Chapter Text
“You know you need a date to get into Schpood’s party, right?” Jophiel asked, slightly raising an eyebrow.
Saps covered his face with both hands, letting out an exasperated chuckle. "Dude, why won’t you believe me – I have a date! "
“I have good reason not to believe your lying ass, Saps, it’s not the first time you pull this move. Plus, you don’t even leave your room, how would you expect me to believe that you managed to get someone to go with you to a party?” She turned her head , as if she was getting sick of her friends' bullshit. It indeed wasn’t the first time Saparata had tried lying his way into one of Schpood’s parties.
Saps was getting annoyed by his stubbornness at that point. “Fine, believe what you will, but I will prove you wrong. You just wait, Jophiel.”
He got up, his chair scraping loudly against the floor of the campus' coffee shop. He grabbed his disintegrating backpack off the floor and stomped his way out of the shop, forgetting his cup on the corner table.
As he was walking back to his dorm, realization finally hit him. He actually did need a date for Schpood's party.
Shit.
What the fuck was he gonna do now? Predictably so, he had obviously been lying to Jophiel regarding his supposed date, and now, in order to spare himself of the eventual upcoming embarrassment, he needed to find one.
Saps opened the apartment door, dropping his bag next to the wall and kicking off his dirty shoes next to his roommate's.
His roommate.
How did he not think of that?
Fluixon, his best friend, the guy who turned heads wherever he went without even trying.
It was almost irritating how effortless it all was for him—jet black hair falling just right despite the messy purple streaks running through it, dark purple eyes that always seemed to catch the light in a way that made people look twice, and that laid-back confidence Saps could never quite replicate no matter how hard he tried. He wasn’t even tall—actually a bit shorter than most guys on campus—but somehow that only made him more noticeable, like he carried himself in a way that made height irrelevant.
Standing next to him, Saps felt like his complete opposite. Taller by a good margin, with white hair usually tied into a loose man-bun that was either intentional or just laziness disguised as style, and arms that hinted at actual effort spent somewhere between stress and routine. He wasn’t scrawny—far from it—but where Flux was effortless, Saps always felt… put together in pieces.
He was Saps’ best friend in the world. They met in high school—Flux having just moved from New Zealand with that stupidly charming accent, and Saps having absolutely no one. Somehow, against all odds, they clicked. What started as shared lunches turned into late-night gaming sessions, inside jokes, and the kind of loyalty that didn’t need to be spoken out loud.
If he asked Flux to be his date (no homo ofc) he would’ve probably said yes, right?
Right?
Saps stood frozen in the middle of the living room, staring at Flux’s closed bedroom door, rethinking his whole life’s choices and every action that brought him in this position.
OK Saps, you got this, he’s your best friend, he won’t judge you.
He groaned, dragging his hands down his face. Why did this feel like asking someone out for real? It wasn’t like that. It couldn’t be like that. This was just a solution to a problem. A very convenient, very attractive solution, but still—just a solution.
With a deep breath, he tiptoed to Flux’s room, and knocked twice firmly on the wooden door.
“Come in"
Flux’s muffled voice leaked casually into the poorly-lit hallway.
Saps opened the door, desperately trying to look normal, as if he hadn’t just fought an internal war in front of his roommate’s door. Flux was sprawled across his bed, phone in hand, and one leg hanging awkwardly off the side.
He glanced up, their eyes meeting. Saps could've sworn his heart skipped a beat for a split second, and he felt heat quickly rushing up from his neck.
“Crap bro, what did you do?” Flux sighed, because he noticed the worried look on Saps’ face, of course he did.
Saps blinked, crossing his arms to his chest. “How did you-”
“I just know that face, dude. You look like you’re about to confess to a crime”
“What? No- Just- Shut up! Just let me talk bro”
“Alright, alright, what's up?” Flux grinned, sitting up slightly,
Uncrossing his arms, Saps leaned against the door frame. “So,” he started, trying so hard not to stare directly at his best friend. “You know Schpood’s party this weekend?”
Flux raised an eyebrow. “The one you said you ‘definitely had a date for’ this morning?”
Saps froze.
“…Jophiel talks too much.”
“Jophiel doesn’t even have to talk. Your lies have a reputation now.”
“Okay, first of all—rude. Second of all,” Saps inhaled, bracing himself, “I need a favor.”
“Well htis sounds promising” Flux leaned back, amused, a small chuckle escaping from his mouth.
Saps glanced over, narrowing his eyes and scratching the back of his head. “I may or may not have lied about having a date.”
Flux gasped dramatically, putting his hand over his heart. “No way! I’m in shock right now.”
"Shut up, the point is, I uh..”
" You.. what?” Flux raised his eyebrows, blinking slowly.
“I need someone to go with so I don't look like an absolute idiot."
"And?” he prompted.
The white-haired boy clenched his fists hard, and looked down to his knuckles as they were getting paler. "...And i was wondering if you’d–"
He stopped.
Fluixon looked slightly amused now, and as he tilted his head, looking him up and down with a newfound curiosity, he pushed once more. “If I’d what?”
Saps squeezed his eyes shut " If you’d go with me. As my date. Not uhh.. not like that, but you know, just so I could… prove Jophiel wrong!”
He opened his eyes, holding his breath.
Flux was staring at him.
Not amused this time.
“...You’re kidding." he said flatly.
Saps shifted his weight. “Yeah, I mean its not a big deal, its just–”
" Not a big deal,” the shorter man repeated, a short, humourless laugh slipping out. He looked away, jaw tightening as he dragged a hand through his hair. "Right.”
He frowned “Dude, why are you making it sound like–”
"Like what?” Fluixon snapped, sharper than before, eyes flicking back to him. " Like I have to deal with your mess?”
The white -haired man stiffened. " I didn’t mean it like that, you know it.”
" You always do this! You lie, panic and them come to me to fix it! It’s a pattern, Saps.”
“That’s not fair.”
Flux let out a slow breath through his nose, something tense settling in his expression. “No, what’s not fair is you acting like this is nothing.” His voice dropped, tighter now. “Like asking me to be your ‘date’–” he made a small, dismissive motion with his hand, “--is just… whatever.”
Saps blinked, confused by the reaction. “It is whatever. I just need someone to go with–”
“You really are an idiot, aren’t you.”
“..Excuse me?” Saps frowned, irritation creeping in. “I asked you to go to a party with me. That’s it. Why are you making it weird?”
That hit something.
Flux’s jaw tightened, his gaze dropping for a second before he let out a short, humorless breath.
“Yeah,” he muttered. “Why am I.”
Saps crossed his arms. “If it’s such a problem, forget it. I’ll just–”
He shifted like he was about to leave.
“–ask someone else.”
That did it.
A pause.
Then–
“…Don’t.”
Saps stopped mid-step.
Behind him, Flux dragged a hand down his face, exhaling slowly like he was forcing something down.
“…God,” he muttered under his breath. “You’re–”
He didn’t finish that.
Another second passed.
Then, quieter–
“…Fine. I’ll go.”
Saps turned back, caught off guard. “…What?”
Flux didn’t look at him. “I said I’ll go.”
“But you just–”
“I know what I just did,” Flux cut in, voice flatter now. “I’m still going.”
Saps stared at him, trying to read him. “Why?”
Flux hesitated.
Just for a second.
Then shrugged, like it didn’t matter.
“Because you’re not asking someone else.”