected the soft ‘goodnight’, but he could have swore his hair went from Blue to pink in seconds. He shoved his headphones on, pulling a can of drink out of his dresser and cracking it open. Okay, let's see how fast he could speedrun making a cute website for Ortho. Then, he’d play games for a few hours, and then go to sleep. Hopefully.
The website was done in under half an hour, Idia sending the link to Ortho who reminded his brother to sleep. Idia ignored the message, opening up one of the games he’d been playing and starting up some of the event stuff he’d missed due to the dinner.
He didn’t even notice that it had passed 1am when he turned his PC off, opting to play a mobile game on his phone. He stayed at his desk for a few minutes- finishing a third energy drink before crawling into the bed besides Vil. Hopefully he wouldn’t wake Vil up. Hopefully.
“Idia?” Vil’s quiet voice pulled Idia out of his game, responding to Vil’s movement beside him with a hum.
Idia rolled onto his side, facing Vil, who had rolled over to face Idia. Damn. Idia had to admit, for how sexy Vil always looked during the day- without his makeup on and with such a peaceful, tired look on his face, he looked absolutely adorable to Idia.
“Put the phone down and sleep.” Idia took a moment to process, and the phone was already out of his hand, Vil leaning into Idia’s chest to put it on the desk. Idia sighed, his arm instinctively wrapping around Vil before he could realize what he was doing.
“You’re not giving me a choice now, are you?” Idia didn’t flinch with how Vil pressed his face into Idia’s neck.
“Nope. as the Pomefiore housewarden, and a connoisseur of beauty, you need sleep. And we are not getting out of this bed until you get more than 4 hours of sleep.” Vil mumbled, his warm breath hitting Idia’s neck, and sending shivers down his spine. Having Vil pressed against him was 10x warmer and more comfortable than cuddling a body pillow, and even though he was a bit awkward, Vil was clearly a natural.
“You are so lucky we don’t have classes today.” Idia muttered, flicking his last few lights off, and letting his eyes drift shut.
He didn’t hear Vil respond, simply fell into listening to the blond’s breathing pattern, which slowly lulled Idia himself into sleeping.