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Unbelievable.
Jamil couldn’t believe he was actually going to Octavinelle at 9:00 PM just to get a drink Kalim wanted. He couldn’t let Kalim walk around alone during nighttime, so he had to go get it himself for the other one to calm down. It seemed that Kalim would die if he didn’t get that drink, but if Jamil allowed him to walk alone, he was the one who would die.
Jamil didn’t even know if the Mostro Lounge was open at this time. He could just give 10 minutes to return without even passing through the Sea Witch dorm’s mirror, tell Kalim it was closed, and finally rest, but if Kalim somehow found out it was opened, it could end up badly with Jamil, so he didn’t want to risk it.
‘It will probably be closed anyway.’ — Jamil thought to himself as he left Scarabia, passing through the mirror. Students weren’t allowed to leave their dorms or walk around during nighttime, except for house wardens and their vices.
Jamil walked through the Octavinelle Mirror, entering one of the bubbles that led to the dorm. He walked through the silent corridors towards the Mostro Lounge, already waiting to go back until he saw the doors half opened. The vice-housewarden peeked inside, only seeing Jade at the counter. The Octavinelle vice-housewarden was cleaning some cups, already drying them as he placed them at their usual place. Jamil stepped inside, walking towards the man before him.
As he walked towards Jade, he noticed Floyd was sitting on one of the sofas while sleeping, legs wide open and hat almost falling off his head. Jade noticed him, his usual uncanny and sly gaze falling upon Jamil.
“Oh, greetings, Jamil… What brings you here this late? Perhaps to talk to Azul? I fear he is busy now…” The man hummed playfully; his eerie tone would sound terrifying to anyone else, but Jamil was just used to it and tired of the twins’ shit.
Jamil wanted to tell him to ‘cut that out,’ but since he was here to ask for a favor, he had to stay calm. “Good evening, Jade. I came to get a drink for Kalim, but it seems you closed already.”
“That’s true, but since you’re an esteemed colleague and guest, I could do that for you.” Jade smiled, placing the cup and cloth in his hand down. “Tell me what you want.”
Jamil told him about the drink Kalim mentioned, Jade nodding interestedly. “I see. I’ll go get the ingredients; please wait.” Jade hummed as he started walking away towards the storage.
“Thank you, Jade.” Jamil sighed relieved, getting a nod from Jade as he murmured a ‘You’re welcome.’
In the meanwhile, Jamil took a moment to admire the huge and majestic aquarium before his eyes. He already went to the Mostro Lounge before but never truly admired how beautiful it was since Kalim would also be there bothering him with something futile.
He observed as the fish swam around, the colorful corals, the huge creature in the background… What the hell was that? It was too big to be a fish, at least an ordinary one. It was big enough to be a merman, and Octavinelle had some merfolk students, didn’t it? So it could only be a student, he thought. Jamil knew the twins were also merfolk, so it wasn’t much of a surprise; after all, they never really cared about hiding it—at least Floyd hadn’t.
Just some seconds after disappearing amidst the rocks, the same creature appeared again, moving with an almost practiced grace and elegance. It was an octopus merman, as it seemed, since the figure had the lower body of an octopus and the upper of a person. He had eight dark octopus legs instead of ordinary legs and two human arms on his upper body, with shades of grey on the face and in parts of his torso and arms.
The merman approached the glass, swimming with undeniable elegance. He didn’t seem to notice Jamil, who was sitting in a dimly illuminated spot by the counter. Instead, he looked at Floyd with an unamused expression, knocking the glass in an attempt to wake up the sleeping twin. Failing in calling the other’s attention, he eventually gave up, visibly sighing before looking away, his gaze meeting Jamil’s with a look of surprise and shock.
‘That guy is strangely familiar.’ — Jamil thought, his mind a confusion of endearment and awe with the vision before him. The merman’s eyes were a light and ethereal tone of blue, captivating Jamil in a way he could never imagine was possible.
The merman swayed slightly closer, his gaze focused on Jamil. The figure pressed his palm against the glass before swimming back, disappearing amidst the corals and rocks. Comically, Jade returned at the same time with a bowl of selected fruits. “You seem distracted, Jamil. Is something wrong?” Jade asked.
“No…” — Jamil paused for a moment. — “I mean… Do the students here swim in the aquarium?” Jamil inquired as Jade was already mixing and shaking the drinks.
Jade, on the other hand, seemed surprised and somewhat amused. “In the aquarium? Well, no.” He lied; after all, he knew Azul would murder him if he told anyone what Azul actually was.
“I see.” Jamil replied as he continued observing the aquarium with curiosity and awe. “I just saw a very interesting and pretty fish.” Jade was already cutting and mixing the fruits he got, professionally preparing the drink. He handed it to Jamil, who paid him and gave him a good evening before leaving.
Perhaps Jamil was just too tired and started seeing things since it wasn’t a student.
After he delivered the drink to Kalim, he immediately went back to his room and changed his clothes before throwing himself down on his bed with clear exhaustion. That was surely something, but he didn’t want to think about it anymore, at least for this night.
Unfortunately for him, his mind didn’t allow him to rest after all. His conscience kept drifting back to that moment when their eyes met. Perhaps he is truly too tired.
—//—
On the following day, when Jamil entered his classroom, he noticed Azul’s uncommon attitude right away. The Octavinelle housewarden was too quiet, and Jamil couldn’t avoid thinking about what could have happened. Well, it was not his problem, after all. At least the white-haired one wasn’t trying to get him into Octavinelle or offering deals to anyone.
The rest of the day continued calm and quiet, yet suspiciously awkward. Their following class was potionology, and since Azul was his partner during the lessons, Jamil only hoped everything went on normally.
The whole process was quiet, with both only speaking up when they needed to. Jamil decided to break the silence moments later, his tone low yet audible for Azul only.
“I went to Octavinelle last night; I don’t know if Jade mentioned it to you, by the way.” Jamil was calm on the outside, but his mind was currently a mess for some reason. He avoided looking up, focusing on the cauldron in front of him.
Azul, on the other hand, seemed way more nervous, his elegant and confident facade tearing apart with Jamil’s words: “Oh—Jade did mention it…” He replied.
“Well, I was wondering if the students there use the Mostro Lounge’s aquarium to swim… I’m pretty sure I saw one in there, but Jade said they didn’t… I was wondering if you knew about it.” Jamil mentioned, his tone questioning and curious.
Azul was sure he was getting blue by now. He didn’t want anyone to know about his true form, much less someone he genuinely liked, such as Jamil. If the merman knew the reason Jamil was asking, he would probably faint instantly.
“Oh—I’m pretty sure they don’t. After all, students can’t walk during nighttime or swim in the aquarium… Neither during day nor night.” Azul replied, his tone wary and careful. “Why do you ask?” Azul regretted asking almost instantly.
“The student I saw was quite familiar to me, but I couldn’t really tell back then… I suppose I was too tired. I’m sure I would recognize someone as beautiful as him. Perhaps I was actually seeing things.” By the time Jamil finished, Azul seemed to be panicking inside, his eyes blank and focused on Jamil’s, who had been previously looking at the cauldron as he spoke.
Azul blinked steadily, his pupils quickly dilating into a squeezed square shape just like an octopus. Jamil observed the other’s demeanor with confusion, not knowing what to say until he finally figured out why Azul was acting like that.
“It was you—yesterday, it was you in the aquarium, wasn’t it?” He pointed out,
His confused expression shifted into one of shock. Now Jamil recognized the same ethereal light blue eyes; he didn’t notice at first because he was now wearing glasses, but when his pupils became similar to the ones from the previous night, he realized what really happened.
Jamil broke Azul. The Octavinelle housewarden wasn’t reacting, his pupils still rectangular-shaped as he blinked slowly in his wave of surprise. Octopuses had quite good eyes in comparison to humans, so that was why Azul didn’t need to wear glasses underwater. It seemed that not even Azul recognized Jamil at first previously, needing to approach him to ask who that was.
“You—you think I’m…beautiful?” Azul’s voice was muffled and subtle; his usually stern and composed demeanor faded like foam amidst the tides.
Jamil didn’t even know what to say; he was speechless. He wasn’t supposed to commit to friendships or relationships because he had to take care of Kalim, yet every cell of his body yearned for comprehension and for genuine love, and seeing Azul’s true form awakened something honest within his soul.
Seeing that Azul was more than he allowed the others to see was somewhat strangely poetic, and Jamil craved for that more than he wanted to admit.
Before he could even think rationally, his head nodded unconsciously, as if in a trance, being lured into the waves by the gentle voice of a siren and the mesmerizing sight before his eyes.
Azul coughed, recomposing himself with eyes closed as he adjusted his glasses. His eyes returned to normal, looking at Jamil with admiration and awe. “Would you want to… Go to the Mostro Lounge tonight? Of course, when it’s closed, without the glances of the other students?” Azul’s voice was suggestive, his cheeks faintly bluish.
“I would love to.” Jamil smiled back, a genuine chuckle for the first time in a long time. That happiness was unknown for the vice-housewarden, but he could get used to it.