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It was going to be easy. Yuuta was kind, and easily convinced. He had his own cunning side, of course, if he was a dimwit Azul wouldn’t be infatuated in the first place, but overall, he was confident his plan would work.
Yuuta would come in the lounge for an emergency meeting, they would be alone together in Azul’s office after Jade and Floyd were both mysteriously missing, and after an extremely well thought out speech, he would make sure Yuuta’s heart belonged to him and him alone.
Calm. Cool. Confident. Those three Cs would lead him to victory.
Of course, at the very first step everything went wrong, Azul’s hurried invitation being denied by Yuuta, who very apologetically said that he had his own plans to attend first, leaving Azul flabbergasted as both Jade and Floyd laughed at his face.
“I see, I see. Should we still disappear, or are you ready to give up?” Jade asked, clearing the tears off his eyes as he smiled wide and free.
Azul wanted to throw the phone at his head, but he decided to be the bigger person, instead just rolling his eyes as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Yuuta said he would come late, not that he wouldn’t come at all, so yes, I still want you two gone for the evening. Make up some sort of emergency in the kitchen for all I care.”
Floyd narrowed his eyes, smile all malice. “So can we-”
“No, you cannot do anything that would affect my profits. Yes, this includes setting every other dish on fire. Yes, this also includes any kind of acrobatic show including other students. Yes, this includes any sort of striptease nonsense.”
The stritease accident actually increased profits, but the trouble they got into with Crowley was not worth repeating the accident.
“Boo. Boring,” Floyd said, getting up from his seat, and followed by a polite bow from Jade, the twins left the room, leaving Azul with only the gentle sound of the aquariums as company.
It was annoying when things didn’t go his way, but no matter. He needed to stay calm, as per the Triple C Plan protocol. He had prepared an entire backup plan for this exact situation, and it was the kind of thing that he actually needed to start doing as soon as possible if he hoped to finish it in time.
Pulling out his magic pen, Azul started cleaning up his office, summoning the most elegant table setup he could think of, managing to go far enough until he had to decide on the table cloth’s color, alternating between blue and purple with a pensive finger on his chin.
“Colors are hard, huh? I always struggle with them, too...”
“Indeed, Yuuta. It can feel so natural when you are in the flow of things, but the second you start thinking too much about it-” Azul snapped his head to the side. “Yuuta?!”
When did he arrive? Did he see Azul doing anything embarrassing? Should he just give up on his plan for tonight?
“Hi, Azul! Uh, sorry, the door was open, I thought I could come in. I should have spoken up before,” Yuuta said, scratching the back of his head, face adorably apologetic.
Collect yourself, Ashengrotto.
It was... fine. He was supposed to be at his best behavior right now, so instead of letting himself get guided by the panic in his chest, Azul smiled at Yuuta with the same professionalism he would give any client, gesturing to the table.
“Worry not, I was the one that got distracted. I have arranged a table for us. Please, have a seat.”
Yuuta did as instructed, with Azul doing the same, finally noticing the little box Yuuta had placed on top of his plate.
“My, is that a gift?” Azul asked, chastising himself for the hint of genuine enthusiasm in his own voice, said shame completely gone as Yuuta looked down with a slight blush, smiling gently enough to send Azul’s heart racing.
“I mean... I wanted to do something nice since you are still recovering from the whole overblot thing,” Yuuta said, opening the box and pushing it towards Azul, the scent of lemon filling up the room. “I asked Trey for help, so we made the healthiest and tastiest version of a cake we could make. I hope you enjoy it.”
Azul took the box, being greeted with a simple, pretty lemon cake, a little lemon-octopus on top smiling back at him.
It wasn’t quite right to describe it as Azul’s brain short circuiting, but for a singular moment, the affection he felt was big enough to eclipse the urge to hold himself back.
“I love you.”
It came out so naturally that Azul didn’t immediately notice his mistake, only stopping to think about what he had just said when Yuuta looked at him wide-eyed, the slight blush he had earlier evolving into something deep enough to paint even his neck a deep red.
Oh.
“I- I mean-” Azul started, trying to remember what he wanted to do in the first place, all words suddenly missing from his vocabulary as he tried to pull out anything that would save him from embarrassment, gesticulating wildly to Yuuta, as if that would save him. “As a- a friend, of course, I’m very thankful for- cake, the cake, how unprofessional of me to-”
He wanted to hide inside a hole forever and only come out at the heat death of the universe. That was his only option. He just blurted out that he loved Yuuta because he received a cake.
Explode. Explode forever. Explode Azul in a billion pieces forever.
He couldn’t explode unfortunately, so he did the very next best thing which was sink deep into his chair, using the brim of the hat to hide his own shame, unable to think of anything to save the last bits of pride he could possibly have. Now all he could do was prepare to be rejected.
Silence continued on, Azul’s heart still beating loudly in his ears, but it wasn’t enough to drown out Yuuta’s voice, hesitant but kind.
“Azul?”
It was hard to raise his head, but out of respect for the whole situation, Azul did it as best as he could, peeking a single eye from behind his hat.
“Yes?”
Yuuta slowly offered his hand to Azul, who stared at it like an impossible puzzle, hesitantly reaching out until their hands touched, his cold fingers brushing against Yuuta’s contrasting warmth.
“I’m really happy to hear that.” Yuuta said, intertwining their hands together, as shy as Azul was, but undoubtedly sincere in his words.
Azul adored reading between the lines to make sure he could find any loophole, but at that exact moment, he didn’t have the courage to risk it, not wanting to embarrass himself ever further. Yet, the possibility of reciprocity was enough for him to give Yuuta a pleading look, receiving a gentle head tilt as a response.
“Please. I am in no condition to be wrong right now.”
Oh, Yuuta would have to forgive him for throwing this burden on his shoulders, but Azul was still closer to the possibility of exploding than asking so directly if Yuuta reciprocated his feelings.
Thankfully, even if bashful, Yuuta rose to the occasion, nodding as his only response, and with that, all the stress in Azul’s body melted away, smile so carefree he wouldn't mind being sincere for once.