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Yuu stares out the side window and watches the never-ending, bright blue sky pass. The desert slowly transitions to include more and more greenery while the silhouette of skyscrapers start to grow in the distance.
Turning down their headphones, Yuu hears chatter throughout the bus. Students from many other regions eagerly discuss the start of their senior-year internships. Many are excited to get one in the Kingdom of Heroes and are comparing notes to see where their new apartments are. Many voices pick up when they discover others will be staying in the same place.
Yuu feels apprehensive. Previously, they only left Sage’s Island out of necessity due to other’s problems or probing, and they had never been to this region before. However, it has a fantastic library to study the history of magic and hopefully contains clues about transporting between dimensions. Still, there is an uneasiness about living somewhere new without the support of the college.
The bus stops at each student’s apartment complex to drop them off. Yuu’s turn arrives faster than they anticipated. They grab their welcome packet from their backpack and use their other hand to pull the rolling bag from the back. Closing the car doors and turning around, Yuu stares at their new home for the next year.
The apartment complex is surrounded by a dark fence with a door. Opening their welcome packet, Yuu struggles to pull out the four keys that had been given to them for this new space.
A deep voice calls out, “Yuu?”
Yuu whips their head around to face Jack. A slack, hanging jaw turns into a smile. “Jack! What are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to be returning to the Shaftlands for our fourth year.”
Jack’s ears twitch and he grumbles, “They switched my internship site last minute, and Crowley conveniently forgot to send a message to my family and me till yesterday.”
“That sucks. I know you were really excited to do construction in your hometown. You were going to try and improve some of the infrastructure there, right?” Yuu’s brows furrow sympathetically.
“Yeah… I’m still going to be a construction assistant here, thankfully. I’m trying to think of it as an opportunity to get ideas for my hometown.”
“Glad you’re putting a positive spin on it!” Yuu beams. “Now, I should probably go into my apartment complex and try out these keys.”
“You’re also living here? Same. I just got in. Here, let me grab my keys.” Jack pulls out a similar set of keys from his pocket, grabs at one randomly, and tries to open the gate. When it doesn’t fit, he continues to the next key, a frustrated blush growing.
“Do you need help getting in?” comes the voice of an elderly woman. She holds up a key and sympathetically smiles.
“Yes, please,” Jack and Yuu reply in unison.
The woman lets them both in, winks, and wanders away.
As they walk in, they see multiple buildings on their left and a little sidewalk to continue on. To the right is a little street for people with cars to drive in.
“I should be in building 204.” Yuu reads off their instructions.
“That is where I am too, what a coincidence.”
After walking to the third building, Jack walks up the stairs and opens the front door. He gestures with his head to go in ahead of him. Yuu smiles politely at the interaction noting his attempt at being gentlemanly.
As Yuu walks through the front door, they encounter stairs and an elevator. Deciding getting some steps in would be useful, Yuu goes up a few steps and waits for Jack to follow behind before continuing. Referencing the information on the paper in front of them, Yuu walks up to the second floor and goes to apartment 2F.
Before they can even rustle for their keys, Jack supplies, “That’s also the apartment I’m in. Let me,” and holds up a key from his group. Yuu steps aside as Jack inserts the key and turns it.
It feels like fate.
---
Jack and Yuu discuss their internships in a small cafe. An arch of books welcomes customers through the front, leading to bookshelves upon bookshelves of literature to peruse.
“I have been so worried about learning about why I may be here, I forgot to go out and explore." Yuu reclines in their chair. "Would you want to go out and see some shops together? Maybe we could try some restaurants in the area.”
“Sounds fine.” Jack blushes. “Also, if you…”
Yuu looks directly into his amber eyes. Seconds pass as the books’s stagnant air wraps around them. Usually, this would be comforting for them, but it feels suffocating given the silence.
A few more moments of hesitation.
“Um… never mind.” Jacks ears fall flat against his head as he looks away.
Yuu is curious, but doesn’t want to push it. They do store it in their mind for later as needed.
---
After a few months in their internship, Yuu and Jack have settled into their weekly routine. They start cooking dinners together.
Yuu and Jack are in the kitchen talking about their past few years at Night Raven College while making food from the Sunset Savanah.
“I remember Deuce and Ace dragging you around into all sorts of trouble during that first year.” Jack smirks. “Why did you let them get away with it?”
“Someone had to babysit them, and that person just happened to be me. Imagine Crowley trying to corral them.” Both students cackle until they wheeze.
“But seriously. At their core, they’re good guys. And also, they keep Grim preoccupied and can teach him magic. Unlike me.” Yuu says flippantly while making a silly face.
Jack eyes widen and his mouth forms an “o” as a small silence forms. In his own mind, he worries that Yuu is insecure about lack of magic they possess. However, while trying to keep his cool, he appears to pity Yuu for a moment.
“Oop sorry” Yuu puts their hands behind their back and averts their eyes. “Let me know if that topic makes you uncomfortable.”
“You- you don’t make me uncomfortable. You could never.” A blush overtakes his cheeks.
---
Lucky for Jack and Yuu, Ruggie’s temp job leads him to the same city their internships are in. Since they have settled into the area, they know some of the best restaurants to go out and enjoy, that are cheap for Ruggie sake. Accordingly, they all decide to go out to dinner to catch up and celebrate the reunion.
”I can’t believe you all are just in the city working and eating.” Ruggie comments. “I mean it’s what I would do, but still. Aren’t you all more focused on your work life balance and stuff?”
“I mean I do relax at home and catch up on the latest Spelldrive matches. What do you even mean?” Jack eyes Ruggie quizzically.
“I mean going out to clubs, amusement parks, other stuff... I dunno. What ‘fun’ people do I guess.”
Yuu replies, “We have plenty of fun thank you very much. We go to museums sometimes and hang out with the other interns in the area. Sometimes they host events.”
“Ooo *events*! I know some of the others have started dating when they get to their internship sites.” He eyes Jack mischievously. “Hey Jack, have you noticed any cute people you want to date?” Ruggie wiggles his eyebrows at the white haired teen.
Jack sports a red blush and averts his eyes from the group. "I really am trying to look for people for their personalities. Some people are fine to hang out at a game with or doing some other things, but I am also attracted to people's vibes. Like can I get along with them and enjoy their company?"
Yuu pretends to stare in the distance at the waiters doing their work. They have appreciated Jack's reliability and strong sense of justice since they started at Night Raven. That had been proven again and again during their time living together and a not so mild crush had started to form. Every time they came home, Yuu felt a sense of warmth spread through them. This news made them feel different. A bubble of hope begins to swell.
Ruggie picks up on the sideways answer. “Alright. But if you need help, I can be your wingman.” Ruggie leans to Jack’s ear and whispers, “Not for free though.”
This breaks the tension and Jack laughs; the tension leaves his body. “Of course your help wouldn’t be free. I’d be more surprised if you offered out of the goodness of your heart.”
---
Yuu sits in the living room kicking their feet. After ruminating on everything, they decide to reach out to Cater and ask for his opinion. They spell it all out for him.
Cater messages back:
Roundabout answer or not, it's also a valid response.
Ruggie did ask a personal question. It puts someone on the spot, especially if they're more reserved about discussing relationships and other private matters like our friend Jack is.
Still, Jack’s response certainly is interesting. I mean... it couldn't hurt to ask him about it one on one, right?”
Yuu could feel Cater grinning through the phone.
At the very least, if you're curious about bringing it up, maybe you can ask if Ruggie’s question made him uncomfortable or put on the spot?
Yuu sighs and hunches over their phone.
Fine.
---
As Jack cooks sweet red bean soup, Yuu remembers Jack’s culinary class with Vil. They reminisce on how strange it was that those two had so many desserts in their course catalog, but were very appreciative of him making something sweet to commemorate 6 months of being in the Kingdom of Heroes.
Yuu was prepping the honey mustard chicken from childhood. They slide it into the oven and let out an accomplished sigh.
They look over at Jack. “So… the other night with Ruggie. Did that question about whether you were going out and dating make you uncomfortable? I felt bad you got put on the spot there.” They glance away before biting their lip and looking back.
Jack’s ears twitch and he shies into himself. “I mean it was out of the blue. But I am alright…” he pauses. “I’m open to it.” Jack clears his throat. “Dating- I mean. I just don’t search for that stuff you know.”
“Oh. No one caught your eye?” Yuu chuckles slightly, a sadness seeping into their voice.
Jacks eyes widen. “No. No! It’s just… I don’t want to make things weird if I have feelings for someone…” He softens and blushes, “I wouldn’t mind if someone who I liked took the lead in asking me out. I just… don’t think I have it in me to do that.”
Yuu picks up on the shift and steps closer to Jack. He straightens up and blinks slowly.
Yuu takes a deep breath before spewing, "Let me know if I have read this situation wrong," their arms raise over their face defensively to hide their evergrowing blush, " but I have liked you for quite a while and I have no clue if you could ever have feelings for me but I have been overanalyzing some of the things you have been saying over the past few mo-"
Yuu pauses as they register how quickly Jack has grabbed their wrists to gently pull their hands away from their face. He quickly releases them.
"S-sorry!" Jack panics. A beat. "It's just… you are not reading the situation wrong." A chuckling huff.
Yuu notices Jacks ears flatten and his blush reach his neck. "I feel the same." He smiles shyly, hope filling his eyes.
"Will you go out with me Jack?"
"Please."