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On some level, Azul knew he was an emotional sort of person, and he was willing to acknowledge that sometimes those emotions got the better of him (his Overblot was a perfect and very humiliating example of this fact), but one thing Azul absolutely wasn’t was unaware.
Azul knew himself, and despite what certain people might tell you, he was keenly aware of the things he felt, and when he felt them. He knew when he was upset, when he was irritated, happy, victorious, and Azul was almost certain he would know if he was in love.
“I’m tellin’ you ‘Zulie, you're totally in looove,” Floyd leaned in far too close, his cheek grazing Azul’s shoulder, “You go all mushy and pink whenever they’re around, it’s kinda embarrassing to watch.”
“Stop being ridiculous, Floyd,” Azul scoffed, shouldering him off, “I think I would know if I was infatuated with the Prefect.”
Floyd gave him a discontented look, “Mmm, but would ya’, really?” He smiled lopsidedly, beginning to scribble nonsensically on Azul’s paper, "You're a little dense that way, Azul.”
Azul huffed, “I’m not dense, thank you,”
He pulled his paper away, keenly aware of the skeptical look he received from Floyd, but Azul liked to think he didn’t truly care, Azul knew himself. If he had an infatuation with the Prefect (which—he almost certainly did not), it would’ve been dealt with.
Practically and concisely, like everything else he aimed to do, because Azul did not engage with frivolities like Floyd did, and he was absolutely, and utterly certain in this.
“Azuuuul,” Floyd groaned, flopping face-down onto his desk, pens rolling against Azul’s own notebook, “I’m bored, this is so boring!”
“And what am I meant to do about that, Floyd?” Azul sighed, placing the pens back into their case, “Perhaps you should work on your attention span.”
Floyd lolled his head to look at Azul, a small, smug smile on his face, “Maybe you admittin’ your head over heels for Shrimpy would help it a little,”
Azul had never been more grateful for the tolling of a bell, he closed his notebook rougher than he meant, sucking air through his teeth, “Oh my Seven, Floyd. Drop it, immediately.”
It was midday, and that meant that the hallways of Night Raven were nothing short of positively awful, students scurrying off to their lunches, regard for their peers thrown mostly to the wind. Azul didn’t mind it all too much, it was truly nothing a back-hallway couldn’t fix, but for some reason, unbeknownst to him, Azul decided to walk the main halls.
“Sorry!” A student rushed past him, bumping into Azul’s shoulder as he did, thrown off by the impact, Azul stumbled slightly forward.
“Azul,” A voice, the Prefect’s voice approaching just down the hallway behind him, “Azul! Are you alright?”
They offered him a hand, and Azul found himself eager to accept it, “I’m quite alright, Prefect. It was a small stumble, really.”
They smiled, looking almost relieved, “That’s good! Are you going to lunch?”
“I am,” He said, dusting himself off, doing his best to ignore the sickly-sweet, pleasant feeling that rose in his chest at the sight of their smile, “Would you care to join me?”
“Ah, Azul,” Jade smiled pleasantly, “You didn’t say the Prefect would be joining us today.”
“The decision was made on a whim, I hope you don’t mind?” Azul set his tray down, gesturing for the Prefect to sit wherever, and he was secretly very happy when they chose to sit next to him.
“Hi, Jade!” ” The prefect smiled, and Azul watched mostly passive as they exchanged pleasantries, at some point Floyd joined them, and Azul was content to sit and eat in relative peace, until Jade decided to open his big mouth, “You know, Prefect, it’s nice to see Azul be so fond of you,”
Floyd snickered, “Oh, he’s verrryyy fond of Shrimpy,”
The Prefect laughed awkwardly, a slight flush dusting their cheeks, “Thanks, guys?”
Azul gripped his silverware with a new sort of vigor, his own face growing warm and undoubtedly pinkish, “Both of you.”
“Hm?”
“What?”
Jade and Floyd said in unison, identical grins plastered on their smug faces, Azul had half a mind to pelt both of them with scraps of food, and he might’ve if not for his near-sparkling public image.
“We’re simply making an observation, Azul,” Jade said sweetly, stacking trays atop each other—-was he batting his eyelashes at Azul? “Nothing was meant by it, really.”
“You two are so weird,” The Prefect gently laughed, they seemed to have gotten over their own awkwardness, “Azul and I are just buds, nothing more.”
Floyd groaned, throwing his head back dramatically, “Ugh! You’re almost worse than Azul! Shrimpy, c’mon!”
“Worse than me? Now you’re just insulting me, Floyd,” Azul huffed, “As they said, we’re nothing more than friends.”
“Maybe I’ll stop insultin’ you when you stop being dense,” Floyd said, head still thrown back, Jade chuckled, “Now then, Floyd.”
Surely, Game Club would clear his mind, a good, well-earned victory would cease the overly-sweet, Prefect-centric thoughts that Jade and Floyd had placed in his otherwise level head, and Azul would presume with operations as normal.
“Hey, Azul,” Idia placed his phone onto the table, eyeing Azul almost warily, “Uh, you good?”
“I’m completely fine,” Azul began to shuffle cards, fumbling more than he normally ever would have, cursing those stupid twins and their big mouths, “What gives you the notion I’m not?”
“IDK, you seem frazzled,” Idia gestured vaguely in Azul’s direction, “You’re really messing those cards up.”
“I’m fine, Idia. That's all for the twins.”
The game went by relatively smoothly, Azul did his best to ignore Idia’s looks and backhanded comments about seeming off today, and for a glorious few hours, he didn’t think of Floyd, Jade, or the Prefect.
“OK. This is seriously distracting, dude,” Idia set his cards down on the table, “You never act this goofy. Did you lose a 2 v. 1 with the Tweels or something?”
“A 2 v. 1….? Idia, I’m fine. The Twins were simply being foolish and implying me and the Ramshackle Prefect are infatuated.”
Idia’s eyes went wide, and for a moment the room went silent for a long, sordid moment, “You aren’t!?”
“Not you as well, Idia,” Azul groaned, across the table from him, Idia spluttered, giving Azul an incredulous look as if he was the unreasonable one.
“Azul. Dude, c’mon, you’ve gotta be trolling me,” Idia shook his head, “No way you aren’t head over heels for them,”
“Well, I must be ‘trolling’ then, because I’m certainly not,” Azul grumbled, picking his cards up, “Can we please continue with the game, now?”
“Sure, bro,” Tentatively, Idia picked up his cards, eyes never quite leaving Azul’s, “Just sayin’, you look at the Prefect like they’re an SSR card you’ve been trying to pull forever.”
For his own sanity, Azul didn’t dignify that particular absurdity with a response, instead he placed a card down and acted like Shroud had never even spoken.
“Azuuuul,” Floyd giggled as he entered the Lounge, swaying back and forth like he’d received overjoyed news, “Shrimpy’s here to see ‘yaaa!”
“Well, send them in then,” Azul sighed,he’d forgotten about their little taste-testing appointment, and it honestly couldn’t have come at a worse time, “I don’t see why we have to announce it to the entire school.”
“Hi, Azul,” The Prefect smiled, hanging their coat on the rack, “What’re we trying today?”
Azul smiled back, keenly aware of Floyd’s eyes boring into the back of his head, “Some new hors d'oeuvres for our spring menu, Jade has supplied some of the ingredients.”
Behind him, Floyd blanched, and Azul tried to ignore the warmth rushing to his cheeks when he the Prefect laughed.
“I’m glad you enjoyed it,” Azul smiled politely, gingerly grabbing your coat from the rack, “I enjoyed it myself.”
You smile back at him, heart drumming in your chest, “We’ll have to do it again sometime, huh?”
“We will, is there anything else you’d like, Prefect?”
You remember what Deuce told you when you had told him and Ace about your crush on Azul, “Go for it, next time you see him!”
(Ace had been less nice, he’d gagged and judged your tastes before actually very sincerely telling you he wished you the best and that it was “...kinda obvious that Azul likes you back, so why not? Go for it!”)
“Well, actually yes,” Azul’s eyebrows raised as he stepped away, “I was wondering if maybe you’d like to go to some of the Spring Markets with me tomorrow. Like, a date, maybe. Definitely a date, Great Seven, Azul, I’m asking you on a date.”
“A date….?” You might’ve run for the hills if Azul’s face didn’t flush a sort of corally pink, “I would like that, I think. Very much.”
“So, it’s a date, then?”
Azul smiles, a genuine real smile that makes your heart skip a beat “It’s a date, Prefect.”