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Azul is heading to the club room after his final class, only stopping to meet with Jade and Floyd by the college entrance before they all have to go to their clubs for the next couple of hours.
“So, are you gonna ask him today then?” asks Jade brightly, that knowing tone as Floyd leans against the wall and chuckles.
“He’s gonna ask out firefly squid with his little scrabble game.” taunts Floyd with a chuckle that has Azul scowling and rolling his eyes at the taller man.
“It is a smart move as Idia is known for his gaming tendencies. Plus, it will make it fun competitively as it’s board game day.” teases Jade thoughtfully with a hum, tapping his finger against his chin as he does, smiling when Azul’s face gets even more red at the teasing.
“It’s actually tournament day, and we voted on scrabble. That’s the only reason this could work, but it completely depends on the pieces I get and placement.” replies Azul quietly as he tries to wave off his embarrassment and explain his plan a little bit better as he adjusts his bag and wand placements. “The others in the club agreed to help along with Ortho, but there is still far more room for error. As such, I plan to draw up a contract or two once I arrive at the lounge as back-up plans.”
“If firefly squid doesn’t figure it out, I’ll give ‘im a big ‘ole squeeze for ya before you approach him with the contract. But I gotta go before sea snake and crabby get grumpy with me, and I have to squeeze both of ‘em. Good luck!” says Floyd before he’s brushing past his twin and their partner-in-crime and heading towards the gym for the basketball club.
“Your brother is a little too happy to squeeze people, but in this situation, I actually kinda appreciate the sentiment.” sighs Azul softly before he’s turning around, planning to head to the game club room because he needs to get there and help Idia jot out their tournament bracket since he’d randomized it earlier.
“We will both handle Shroud if things don’t go the way you want it to, Azul. But we also happen to have an idea about how this will end, as such there are betting pools that we are a part of. You’ve got this.” says Jade softly, teasing tone and honest to a fault before he’s disappearing towards the doors to the courtyard in the opposite direction as his brother.
“How I managed to continue to do business with those two, I will never know. But a betting pool, hm, I wonder if Jade provided any information to our binders that could help us with future contracts or potential deals at the lounge.” mumbles Azul thoughtfully with a shake of his head as he takes off again, no detour in sight as he heads to the gaming club’s room.
He’s nervous as he enters, but he’s still managed to get there before anyone else aside from Idia and Ortho. This means he has some time with the Shroud brothers before the others crowd in.
“Ah, Azul! I was wondering if you’d make it. You hadn’t texted me, and Floyd stuck his head in the room to tell me you’d got caught up with something but should be here soon. But I was still worried.” mumbles Idia as he looks over the printed sheet in his hands, but Azul smiles softly as he catches sight of light pink ends on blue flaming hair.
“Ah, yes, Jade needed to talk with me about something for the Lounge. Nothing major, but it did distract me for a few moments longer than planned. Anyways, is that the bracket? We should get it written up on the board, yes?” replies Azul lightly, a shark-like smile coming into play because Ortho is shooting him a thumbs-up which means the first part of his plan has been put in action.
“Yeah, the randomizer put us on either side of the bracket, so it looks like there might be a high chance that we’ll be facing off in the end. I hope you’re ready for the boss level that I am in scrabble, Azul.” says Idia with a smirk of confidence and pride because he has won the scrabble tournament every single time they’ve played, even with Azul being in the bracket.
“Ah, now Idia, you know I’ve been studying for this. Though it is nice that there will be warm-up rounds before we face off again because it means I’ll get more practice to handle you in the final round.” replies Azul with a half-smirk as he sees the bracket and starts writing when he joins Idia by the whiteboard.
As the others wander into the room, Azul finishes up the bracket while Idia and Ortho finish setting up the boards and pieces.
“Alright, it’s Tournament day, and we’ve got scrabble set up for us to play!” announces Idia proudly as he looks at everyone from his spot at the table near the bracket. “Let’s get started, Ortho will handle marking the bracket after every decisive win upon his judgment! Take your places at a chosen spot and wait for your opponent to join, Ortho will announce when it’s time to start.”
“Yes and remember to do your best. The winner of the tournament gets to decide the next tournament game and date! As well as getting free drinks of your choice for a week at the Lounge!” adds Azul as he takes his own place at a spot further from Idia to avoid getting distracted because this is his usual Idia appreciation time, and he can’t afford to lose this.
The cheers that come out of their group has Azul chuckling as Idia just grins in response. Everyone takes their places, and Azul nods appreciatively when his opponent subtly gives him a thumbs-up. Everyone is primed to help make this happen, and while he knows it’s because he offered to give them all free drinks for a week and come up with a gamer club drink for them all before their week begins.
The only thing he refused to compromise on was their playing because he wanted a fair shot. If he didn’t make it to a match against Idia, he and Ortho had another plan in place, all he needed from their club was help with the pieces and keeping Idia out of the know. That thumbs up showed that he still knows nothing, and everyone will give it their all. Azul is smirking as Ortho tells them to get to scrabbling, this is his element outside of contracts, the lounge, and school, and he’s ready.
The first two matches were quick and easy for him, and Azul knows their small club makes it a lot easier for these tournaments to go quick. But as he reaches the final round on his side of the bracket They’ve got six total matches on each board, the four main matches down to the final two to the final match on that side to see who enters the final match. Azul only has to compete in three to get to Idia, but as he gets in the thick of this third match, he’s questioning whether he should’ve taken off the forfeit or purposefully losing option of the discussion he had with the group. His head is pounding, and this match is going on longer than it should. Even Idia seems particularly invested as he’s already been chosen as the final boss, but he’s not close enough to hear them when they mutter under their breaths about the letter choices.
“Do you want me to lose?” asks the first year from Heartslabyul, a new joiner, he seems like it might be physically painful to do, but he’s genuine.
“No, don’t worry about that, let’s just play to the end.” replies Azul as he waves him off because while he might’ve been thinking about it with his hat on, he’d taken it off three moves ago, and he’s not putting it back on when he has contingency plans.
He’s genuinely here as Azul, not as Octavinelle’s housewarden, not head of the Mostro Lounge, not the fearful contract maker, just Azul. This is why he loves the gaming club, as he sets out another word, getting double points, and he knows it’s why Idia made him vice president of the club so quickly after not letting anyone hold the spot.
The kid looks so relieved as he lays out his word as well, and they’ve finally reached the point of covering most of the board because that’s the rule they’re playing with, until the final game. Ortho loves counting points in this game, and they actually enjoy testing whether they get the points right, it’s a fun competitive thing which has rewards as well. A simple one of choosing the snacks for the next meet depending on the top three closest guesses over the course of three meets. Just something fun to help Idia test out some of Ortho’s new updates, and to keep their minds sharp as well, and they all enjoy it.
Even if Azul and Idia don’t take part in it because that just wouldn’t be fair for everyone else because their math is never wrong.
“Ortho, points time.” calls Azul as he finishes up filling where he can with the pieces they were given.
Ortho flies over to them excitedly, there’s just no other way to describe the way it looks like he’s bouncing on his feet when he technically doesn’t have any.
“Any guesses?” asks Ortho as he begins to count, and the newbie tells him what he’s thinking, but Azul already knows he’s off by too much to be considered a winner this time around.
Which is a shame because he’s pretty sure this kid won the money guesses hands-down when they played monopoly a month ago.
“Azul wins by ten points, good job Azul!” cheers Ortho as he flies off to the board to finish the markings.
“Good game, Azul!” cheers the Heartslabyul boy despite his competitive nature that Azul thinks could actually rival Deuce and Ace’s depending on their moods.
“You as well, Mikel.” replies Azul as he slips his hat back on his head and walks over to where Idia has chosen their table for the final match. “You ready, Shroud?”
“I’m always ready, Ashengrotto, and you know it. Boss level, friend, I hope you’re ready for it.” Idia’s grinning wide and scary-like, but Azul just huffs and raises a brow as he tries to ignore the stab of hurt at the word choice.
“Boss level, sure. I’m going to beat you this time, Shroud. Or, at the very least, I’m going to end your twenty-point lead record.” replies Azul just before Ortho can tell them to get to playing, and then they’re focused on the board as the club surrounds them to watch their vice president and president go after each other.
Azul doesn’t notice it at first, but after a few turns, he realizes what Ortho and the others did. They’ve given Idia some of the pieces that make what he wants while giving him the additional pieces. So, as they play, Azul spells it out just using them as words because he knows Idia won’t pay attention to the board unless it’s called out. Everyone knows not to call it out because Azul is going to make Idia read it at the end, when it’s just them and Ortho, before the board gets cleared no matter the winner. “Will You Go Out With Me” The only thing missing is the question mark as Ortho ends the game, declaring Idia as the winner again.
“Good job, Idia. Well-played game, friend.” says Azul like the word doesn’t make him feel physically ill, smiling softly at the proud Ignihyde housewarden.
“Thank you, Azul, and you did really well too. Beat my record, left me with the win by three points. You almost had me this time, maybe next time you’ll be the final boss!” exclaims Idia even as he checks with Ortho throughout the conversation because Ortho is trying to get him to expand his dictionary out of the gaming world, with the help of Starry, Cater, Kalim, Jamil, and the other first years as well.
“I appreciate that, so you wanna call the end of the meeting? I can do it, if you’d like.” says Azul with a chuckle before he realizes that they are completely alone, Ortho is taking off out the doors as well. “Hmm… I- I’m not entirely sure where they all just went, and where is Ortho going?”
“T-that I- I d-don’t k-know, stu-stupid b-brother l-leaving m-me w-with a n-normie, what a critical hit to my heart right now.” grumbles Idia as he looks away from Azul.
Azul would feel upset, but there are shimmers of pink at the ends of Idia’s hair again.
“Don’t worry about it, but uh, Idia… I need to ask you to do something for me-” Azul starts talking only for Ortho to fly back into the room and knock over a table. “Oh, well, hi again, Ortho. Everything okay?”
“Yep! Totally fine! I just realized that I was supposed to grab something from Kalim before his club got over, he wanted Idia to check out this game from his childhood! He and Jamil had to search for it for ages when they went home, but we’ve all been so busy that we haven’t been able to meet up to exchange gifts! I gave him the game, Idia!” explains Ortho happily even as he carefully vacuums up the pieces that fell to the ground before taking them over to the scrabble box and dropping them inside, then he’s taking over cleaning as usual.
“Oh, right, I forgot about that! Totally went AFK when school started again.” mumbles Idia to himself, almost like he’s disappointed in himself.
“We all kind of went, what was it? Oh, right. We all kind of went AFK when school started again, too many messes to clean up just from our own students and the headmaster.” replies Azul with a light chuckle as Ortho finishes cleaning up before hovering over them and looking at him with those big eyes of his. “Before you clean this board up, Idia, I left a question there for you. And no, it didn’t mess up my gameplay, but it was a goal. When you find the question, send Ortho to the lounge with your answer. I only need a yes or no answer, and it will be respected no matter the option. But I know how much extroverted interaction can mess you up, especially after a long day, and the twins should be back at the lounge already to discuss some things for the special menu. Message me your special drink too since you won fair and square. But I gotta go, the twins are going to make a mess of the lounge if I don’t tell them what we’re supposed to be testing.”
Azul hurries from the room with red cheeks because he lost his composure far quicker than he planned, and great sevens knows none of that probably made sense considering it sounded like stupid gibberish to his own ears. But hopefully, Ortho will help him out again. That’s his only hope that he chants in his head over and over again as he makes it to the mirror and back to the lounge.
“Jade, Floyd! Are you two ready to start testing drinks and food?” calls Azul as he makes his way to his office because he has all of the recipes and notes and contracts in there. “I should’ve gone over all of this yesterday, but maybe it will be a good distraction.”
His phone beeps as he makes his way back to the main part of the lounge and sets them on the bar space after a quick glance at his tables show they haven’t been cleaned properly.
“I’m going to punish the whole lot of them, why didn’t they clean this place up properly?” grumbles Azul as he pulls his phone out to see a message in their “Fish Mafia” group chat.
The chat was originally called Octavinelle Leaders, but then the non-mage came along and called them the Fish Mafia, and Floyd instantly changed the name and made sure nobody could change it back.
Floyd: Practice is going to run late cause crabby is in a mood, and sea snake has decided we gotta help him out.
Jade: I’m actually helping Trey with some baking in Heartslabyul, so I won’t be of much use for a little while. We shall talk about the new menu options later; do remember we’re supposed to be closed for three more days.
“Of course, of course they figured out other plans to stay out of the lounge. Well, at least Riddle might actually owe me a Mostro Lounge visit if Jade and Trey get together officially this week.” mumbles Azul as he shakes his head and sends a simple thumbs-up because he needs to clean these tables and get to work.
It takes him only a minute to decide he will make everyone else clean the other tables, he just needs his one, and he’d like to get through these papers before the exhaustion hits. He’s just finishing wiping the table down when panting reaches his ears, and he turns with wide eyes only to freeze at the sight of Idia standing there with fully pink, flamed hair, hands on his knees as he tries to catch his breath.
“I-Idia?” Azul shocks himself when the name falls from his lips, but Idia straightens and swallows hard as he looks at him.
“Yes, I- Yes, Azul. Yes, I’ll go out with you.” Idia stutters after a harsh swallow as he still manages to say it, and when Azul’s lips curve in the brightest grin he’s ever seen, he decides the exercise was worth it to see this.
“Really? You mean it? I swear, we can do something low-key! A gaming date, maybe? I’ll plan everything! I’m so glad you said yes. I was worried I’d have to use a contract to get you to agree to at least one date, but everyone said I shouldn’t resort to contracts. It took forever to come up with the scrabble idea, especially because I didn’t know when we’d play it again, but then Ortho made it so much easier. And you made it so easy too that it was like it was fate, though I was still really worried because I didn’t think you’d be interested… like at all, I know I’m a bit much sometimes.” Azul is rambling, and Idia is grinning so hard at the sight because he knows, he knows from their conversations and what he’s heard in other conversations that Azul doesn’t ramble with anyone except the twins. This is young Azul, and he is so damn happy he gets to see it.
“Azul, you and me on a date. Low-key or wild, I don’t really care. Granted, wild is definitely a boss level that I’m wholly unprepared for at the moment, but I’ll take the critical hit for you.” says Idia softly as he steps forward, not close enough to touch, but enough that Azul can almost feel the heat wafting from his hair. “As long as it’s you and me, and you’re ready for stuttering, that’s all I care about because I definitely didn’t think you’d be interested in me. This already sounds like it’ll be amazing, and I’m excited for it.”
“How does Sunday sound? It’s the only day I’m free, and I know you don’t have a new gaming update coming out until Tuesday next week, so you should be able to spare me three hours without ruining your stats!” Azul’s ducking his head shyly after he asks the question to explain his reasoning behind the date, nervous that Idia will think it’s weird that he knows about his games and when the updates come out.
“Sounds like a plan, and you don’t have to hide your face from me, Azul. I know your lounge schedule by heart by now, specifically your lounge schedule. I’m pleasantly surprised that you’ve managed to keep track of the games I play the most and their updates, and you’re not wrong. I also have high stats already, so if there are any slip-ups, it won’t take more than five hours to fix them. So, do you want to meet in the hall of Mirrors for our date then?” replies Idia with a soft smile as he shakily reaches out to lift Azul’s face with his hand as his fingers lightly pinch at his chin, he quickly removes his hand when those eyes meet his, but he let himself have that moment from the romance dramas he loves to watch and romance NPC games he plays.
“Hall of Mirrors, yes… Yes! We’ll meet there... Great sevens, you’re confident right now, Idia.” Azul chuckles lightly as his cheeks heat up uncomfortably so.
“Yeah, it’s the adrenaline, I think. Don’t worry, I’m going to freak out like a normie as soon as I’m hidden in my room, but I’m kind of just running with this right now because you deserve it.” mumbles Idia shyly as he crinkles his nose, but Azul brushes a finger down his nose to end that movement.
“Well, could I ask for something while the adrenaline is still there, Idia?” asks Azul hopefully, nervous as his hand cups that cool cheek of Idia’s.
“S-Sure, b-but I d-don’t p-put o-out before a d-date, l-let a-alone af-after t-the f-first o-one. Dammit Idia, stop listening to Cater.” Idia twists his head away to berate himself, and Azul just grins all shark-like because yeah, no doubt Idia talked to Cater about this at some point, even if he made it seem more related to his dramas or his games.
“I agree though, so maybe don’t stop listening to Cater.” offers Azul with that grin as Idia turns to him wide-eyed before seeming to melt and lean into the other hand that comes up to cup his other cheek. “But I was going to ask if you’d be okay with a kiss… You’re kind of super adorable right now, and I have the urge to kiss you. I won’t push obviously, first kisses are meant for the end of dates, but it’s kind of really strong, so I wanted to ask.”
Idia gapes at him for a moment, jaw dropped and surprise rushing over his features as much as the blush that joins to shine alongside that pink hair engulfing the blue that started to show. Azul lets a hand move back to run through the flamed hair, feeling the heat that’s almost like the warmth of a fire, not burning, just comfortable and relaxing, soft and calming. That’s Idia.
“Y-you.. Uh… Y-you c-can k-kiss m-me, b-but I- I’ve n-never d-done t-this b-before.” murmurs Idia with this awe-filled voice that makes Azul smile softly at him because it’s adorable.
“Neither have I, but we can learn together, Idia.” replies Azul quietly before he’s lifting on his toes.
Idia smiles almost gratefully as he bends down, their foreheads touch almost hesitantly, and then Azul’s pushing himself up a little bit more and brushing their lips together softly. Idia adds to the kiss lightly, but then they’re pulling away as a loud huff hurtles through the air.
“I can’t believe Crabby is so stupid!” yells Floyd as Azul and Idia pull away and separate, looking away from each other as their faces turn beet red. “Oh, hey, you two. Everything okay? Your faces are as red as my goldfish’s when I bother him!”
“We’re fine, Floyd. I’m going to walk Idia out, okay? Don’t break anything.” replies Azul as he waves Floyd off before taking a cool hand in his and leading Idia out of the lounge before he combusts from embarrassment. “I’m so sorry about that.”
“D-don’t b-be… We c-can t-try a-again a-after o-our d-date o-on Sunday.” mumbles Idia as they head over to Ignihyde’s mirror.
“I’d love that… I’ll message you later, okay?” asks Azul quietly, smiling softly as Idia looks at him.
“Of course, you know I’ll be awake.” chuckles Idia nervously as he rubs a hand on the back of his neck.
“I know, talk later, handsome.” replies Azul as he reaches up quickly to press his lips lightly to Idia’s cheek before he runs back through the Octavinelle mirror.
“I cannot believe you left him out there like that, Azul. He was in shock and touching his cheek like he was lovesick. I’m glad he said yes though.” Jade’s voice shocks Azul out of his trance of touching his lips as he buries his face in the register counter.
“Did he get back to his dorm?” asks Azul as he twists around to look at Jade.
“He did, Trey and I snapped him out of it, and he stuttered his way through the mirror. Oh, and Riddle told me to tell you he’d be messaging you in an hour’s time about your deal. He seemed to be conflicted between being happy and mad.” replies Jade as his brows scrunch together in confusion and curiosity.
“Ah, I’m glad to see it turned out the way I thought. Well, I am going to just take my contracts and such back to the office and lock them up. I know I won’t be able to focus now, so I’ll have to get up earlier to work on them before classes. Goodnight Jade, Floyd.” says Azul thoughtfully, a soft smile on his lips because this means Jade and Trey are officially together, though he hasn’t told him that yet.
“Oh, before you go… Trey and I- Uh- We’re dating now.” Jade’s words are loud through the silent Lounge, but Floyd cheers even louder as he runs and tackles his brother in his excitement.
“I’m happy for you, Jade, but there’s no way I’m getting involved in that. Make sure you tell me when your dates are so I can schedule them off for you, but don’t slack because of your boyfriend. You hold me accountable, and I’ll hold you accountable. And when Floyd asks Riddle out, finally, we can do as we’ve always done again. See you both in the morning.” calls Azul over his shoulder as he grabs the contracts and heads for the office, smiling as the twins’ voices get louder and their typical scuffle begins.
Tonight went exactly as he dreamed it would, yet not how he expected it to. But he’s so glad it did because now he has a date with Idia, Jade is officially with Trey, and Floyd didn’t have to squeeze Idia or Trey. Now to plan the best date Idia has ever dreamed of going on… Maybe he should ask Ortho for help to find out what Idia’s been watching and what games he’s been playing.
That’s going on the to-do list for the morning., for now, he’s going to go dream of that soft kiss that left him feeling like he was flying, perfect and sweet until it was ruined by Floyd’s huffiness. He has to wonder how their kiss will go after their date, will it be just as soft, closed mouth, and heart fluttery? Or will it be heat inducing? He hopes it will be a bit of both, nothing too heated, but maybe a little more pressure than lips brushing against lips.
As Azul finally falls onto his bed, he just knows this year is going to end on the highest note possible after everything they’ve gone through. This year is finally looking up.