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It was another chaotic day at Night Raven College. Ace thinks he and Deuce should be used to it by now, having now had two years to get used to it, but no. Being nominated for the dorm leader and vice positions and then taking up those positions was way more work than Ace was expecting on top of the third year activities. He wished he or Deuce had taken up Riddle's offer to fill in the empty vice leader spot after Trey and Cater graduated, but the second year curriculum was way more challenging than what they had faced in their first years, so they'd felt like they had to decline.
How stupid they were to not go through that trial period. Riddle had taken in a fellow third year student he knew, and so graduated from NRC with Heartslabyul in Ace and Deuce's hands.
At least Ace wasn't the one wearing heels.
"Ugh, I think I have a headache," Ace sighs as he flops onto the large bed in the only singles bedroom in all of Heartslabyul. It was so spacious and cozy~
"Were Set and Noven acting up again?" Deuce asks, sitting daintily next to Ace on the bed. He starts to bend over himself, slowly starting to wiggle his feet out of his dorm outfit's knee-high boots, mindful of the large decoration at the front. "I heard from August that they were fighting again."
"Yea yea, but don't worry, dorm leader, I got it all handled."
"My reliable vice," Deuce laughs. Ace smacks Deuce on the lower back, making the other jolt forward. His high ponytail jumps and spills over his shoulder. Ace watches it as he ruffles his own hair to free it of being under a hat from the few hours he was here at the dorm.
Deuce had confessed at the end of their first year that he wanted to try growing his hair out, staring at their upperclassmen that were graduating. Cater, Kingscholar, Schoenheit, Draconia--all had long hair and were some of the smartest (and shrewdest) people they knew. Factor in second years like Jamil and Silver, and Ace understood where his friend was coming from. Ace had teased Deuce about keeping up with hair care.
But Deuce has been taking care of his hair well. He looks good in a high ponytail too. Looks more mature and cool. Ace has grown-up enough to admit that about his friend.
Groaning, Deuce finally manages to pop off the boots and flop back into his bed with Ace, crawling to get his knees further up the mattress. Ace giggles, voice still light with mischief and energy. He reaches a hand out to tug at Deuce's ponytail, drawing it out over Deuce's shoulder to fall over and tickle his neck. Deuce grunts and swats his hair back.
"Cmon, you have to sit up again. Gotta brush your hair out."
"Noooo," Deuce whines. "I'll shower in the morning, so just leave it."
Ace snorts, flicking his friend on the forehead. "Ew, gross, I don't want to sleep with an unbathed person."
"Then sleep on the floor. Or better yet, go back to your actual room," Deuce grunts, frowning as he hit Ace on the shoulder.
"And give up our streak of two years of being in the same room? No way. It's a miracle we're still together." Ace laughs with his eyes closed and tries to think up a joke about how glued to each other they were, but when he opens his eyes and mouth to say something, he catches sight of Deuce's expression then. His face is squished into the mattress, eyebrows relaxed and gaze soft as he smiles.
"Yea, it's been a long time since we've been together," he whispers, looking up at Ace. Ace swallows, feeling his wide smile shrink just a bit in embarrassment. When Deuce says it like that with that expression, it feels more intimate than how they really are.
"Yep," Ace says, cutting the soft tension between them. Deuce didn't startle, only seemed to smile wider. "Anyway, sit up! I'll brush your hair out for you since you're so lazy." Ace smacks the back of Deuce's thighs as he crawls off the bed towards the vanity and grabs a blue hairbrush. When he turns back around, Deuce is fluffing up pillows and turns around to lay half of his back and his neck on them, sighing in relief as his legs splay outward and he pulls his ponytail free from between his back and pillow tower. He's taken up all of the bed's horizontal space like that.
Ace rolls his eyes but gets to work. When he gently rolls Deuce's black scrunchie out of his hair, he rolls a hand over the funny wave in the hair from staying up for so long. He smiles to himself as he starts to brush Deuce's hair.
It's always been like this, ever since the second week of Deuce's step into dorm leadership. Ace had been doing his fair share of work, of course, but it wasn't him who constantly had to coordinate with faculty and other dorm leaders. Despite how enthusiastic and childish he acts sometimes, Deuce doesn't have a big social battery. Compound that with most of his interactions being professional, jargon-filled prattle, and well, even Ace would get tired.
So, Ace had offered to help Deuce brush his hair out before bed, just to help his friend relax and feel tended to. Since then, they've been doing this at least twice a week when they had the downtime to relax. Ace isn't overly sappy or anything, but he can't deny he is affectionate to his friends. He loves to sling his arm around a friend's shoulders or clap them on the back, and Deuce has been getting the brunt of Ace's affection for years now. It's only natural to Ace that he wants his friends to feel good and happy, even if it took him a while to mature and understand that about himself.
Though, maybe it was the mood earlier, but tonight feels more heavy. In a sleepy, warm way. Ace's throat feels tight and Deuce's long eyelashes seemed to flutter with a push of A/C air. Gently brushing back Deuce's bangs exposes his forehead, and Ace stares as the small, navy-blue baby hairs curl down back onto Deuce's forehead, forming a cute, wispy curtain. It moves something in Ace, something heavy and warm in his stomach and hands as he leans down to place a kiss on Deuce's head, just above his hairline.
Deuce's eyes flash open, shining aqua eyes staring up at Ace in shock.
And people say Deuce is the dumber of the two, the brawn to Ace's questionable-but-undoubtedly-there brain. That they help each other by covering the other's weak points. And that's true, Ace tends to be smarter than Deuce and they tend to appraise and know when something's out of the league of the other, but Deuce isn't completely stupid like implied. No, he can't be, because his gaze softens when he realizes what emotion Ace has on his face.
Sitting up and turning around, Deuce presses a kiss to Ace's head too, kissing the crown of it. He pulls back as Ace still stares at Deuce, and Ace doesn't know what expression or emotion he's even wearing anymore, but Deuce seems to get it. He always gets what Ace is thinking.
"Come on, it's late. Help me set the pillows back." Deuce pulls on Ace's hand, making him stumble. "We can talk in the morning if you want."
If you want, because Deuce has always been mostly receptive and accepting of Ace's plans and thoughts. The other way around? Not so much, not too often. However, that's just another part of their dynamic with each other, another seam in the fabric of the relationship.
And isn't that exciting? Knowing that you and another person have been unknowingly but so intensely knitting the selves into each other to create a beautiful braid made up of only you and them? You, them, and love at the core, with ribbons of time and patience and learning woven in.
Ace huffs out a laugh, shuffling around in Deuce and his--their--bed, placing the pillows they use and hold in their sleep back to their proper places as Deuce turns off the light and they fall into place, side by side.
Yea, they'll talk in the morning. Starting off the morning with "I love you" isn't a bad start at all.