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If you told Floyd that morning that he’d be scaling the wall to the library just to see Goldfishie, he would probably believe you.
Probably.
He probably wouldn’t have felt like it if he hadn’t heard that Riddle, Deuce, Kalim, and Jack got locked in there and had to reenact the story of the Princess in the Tower.
What? It’ll be funny.
Definitely worth the broken bones should he fall.
He heard they had longer hair now. He heard that only things could go through the window.
It never hurts to try though, right?
So, now he’s holding onto the window sill and having to try and pull his way up.
He looked down to figure out where to place his foot, these brown faux leather boots were starting to be a hassle.
How did that thief in the story manage to do this?
He could hear the four boys talking, something about dart throwing.
…they aren’t throwing darts at the window, right?
Floyd peeked his head into the window, thank the seven they weren’t throwing darts at him.
He hoisted himself up through the window, nearly falling onto the library floor, "woah!"
Kalim looked over with a beaming smile, “Floyd!! Hey, wanna play darts with us?”
The two first years looked over at him, blinking in surprise at his presence.
“Floyd?” Deuce’s voice carried a hint of surprise and confusion.
Riddle looked over the two taller boys, eye wide before narrowing with that pout Floyd always found adorable.
“How did you get up here?”
Floyd pointed at the window behind him, “window, duh.”
“But no one can enter or exit!!” Riddle’s accent sounded much more prevalent with that sentence, the ‘t’ in the middle sounding much more like a ‘d’ and the ‘r’ sounding like an ‘a’.
It always somehow managed to make Floyd’s heart feel warm.
“Well I did, so…” the merman scratched the back of his neck and smiled, sharp teeth showing in their glory.
Jack leaned against the side of a bookshelf, arms crossed. He looked his upperclassman over, looking for anything that could’ve helped the eel get through when others can’t. “What are you wearing?”
Floyd looked down for a moment and put his hands on his hips, shifting his weight to his left leg, “like it? Shrimpy thought it’d be a good idea to see if it works.”
He was wearing an off white tunic under a greenish-blue vest, tan pants, a brown satchel, and faux leather boots.
“They’re kinda a genius when it comes to this stuff,” he said.
Riddle crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow, “shouldn’t they be working on the lanterns?”
“A break never hurts.”
“You’d know all about that.”
Floyd frowned, “oh what’s that? You guys actually don’t need help at all? Well okay then, I’ll go tell everyone you don’t really need those lanterns and you got it figured out.” He started going back to the window.
“You-!” Riddle’s face was beet red and a growl left his throat. “Fine! Stay or whatever you were planning to do, you pompous prat.”
Floyd smiled as he sat on the sill and came back in, “thought so, Goldfish.”
He looked around the library, the place a mess from all the activities they were doing.
“How many did you get through?” he asked.
“We read, did darts, pottery, brushed hair, made clothes, painted a little,” Jack listed.
“We also did a little chess,” Deuce added.
Floyd hummed and nodded, “bake yet?”
The four shook their heads.
Floyd fought back a sigh, “okay, so that’s what we’re doing next.”
“And how are we supposed to do that? We're in a library and we can't summon anything.”
Floyd rolled his eyes, “you wouldn't be asking that question if you used your brain.” He sat back on the window, and swung one leg on the outside, “one of you come hold me so I don’t fall.”
Deuce had put his arms around Floyd, prepared to pull him back in.
Floyd hung halfway out the window and summoned some heavy whipping cream, chocolate syrup, and a whisk, tossing each one in behind Deuce.
“Hey! Watch where you’re throwing those, Leech,” Riddle scowled.
“Uh huh,” Floyd then summoned a bowl, quickly tossing his magic pen in the library so he could catch the bowl. Because of course he didn’t summon something he could catch one-handed.
“Okay,” the merman set the bowl on a table, “you’re gonna make chocolate mousse.”
The other four blinked and stared at the bowl.
“Chocolate mousse?” Deuce raised an eyebrow.
“How does this count as baking?” Jack crossed his arms and shifted his weight to his right foot.
“Oooh, this’ll be so fun!” Kalim had his hands on his hips, beaming a smile.
Riddle shook his head and crossed his arms, “oh no. No no no no, the library rules clearly state that there should be no food or drink in here.”
Floyd rolled his eyes again as he set the things on the table, except for the whisk, which he was rinsing off out the window.
“Rules rules rules, that’s all it ever is with you, ain’t it, Goldfishie?”
Deuce, Jack, and Kalim’s eyes ever so slightly widened and they looked away, not wanting anything to do with the impending argument.
“Excuse you?” Riddle looked back over at the merman.
“You heard me,” Floyd stepped back in and set the whisk with the other things. “It’s always rules with you, I mean come on, you’re willing to starve yourself for the day just because of words on a sheet of paper.”
Deuce, Jack, and Kalim slowly stepped to the side.
Riddle’s face was as red as ever with anger, “being in accordance with the rules is hardly a bad thing! What gives you any right to judge me when you-”
The red haired boy was cut off by a flick to the forehead.
“No one’s gonna care if you make some food in the library today, Headmage gave you permission to do everything the Princess did to get out of here.” Floyd walked back over to the table with the baking supplies and waved a hand over them, “besides aren’t you supposed to be more ‘lax now?”
“I am perfectly relaxed!”
Floyd held back a laugh, “right, that beet red face totally screams ‘I’m relaxed’,” he gestured to the bowl and ingredients again. “Besides housewarden, shouldn’t you set a good example for your underclassman? Or do you want him to also spend the next year up here with you?”
His hand rested on his hip as a toothy grin graced his face, “and don’t even get me started on the number of rules that you two would be breaking just by being stuck in here.”
Riddle’s eye twitched for a good minute before he took some breaths, “fine.”
Floyd’s smile grew more relaxed, it was far too easy to get under these guys’ skin.
Riddle took the whipping cream and poured it into the bowl, then a little chocolate syrup.
Within minutes, the mousse was done.
Deuce, Jack, and Kalim were all eating it, smiling. Kalim had put a little more syrup on his.
“You gonna eat some, Goldfishie?”
Riddle shook his head, “of course not. It’s bad enough that there’s food in here, I won’t be caught dead eating in the library.”
Floyd raised an eyebrow, “you’re not hungry? It’s nearly 1pm, you seriously can not be hungry.”
“We missed lunch?” Kalim asked, Floyd nodded.
“I’m fine,” Riddle cleaned off his hands on scrap fabric from making the outfits.
Floyd’s eyes narrowed before he took one of the small bowls he’d summoned not too long ago and put in a small serving. “Riddle, c’mere,” he walked over to the window that had trapped them there.
Riddle blinked a few times before he followed Floyd, “what?”
Floyd sat on the sill and patted the spot beside him, when Riddle hopped up he handed the little bowl to him.
Riddle frowned, “I already said I’m not eating in the library.”
“True, but this window isn’t part of the library, now is it? Headmage certainly didn’t greenlight the window’s arrival, so it isn’t a renovated piece,” he pressed the bowl into Riddle’s hand with a little spoon, “eat. You need energy and I can practically see your ribs under that corset.”
Riddle’s hand went to his ribs, checking whether Floyd’s claim was true.
“Just eat, I won’t tell anyone,” Floyd reached a hand up to ruffle Riddle’s hair before he hopped off the sill and went back to the others.
Riddle watched as the merman left, a slight frown on his face. He stared down at the little bowl before shifting on the window to be just a little more on it than in the library.
He took a small bite, it tasted pretty good. Probably because it’s one of the few things he’s eaten today.
He looked over at the others, smiling and laughing. It was a nice sight.
Floyd noticed his staring and gave him a soft smile. Not taunting, or a grin, or any of the other smiles he typically gives. Soft. Kind, dare he think.
Riddle could feel his face heat up when their gazes met.
He quickly looked back at the bowl and shifted to be hidden by the sides of the window.
What in the name of the Seven was that momentary warmth when looking at him? He thought.
He was drawn out of these thoughts when he heard Azul yelling up at the window, “FLOYD! GET DOWN HERE IMMEDIATELY! YOU ARE NOT USING THIS TO SKIP ON LANTERN MAKING!”
Floyd came back and looked over Riddle and out the window, “oh hey, Azul!”
“DOWN HERE! NOW!”
“Mmmm… I don’t know, it’s pretty fun up here,” Floyd tapped his chin, as if in thought.
A loud, annoyed groan came from the octopus, “I WON’T USE YOU FOR VIL’S SKIN CARE NEXT TIME!”
That smile came back, the one where Floyd knew he’d won something, “Alright!”
Riddle moved out of the way so Floyd could get out safely. He watched as the merman descended the school, looking so much like the thief that rescued the Princess.
Annoyingly beautiful.