Chapter Text
Chase yawned, leaning against a wall as he listened to the prince talk about the grand ball for later in the story. This was probably one of the more boring books Deacon could have ever picked, in Chase's opinion. Yes, they had only made it about a quarter through the story, yes, maybe Chase was getting a bit impatient, and yes, maybe the slight tightness of his white ankle boots was making him nervous of walking around and not being able to trust his own two feet. He yawned again, looking around before spotting a familiar swoop of golden hair.
Teddy.
Teddy, being the hero key user whom he and Deacon had met a short while ago while looking for books. Chase could remember it like it happened yesterday. Him and Deacon at the dusty old library, Deacon being the one doing more of the looking and Chase mostly just sitting around, waiting for Deacon to finish looking for enough books.
Chase would have either be humming a song, writing some lyrics, or just overall complaining. But the day they had met Teddy, he had just been looking around, eventually spotting the clumsy green eyed idiot fumbling over something shiny in his pocket before dropping it on the ground, the object making a loud sounding clink on the wooden floor. Only then did Chase realize it wasn't just some random object the poor guy was struggling to hold - it was a key. In fact, it was the very same key he had lost at the flea market when getting Bronze.
After realizing that fact, Chase had quietly notified Deacon, who seemed a bit skeptical at first. But, with some nonchalant staring and sighs, Deacon finally approached the boy, making up some random excuse to start up a conversation and eventually, after what seemed like years of talking to Chase, managing to get the boy to come over for, ‘book bonding.’
So, that was how they managed to find the hero key user. Teddy.
Chase looked away before he could think any more, studying the outfit Silver had conjured up for him. As usual, it was more on the brighter side of things, quite a contrast to his boyfriend's usual outfits. The white ankle boots over his feet each had a miniature gemstone engraved into the tip of it. His teal pants were both loose and tight, a nice and even style that Chase seemed to appreciate. His shirt was a few shades darker than the pants. The shirt sleeves had been rolled up naturally, yet another design choice made by Silver. The look was completed with two white gloves, covering his hands neatly.
He stretched as he looked over at Deacon, who was trying to memorize the notes he had brought in.
“...You're such a dork,” Chase spoke, testing to see if Deacon was listening. He wasn't, as usual. Heck, Chase could say anything he wanted and Deacon probably wouldn't even notice.
In fact - he actually had once. He snickered as he recalled the memory. Deacon, muttering like crazy and reviewing the notes like there was no tomorrow and Chase making fun of him. Oh what fun it was.
I miss Buddy…
Chase groaned at the thought, trying to shake his boyfriend off his mind and glancing back at Teddy.
Hey what's he looking….
Chase studied Teddy's stare for a moment, noticing how dreamily he was staring before finally tracking the gaze to Deacon's face. He gasped, finally realizing what this stare meant after seeing it many times before.
“OooOooh, he's got the stare~!”
Deacon, finally paying attention, looked over at Chase.
“Who? Teddy?”
Chase nodded, grinning as he finally managed to get the freckled face Deacon out of his trance. “Yup. He's got the love stare.”
“Love sta-” Deacon sighed. “Not this again…Chase, he's probably just waiting for his part in the story…”
“Mhm. Waiting and staring lovingly at the nerdiest nerd of them all,” Chase nudged Deacon in the side. “C'mon, girls aren't the only thing you can fall for.”
__
Chase wandered through the halls of the palace, eyeing all the shiny things. Hm…I wonder if I can take any of these things out of the book. Probably not but at least they look cool.
He picked up a small glass flower, twirling it in his hand as he looked around the ball, spotting Teddy once more. He rolled his eyes. Man why do I always find other people's boyfriends? Where's mine?!
Chase lost his grip on the flower, sending it shattering on the ground.
“...oops.”
He awkwardly bent down and swept it to the side, being careful not to touch it. Even though it wouldn't matter that he had cleaned it up, it still felt right to do.
He walked around the ballroom, standing beside Deacon. “Hey, Dorkin, have you seen Buddy? I haven't seen him since the beginning of the story.”
“No, I've been busy sticking to the plot,” He shot a slight glare at Chase, to which Chase responded with a shrug before continuing. “Well his part should be coming up soon. The villainess goes up to the princess and…”
As Deacon continued ranting about the book, Chase caught Teddy, with that same lovestruck stare. Chase let out another groan, snapping Deacon out of his temporary rambling.
“What now? All you've been doing is complaining and-”
“Teddy is doing that staring thing agaiiiin!! And you're being a dorky dork!” Chase practically yelled, doing an ‘overdramatic’ point with his arms over to Teddy.
“Well he's-”
“Nuh uh!! No excuses! No, ‘oH bUt hEs jUsT wAiTiNg fOr hIs part’ or ‘hEs JuSt bOrEd, PrObAbLy’ because he is literally dancing right now! Heck, I'm actually surprised he can actually slow dance. I mean, maybe he took classes or something but-” Chase paused, shaking his head. “Point is, you're an oblivious dork! He's down bad and you're not even- UGHHHHH!!” Chase clawed at his hair as he noticed Deacon had tuned him out, going back to his notes.
This is so infuriating!! This is blasphemy! This is nuts! This is madness! This is a bunch of other fancy words I don't have time to list!
Chase crossed his arms, turning away and blowing his bangs up (only to have them fall back down over his face). Why is everyone so oblivious?! Just open your eyes you dork!
Chase immediately snapped out of his pouting phase as Buddy approached the pair, all dolled up in his absolutely amazing outfit, possibly designed by Violet. Which, Chase assumed, was designed by her, since he had no idea what Ex Libris was doing or if they were a bunch of rich snobs. Gosh, I really need to stop obsessing over these gorgeous outfits...
__
Chase yawned. Man, how long can one book be? This felt like it was taking years. Why can't there just be a happily ever after already.
He sighed, watching as Teddy approached the princess slowly. Man this last scene couldn't be any more boring could it?
He looked back over at Deacon, who also seemed a bit bored of the book, which was shocking considering he was the one who had picked it in the first place. I wonder why he didn't pick another pirate themed one. I thought he was into that stuff.
Chase shrugged, looking back as the story finally came to an end, Teddy having already left the book before he and the princess could kiss.
“Great, it's over. Now let's get out of here. This was probably one of the most boring books of all time.”
“You just don't know how to appreciate the art of writing….” Deacon sighed, pulling out his key as Chase did the same, the two boys returning to Chase's bedroom, where Teddy sat with Goldie on the floor next to him.
“Well that book sure was something…” Teddy picked Goldie up gently. “Who's picking next time?”
“Ugh, don't ask, you'll get him to take out the journal!” Chase flipped onto the floor, setting down an open pack of cheese pretzels for Silver and Bronze.
“The…journal-?”
“It's where Deacon keeps the schedule,” Chase groaned as he saw Deacon getting out the journal, spotting Teddy's lovestruck stare once more, but not even bothering to make a comment on it.
“Well let's see….Since I picked this time, that would mean….Chase picks the next two times and then it's your turn Teddy,” Deacon put away the journal, Teddy finally snapping out of his trance-like state and nodding.
“A-Alright, see you next week then!”