Chapter Text
Colleges typically didn’t organize proms. That was what Enot had believed—and what most of everybody had thought for the longest time. It just made sense. Proms were for the immature, less sophisticated children who were still raw-dogging it through high school; Enot wanted to believe that college wouldn’t be like that, considering all of his seriously negative past experiences with prom events.
It felt cruel that, despite it being taboo, the Downpour College for Slugcats and Scavengers was holding a promenade. It felt even crueler that Enot had not a single friend available to even be invited as his date.
Well, there was Survivor, of course—but Enot never exactly considered Survivor ‘date’ material. The two were as thick as thieves, as close as friends could get—but neither of them had ever seen each other in a romantic light.
So basically, this was his last chance. A girl he’d been taking calculus with. The two had shared work and notes a few times, but their relationship never grew beyond that—but still, it was Enot’s best chance at scoring a date. Honestly, at this point, Enot would have settled for a ‘friend date’. At least it’d mean he wouldn’t be alone for Valentine’s Day.
—Oh, right. Not only did Downpour College decide to hold a prom, it also was being held on Valentine’s Day. Which meant that if Enot showed up alone, that would be even more pathetic.
Enot sighed wistfully to himself. He was many layers above the Metropolis ground level, as that was where his aforementioned ‘last-chance-to-score-a-date’ girl lived. Just one small dorm amongst the many on campus. Not that he minded. Enot really just wanted someone that cared for and loved him—anything other than that was unimportant.
A slight anxiety tugged on Enot’s heart. What if this didn’t work? What if he was rejected again, just like the several other girls he’d asked out? He would be totally, completely, entirely alone!
“So..? Are you knocking, or what?” Survivor sighed. He stood beside Enot while sluggishly tapping away at his phone. Clear, dark circles showed below the white slugcat’s eyes, only being accentuated by his slow blinking. Enot knew from long chats and late-night gaming sessions that Survivor wasn’t the type to get a lot of sleep at night.
Sighing, Enot nodded. “Yeah, I’m just… waiting. Strategically,” he replied, tugging as his t-shirt collar. The dark blue t-shirt that Enot had been wearing hung loosely from his body, not quite hugging his figure like Survivor’s jacket seemed to do for him. Enot’s physical properties were just… not what most people would consider masculine. He was slim, soft, kind of fluffy, and a bit stupid. He’d admit that last part.
Maybe that was why nobody liked him.
Survivor lifted an eyebrow, his eyes temporarily taken off of his phone screen. “Waiting… strategically? Well, damn, I didn’t realize you had thought this through. Tell me, what’s this ‘plan’ of yours?” he dead-panned.
“The plan, dear Survivor…” Enot inhaled sharply, shutting his eyes temporarily in slight embarrassment and anxiety. “...is to knock right now and hope for the best!” the indigo, brown and blue slugcat announced. Just as Enot spoke those last few words, he walked straight up to the well-taken care of polished wooden door of his hopefully-soon-to-be-date’s dorm room.
Reluctantly, he sort of tapped it with his knuckles a few times. The sound the knocking made wasn’t quite enough to be considered confident—but it got the job done. Survivor slightly chuckled at the clear reluctance that the sound of the knock alone insinuated.
From inside the room, the two slugcats can hear a muffled voice announcing “I’ll be right back!”
Then rapid footsteps can be heard reaching a crescendo as whoever is on the other side of the door reached it.
Enot knew that voice. He’d only talked with her a few times, but her sound was such a defining feature that he could easily recognize it like a pink pearl in a pile of coal.
The doorknob is twisted open, and suddenly, an enthusiastic grinning Rivulet stands before Enot and Survivor, hopping up and down in place. Her pink frills glisten beautifully in the sunlight, which only causes Enot to fall deeper in love.
“Sofanthiel! Hi there!” Rivulet gasped. She looked surprised to see him.
Enot rubbed the back of his head and smiled nervously. “Hey, Rivulet… I, um…”
Shoot, what am I supposed to say next?
Enot thought to himself. He felt a drop of sweat slide down his forehead.
Survivor cleared his throat. “This nerd’s here to ask you out to prom,” Survivor interjects, forcefully shoving Enot a couple inches closer to the door.
Enot yelps as he’s shoved, but quickly regains balance. He glares at Survivor for a moment before nervously grinning. “Haha… Well, Survivor said it best.”
Rivulet paused, clearly stunned. Enot swore he could see stars in her eyes. It seemed like—no, it felt like Rivulet would say yes. Enot just had to believe.
“Um… I know we haven’t talked much, or really done anything together, but I think it’d be pretty cool if we—”
Suddenly, Enot’s little speech was cut off when a far taller, muscular, and more handsome Hunter walked up to and leaned against the door frame. He stared down at the–by comparison—scrawny Enot, looking the runt directly in the eyes.
“Riv, who’s this?” Hunter scoffs, as if he was disgusted purely by Enot’s appearance. “This another runt asking you out to the prom?”
Rivulet chuckled nervously before waving her hands nervously. “H—Hunter, well… This is… Sofie’s just–” she stammered, but was cut off by Hunter—similarly to how he interrupted Enot.
“Well, Riv’s taken, ” Hunter huffed, his arms noticeably flexed as he crouched down a little to meet Enot’s nervous gaze. “And even if she wasn’t, she wouldn’t go to prom with a weakling like you. ”
Enot’s fur stood on end in sheer intimidation. He gulped down a mouthful of embarrassment.
“Shucks. That was a bust,” Survivor muttered. “C’mon, Sofie. Let’s bounce,” he shrugged as he began to turn around—hand in his pockets all cool like that.
But… no! Enot had to stand up for himself. He’d been turned down five times already today, and he wasn’t ready to let that become six!
Enot scoffed. He rubbed the side of his mouth before spouting “Taken? Taken by who? I’ll show them who—”
“ By me, ” Hunter growled.
Enot immediately backed down.
“Point taken. Good day, Rivulet; Hunter,” Enot stammered, his body completely stiff. He flipped around and quickly left the property—Survivor not far behind him.
Rivulet hadn’t managed to say more than a few words to Enot. Her eyes slowly turned to Hunter, who was still in the door-way—watching the slugcats leave.
“I thought you said you weren’t going to prom..?” Rivulet murmured. She rubbed her hand, feeling slightly guilty that that conversation had happened the way it did.
Hunter huffed. “Well, I wasn’t. I am now, if just to keep you away from that guy.”
Rivulet’s eyes went wide. She swiveled her head to face Hunter, locking eyes with him. “W—What? Why, there’s nothing wrong with him!”
Hunter shut the door quickly before practically falling into the nearby sofa. “The dude’s literally a walking bad luck charm. Everywhere he goes, horrible luck follows,” Hunter explained, though it came off to Rivulet as shallow. She placed a hand on her hip, her stare at Hunter not yet dissolving.
“Besides. Would you have actually said yes? I mean, come on. Look at the guy. He’s cooped up in his dorm room whenever he’s not at class. Pretty sure he just spends his time playing video games and eating shitty food with his buddy Survivor,” Hunter scoffed. “Have you actually seen him do anything aside from what he’s required to? Not only is he bad luck, it’d also be bad to be seen with the guy. Plus, I’m like eighty percent sure that the dude’s gay.”
Rivulet reeled her head back in shock at the accusation. “No way he’s gay! He literally just asked me—a girl—out on a date. Also, stop bad-mouthing him! He’s a good guy! You just… gotta get to know him.”
“You never answered my question. Would you have said yes?” Hunter repeated.
A moment of silence filled the air as Rivulet considered the question.
Would I have said yes?
…
Ultimately, the blue slugcat came to a dis-satisfied, sad sigh. She stared down at the floor in slight shame.
“No… I guess not. I don’t really know him that well,” Rivulet mumbled.
“Just as I thought. It’s for the best, anyway. I’d be personally offended if your answer was yes,” Hunter scoffed.
Then Rivulet looked at him funny. “Because you want to take me to prom?”
Hunter scoffed yet again. He blushed a little, his already red face turning noticeably redder as he avoided making eye contact with Rivulet.
“...No. Maybe a little.”
To that answer, Rivulet giggled, and sat beside Hunter. She nuzzled the red slugcat on the cheek with her own for a couple of seconds before letting her body lean against his. “ Well, I’ll certainly say yes if you ask me,” she smiled.
Hunter’s eyes, now locked with Rivulet’s, widened. “...Will you go to prom with me?” he asked, blushing ridiculously.
Barely after finishing his question, Rivulet leaned against Hunter so far that the two collapsed against the couch together, both of them now laying down on it—though Rivulet was laying on Hunter’s chest. She pecked a little kiss on his nose before whispering into his ear.
“ Of course, silly. ”
…
Survivor and Enot were heading down the many intricate hallways of the dorms of Downpour University. One of them—Enot—was clearly much more distressed and disappointed than the other. Enot let out a defeated sigh.
“I guess I’m not showing up to prom, then,” he muttered sadly.
Survivor had been half-mindedly glanced off to the side as Enot spoke, his hands in his jacket pockets. The sudden ice-breaker regained Survivor’s attention. His eyes shifted to look at Enot, taking in the horribly sad expression on his face.
Sighing, Survivor pulled his hand out of his jacket pocket to comfortingly pat his friend on the back. “There’s plenty of fish in the sea,” he offered.
“No, there was one last fish in the sea. That was Riv,” Enot exclaimed, frustratedly scraping his hands against his head. “And I blew that, too! Who am I supposed to ask now, Spearmaster?”
Survivor considered it for a moment. Then he shrugged.
“I meeeeaaaaann…” the white slugcat droned.
“Absolutely not! Spearmaster like, hates me, or something,” Enot interjected. He quickly shoved his hands into his shorts-pockets. “She always looks at me with this dead-eyed stare whenever we talk.
“Sofie, that’s just how she is with everyone . It’s probably the lack of a mouth,” Survivor chuckled.
Enot shook his head violently. “No, it’s like worse with me, or something. It’s hard to explain. Bottom line is I’m not asking Spearmaster.”
Survivor, rolling his eyes, once again stared away from Enot toward the hallway walls. “Bottom line is you’re being a beggar and a chooser.”
“ Bottom line is I’m going to be alone forever ,” Enot spat loudly. Out of frustration, he grabbed his left hand in his right and began to sink his claws a little into his flesh. “ Bottom line is that I just want to be with someone that makes me happy, not just for the sake of having a date!”
He stopped hurting himself with his claws when Survivor grabbed hold of Enot’s wrist, keeping it in place firmly.
“You promised you wouldn’t do that anymore,” Survivor muttered, his usually unamused face replaced with an expression of concern.
Enot almost argued about it, but ultimately let his hands drop to his sides after remembering the promise he had made a couple weeks ago.
“...Right. Sorry, Surv.”
Before they continue to walk again, Survivor wrapped Enot in a sort of gentle side-hug. The embrace was brief, but not non-existent. Survivor parted after a short moment before he tilted his head forward as a hurrying gesture. “No hurting yourself. Now come on, we’ve got class to show up for.”
Wasting no time, Survivor immediately pulled ahead of Enot, and continued to walk down the dormitory hallways.
Enot still hadn’t moved yet.
He stared down at his slightly bleeding hand, and clenched his teeth a little.
He thought he had stopped that habit.
Then he looked back up at Survivor, slowly approaching the end of the hall as well as the door sitting there.
“...Coming!” Enot announced, sprinting to catch up with Survivor.
;;;;;---
For what it was worth, class had gone surprisingly well that cycle. Enot usually wasn’t able to focus very well during lectures, but with the help of Survivor, he actually managed to retain a few lessons from the experience.
Enot furiously jotted down bullet-points in his notebook even after the lecture ended and students were leaving the lecture room. Survivor stayed by, but only to scroll through his phone—as well as keep Enot company.
Once satisfied with his notes, Enot stashed away his notebook and energetically stood from his seat. He reached his arms above his head to stretch them, hearing several cracks through his bones.
“Alright, Surv. Listen close,” Enot announced, clearing his throat a couple times.
Survivor turned off his phone and slid it onto his desk before shifting his gaze to Enot.
“I’m listening,” he muttered, after realizing that Enot was looking at him for a response.
Enot scrambled through a few miscellaneous papers on his desk before showing off the glorified doodle he’d drawn on one to Survivor.
Survivor stared at it for a moment, trying his hardest to make out any significant details of the doodle—and then his eyes went wide.
“No,” Survivor mouthed. His stare parted from the paper and landed on Enot. “No way.”
Enot nodded rythmically. “Yes, yes way!” he said as he clicked his tongue.
“You’re going to regret this. Artificer has never agreed to dates ever . It’s like you’re setting yourself up for failure,” Survivor facepalmed, slowly rubbing his temples.
“I think I have a chance! Remember that time when she said she likes pathetic guys?” Enot mused, thinking back to the single that the maroon scarred slugcat and Enot and ever interacted.
Survivor’s eyes shut about halfway as he muttered “Yeah, she likes them because she gets to crush them. And weren’t you the one that mentioned he wants to go with someone that he wants to be with?”
Enot paused, considering for a moment—before sighing loudly and slamming his head into his desk. A loud groan escaped his throat as he muttered something about hating his life.
Words aren’t spoken for another fifteen seconds until Enot finally grumbles “Yeah, you’re right. I’m doomed.”
“...You know, there is one person that you haven’t asked,” Survivor mentioned coldly. He looked up from his phone to watch Enot twitch a little as he spoke. Enot’s head sluggishly rotated sideways to face Survivor.
“Who?” Enot asked.
Survivor paused, locking eyes with his friend/dorm-mate before breaking into laughter. Except it’s more like a slight snicker than a laugh, exactly.
…
“Nevermind. You can find that out for yourself,” he muttered, and promptly returned to his phone.
And Enot shoved his head back into his desk.