bind your heart

Azul is strong, but no where near as strong as he was in their mermaid forms. Floyd just laughs at the feeling of Azul’s fists hammering against his back like it would do anything. “I bet you could bunch me enough to get me to drop you if you had eight arms to punch with, you know!” Yeah right, Azul would never drop into his tasty octopus form in front of everyone.

It’s security in this fact that allows Floyd to keep on walking towards the dance floor undisturbed and unbothered. A few curious students glance their way as they pass and Floyd only grins as he continues to carry their Housewarden away.

“Come on! It’ll be fun Az-OOOWW!”

Floyd starts to whine as Azul grabs his cheek and pulls. Floyd leans into it to try and give Azul less leverage to pull on, leading to him leaning to the side and drifting slightly as they walk. He still manages to stay upright and on course though, even as he whines at the pain in his face. 

Now he wants to make Azul embarrass himself even more.

“Youre makeen eben more peeble look a you by yellin’, you know?” Floyd manages while try to free his face from Azul. In a flash of annoyance, Floyd huffed. Maybe he wanted to Azul get hurt a little, huh Octopus?  Far enough in to be satisfied, Floyd quickly braced himself to get a good grip on Azul and haul him off his shoulder and into the crowd of dancing students. A few bodies broke Azul’s fall, and Floyd snickered as their annoyed looks immediately dropped when they saw exactly who it was that had bumped into them.

“Come on Azul! You got this! Hit the whip! Hit the whoa! Give ‘em the stanky leg!”

​Ah dang, they caught him.

“Heya Betta.” Floyd doesn’t even bother hiding the mushrooms he’s pinching between his fingers over the Pomefiore dish. Why would he? He’d already been caught, the jig was up.

He was glad he decided to do this on his own, and that it wasn’t a job from Azul. He’d never hear the end of it if Azul knew he’d screwed up.

Floyd wrinkled his nose before giving the limp mushrooms a little wiggle. “Nah, not that weird dish...did you guys make that? It seems like something Pomefiore would do. It was purple. Pomefiore guys liked purple, right? “These are just regular mushrooms.”

Regular mushrooms that he hadn’t noticed when he’d picked up the meal. There was no way he could eat these, even if they were regular old boring mushrooms. Jade had been sneaking so many of them into Floyd’s diet, he had started gagging lately whenever he felt one of them hit his tongue.

“Aww, ya sure? You don’t want a snack, Betta?” Floyd really didn’t want to eat these mushrooms, he needed to get rid of them as quickly as possible, before Jade saw him with them and insisted Floyd eat them...He perked up at Vil’s suggestion.

Floyd’s arm shot out to catch Rove’s shoulder before he could back away. Now, Floyd didn’t give a shit about someone bumping into him. Accidents happened after all, and he wouldn’t be a good example of a Sea Witch’s student if he didn’t show stumbling minnows some benevolent generosity.

But bumping into him and insults? Well he couldn’t just let that go unspoken.

“Aww, leaving so soon Water Bug?” Floyd grins wide as he looms in close, squeezing Rove’s shoulder tight so he couldn’t try and wriggle his way out of Floyd’s grasp. “We just ran into each other after all...I wanna make sure that I can heard just what you said clearly.”

Floyd snickered as he continued to close the space between them. “What was it you said just now? Mouth breather? Standing around? S’not very nice...you might just hurt a guy’s feelings, going around saying stuff like that...”

It was so hard to catch any of the Diasomnia members on their own.

Floyd had heard the ways the students at school talked about the elusive house members. How they whispered about them with either envy or fear. They hyped them up enough to make Floyd think they might even be as interesting as the Sea Witch herself.

He wanted to fight them. He wanted a chance to take a swing at someone as strong as Lilia or Malleus so badly. Floyd wasn’t dumb enough to think he’d win against them yet though, so he figured he could start small and work his way up the foodchain.

The perfect opportunity was presented to start with the youngest of their school of fish.

Floyd cackled loudly as the pudding found its mark and slammed into the back of Sebek’s head. Floyd folds over as he laughs loudly, drawing a few eyes their way. “Eh? What’s wrong Crocodile? I thought you looked hungry!”

Sebek takes the bait just as Floyd thought he would and hooks himself on his Floyd’s line.

Floyd grins wide as Sebek picks up a plate and launches it towards Floyd. Excellent. Unprepared and sudden, the throw is easy enough to dodge to the side. Floyd grabs the plate of a nearby, unassuming student and with a laugh, charges towards Sebek as he reels back to throw it.

"Ah, I wonder who might have brought this dish." The pleasant, unchanging smile of Jade's public mask hides whatever visible curiosity might have matched the question, and he holds a small bowl of the odd risotto up in front of his brother's face. Though cold, it still carries the tantalizing scent of roasted garlic, which overtakes a subtler, earthy smell.

"And these don't appear to be shiitake mushrooms either. Why, it's almost as if the donor knew your preferences."

"Ah? It wasn't you? Look it's got mushrooms and everything."

Floyd leaned his weight into his twin's stiff posture. His chin hooked comfortably over Jade's shoulder as he slumped his weight against him. Where Jade was curious, Floyd frowned at the dish with blatant suspicions. Jade wouldn't lie to him. That meant someone else had started getting into mushrooms. The last thing they needed was two f them running around...

"You can make risotto purple by adding things like red cabbage or red carrots." Floyd informed him flatly. His brother didn't spend nearly as much time in the lounge's kitchen as him, but he hoped someone as smart as Jade was would have a lot more creativity. "It's not that weird...not like if it was blue or bright pink."

Floyd wondered if he could do that next time someone ordered it. He wondered if the customer would complain or be too scared to say anything about it. Floyd snickered to himself at the thought.

"It doesn't look to- uuuugh." Floyd pulls away from his twin with a grimace. It was a trap! He knew it was a trap. Floyd's glare turns to Jade now as he pouts. "We said no more mushrooms for another month!" He whined, crossing his arms. Absolutely not. Floyd would not be the one to crumble on this.

"If you're so curious about it, you should eat it first." As peculiar as it was, Floyd definitely did wanna know if it was good. He had the feeling Jade would comment in that Nice But Slightly Disappointed Way if Floyd started plucking the mushrooms out of it.

Ember held the plate out to Floyd. It seemed only fair to give him some food as well, at least in return for the waffles. There was some of the cheese, still burning, and a piece of bread to go along with it.

“Have you tried this yet?” He asked, “The fire is quite beautiful, though I don’t know if you’re supposed to blow it out before you take a bite.”

Floyd's eyes lit up to match the plate's contents as it was held out to him as an offering. "Woaaaah. Can you light any dish you want on fire?"

Stuff like this wasn't possible under the sea, as far as Floyd knew. Not without burning a ton of magic to keep the fire going, and that was just a waste of energy. But on land, you could just do that! Set things on fire!

Floyd needed to tell Jade about this. He had to get his brother's help in getting Azul to put this on the menu. Floyd's hands were already twitching at the thought of experimenting with it in his own recipes.

"You eat it while it's on fire, right? Why else would they send it out like that." Besides the fact it looked dope as hell. Floyd considered the food carefully and reached for a piece of bread before scooping up some of the cheese. The flame shifted and wafted in the breeze as it moved, but the flame kept burning.

Floyd grins wide. "Time to find out!" He declares before opening his mouth wide and eating the piece hold. The flame burns the top of his mouth quickly before, cut off from oxygen, it fades out. It doesn't stop Floyd from wincing though at the new painful sensation in his mouth.

" oya, monsieur malfeasant~! " rook steps beside floyd, a smile on his face but his gaze is directed away from the leech twin beside him. instead, sage eyes stare fondly at a group of cloaked students; those of savanaclaw following — rook already knows it, and their names. then he turns to floyd and his smile widens, " shall we add to the thrilling atmosphere with a unique game? "

rook holds up the item hidden up his sleeve and keeps his hand open for floyd to have the space to take it from him. " fufu, i am certain that your participation will be magnifique! " a quick gesture to made towards the group of savanaclaws in front of them.

send 📍 to play pin the tail on the savanaclaws !!

Oh great. This guy.

Floyd doesn't even try to hide his grimace as Rook suddenly appears at his side. And people called him and Jade unsettling...this guy did it just by walking into the room. "Whaddaya want, Seagull?" Floyd whines, leaning his head away from him. Did he bathe in that smelly stuff? Gross...

Floyd's eyes follow Rook's over to a group of unnamed savanclaw students. Floyd thinks he might've seen them at the lounge a few times, but who knows. They get tons of students at the lounge. Was he expected to remember them all?

(Probably, if he asked Azul, but that was a Jade job. Those guys weren't interesting.)

"Unique?" Floyd was pretty sure Azul wouldn't want him to do anything too bad that would come back on the lounge or dorm's reputation...but Floyd didn't really care about that.

Floyd considered the fake tail quietly as he looked over at the other group of students. "Mmm...not interested." He decides, scoffing as he crossed his arms. Doing something that Seagull suggested...gross. The thought tasted gross.

Send 👻 to play a game of Root Beer Pong to the death (with the Spiked Punch).

Floyd's laughter echoes around them, drawing a few eyes over their way.

"Come on now, Killifish! Drink up!" This game was easy! No wonder so many land movies included scenes with us. Floyd pounced the tiny plastic ball on the table and caught it in his palm in the air.

Taking on a member of the basketball team member in a game of throwing balls through hoops...man, this guy really didn't think his plan through.

(Especially since Floyd was pretty sure this was the very same juice that he had helped Azul slip one of his potions into earlier...Floyd didn't know which one he'd used, but he knew better than to run around chugging Azul's potions recklessly.)

Floyd snickered and aimed up another shot. "Hey hey, watch this! I bet I can do a trickshot, hang on!" Was it even Floyd's turn anymore? He didn't think so, but it's not like Kalen would manage to make a good shot anyways.

Floyd lobbed the ball and held his breath. It arched across the table and landed on the rim of one cup, sending it shaking as it bounced up and over and landed instead in a completely different cup. Floyd let out an absolutely delighted laugh.

there's a sudden jolt of small shoulders, and amethysts glaring immediately towards source of sudden noise of dishes breaking --a very tall, sharp - teethed one ; ah yes, of course it was floyd. " ... please, tell me there is actually a reason for you breaking the plate besides you feeling like it. "

"Aww, come on Betta fish! It could have been an accident." Floyd pouts a little.

Floyd might've been a troublemaker who was known for doing shit on a whim, but food was different. There were so many different kinds of food to try on the land, Floyd had been excited about this shindig and getting to try a whole bunch of new things that he could nag Azul about bringing to the lounge's menu.

The plate had been hot. Really hot. Floyd knew to expect things to be hot in the kitchen, but he always forgot how hot plates could get just from having food sitting on them. Floyd flexes his fingers open and closed. They sting. When he glances down at them, they're bright red. Oh, that smarts.

"Hey, hey Betta!" Floyd wanders closer to Vil and leans into the other's space to peer at the plate that he holds. "Hey, you have some of that too, yeah? Lemme try some!" Floyd grins wide. "Since you're so upset about me and the plates, huh? I can't break plates if I'm not holding them."

There comes a time in which even the wicked must rest. Azul has laid his networking to rest in a brief moment of respite, choosing to follow Floyd around as he lukewarmly examined the curiosities of the night. 

“Look—“ A hand hits the taller merman’s shoulder, demanding his attention, “They’re playing those drinking games, the ones that we would always see in land-dweller cinema.” Azul motions towards the set of beer pong, then a devious idea surfaces to mind. He leans closer to Floyd and speaks in a hush:

“What if we spiked it?”  

Floyd always pulled attention when he entered a room by virtue of how tall he was, but having Azul stuck to his side made it a lot worse.

Not that he minded. Floyd snickered as he wandered the crowd of partying students and watched faces pale and quickly dart away when they caught sight of the two approaching. One particular student catches Floyd's eye, but before he can chase after them, Azul's hand claps down on Floyd's shoulder and pulls him to a stop.

"Huh?" From the movies? He looks the way Azul gestures to watch a few students try to lob balls into the cups spread out across the table. Basketball...but table sized. A lot less fun, in Floyd's opinion. He wrinkles his nose as he watches them. "Aren't they gunna drink it anyways? What's the point of the game?"

Whatever the point is, Floyd doesn't get it. He's debating how fun it would be to run at the table and throw himself into the cups and send them flying everywhere when Azul leans in.

Oh? "Oh!"

Floyd's grin slowly spreads back on his face at the thought. "So you want me to squeeze them while you do it, yeah?" Floyd knows what he's good at, knows what Azul usually expects him to do. With a cackle, Floyd nods and shrugs off Azul's head so he can give his shoulder a good roll in anticipation. Bind the Heart vibrates softly under his skin as he starts heading towards the table.

Send 🎤 to drag my muse into a karaoke duet.

"Woooow, and you're even gunna let me pick the song? Are you brave or stupid, Mackerel?" Floyd snickered as he leaned into the list, mismatched eyes quickly running over them.

He'd always seen Mackerel hanging around with Crabby and Shrimpy around campus. He always looked like another small fish who didn't notice exactly how big the pond he was swimming around in was. Floyd thought it was kinda funny. Especially when he'd heard rumors that Mackerel knew how to thrash with the best of them.

He kinda wanted to see it for himself, but he could wait for that. Mackerel's suggestion had been so surprising to Floyd, he kinda wanted to see exactly what would come of it if he played along.

"Ooh, this looks fun." Floyd grins and presses on one of the songs. The song loads before Mackerel can get a look at it and Floyd steps back with a delighted cackle.

Floyd's brain had been slugging through static as he glared at the rows of snacks before him. Azul had wanted him to get...something from Sam's shop, but the description had gone on so long that Floyd had lost track of exactly what it was Azul even wanted...He knew if he showed up back at the lounge empty handed, Azul would complain about it until Floyd went out again, but he really couldn't remember...

A snack might help his brain, right? Didn't someone smart say sugar was good for thinking? Floyd was totally sure he'd heard that somewhere once for sure.

There's a laugh at his side that drag Floyd's eyes downwards. This was one of those Ignihyde nerds, wasn't it? Floyd blinked slowly.

Tall? He was long, not tall.

The laughter, small though it was, was like the peek of sunlight through storm clouds and Jade was glad to see it. The bar still needed restocking, and it would be faster if Floyd was on board with the work. They still hadn’t seen or heard from Azul since they closed the Lounge for the night though, and given how busy they had been, Jade didn’t believe he’d emerge from his office anytime soon. The glassware still rattled faintly with the heavy, looping beats of his latest fixation rumbling from the back. They had time.

So when Floyd asked if anyone would try for the big prizes, Jade’s smile grew and he lifted an index finger as if to impart a secret.

“Have a little faith in them, Floyd,” he pleaded. “Money makes for a tremendous motivator, and those who manage to complete their tasks will be more likely to return for more. Granted, it is in Azul’s interest for his clients to fail.” He didn’t bother lowering his voice, unafraid of Azul hearing their conversation over the volume of his music. “But therein our interest lies. You see, Azul only sets the requirements of a task and the worth of completion. Once his clients step out of the Lounge, a number of factors influence whether they succeed or not…”

He paused to gauge Floyd’s engagement. The explanation was getting lengthy, and not even a snicker could guarantee that Floyd in a bad mood would be inclined to keep listening to him. More importantly, he wanted to make sure the underlying message was clear to his brother.

“Do you understand?”

Floyd’s eyes trailed off to the rattling glassware while he waited for his brother to speak, watching them shake and shudder with each passing beat that rolled from Azul’s office. It would be so easy to knock them all over, he thinks. To send them shattering to the ground and watch them break, to get Azul running out here demanding to know what was going on just for Floyd to blame it on him, to tell him his music was the cause. Jade would agree with Floyd if he did. And he could watch Azul’s face get bright red with anger as though there was a tentacle curling and squeezing around his neck to choke off the air and-

His eyes snap back to Jade. He’s not smiling the smile that makes Floyd’s skin itch this time. Floyd’s pout grows a little, but he listens. He listens and slowly, that mischievous light appears in his eyes.

Their interest.

“Why didn’t Azul just say that!” He complains, lifting himself up off the bar. Did they think he was a mind reader or something? Floyd didn’t know how anybody expected him to keep up with what was going on when Azul and Jade had fifteen plans running simultaneously at any moment. And sometimes even in direct contradiction. 

Floyd’s hands drum excitedly along the bar counter. Interference. Interference were some of Floyd’s favorite tasks as Mostro, not that he was ever allowed to say it out loud. But with the excitement causing his teeth to itch, Floyd could only grin widely at Jade as he leaned over the counter. “Hey, hey, can we go now? Azul’s already got his suckers on some suckers, yeah? Can we go and give them the squeeze, Jade?”

Jade had kept Floyd in the corner of his eye as he worked through the rest of the dining area, as he did most nights, but it didn’t take his intuition to know that something was wrong this time. Floyd was slower with the cleaning than usual, and while there was rarely a rhyme or reason to his mood swings, there was always a reason for Azul’s. The coincidence was strong enough that Jade was willing to hold the pieces in congruence and examine them side by side, where a picture was beginning to take shape. It wasn’t the first time he had been caught in the middle of one of Floyd and Azul’s spats, but between the outbursts and vitriol was a story that was - as far as Jade could tell - harmless. A joke that missed its mark. That, too, was nothing unusual.

“Mostro Lounge has been busier as well,” he pointed out, resting the pole of the mop against the counter with one hand while he slid the endangered glass from Floyd’s grasp with the other. As he checked it over, he continued: “Lately our weeknights see the same volume of customers that our weekends usually do. I don’t believe that that and Azul’s new scheme are unrelated.”

There was a hairline fracture snaking in a crooked line from one edge of the glass’ bottom, not quite reaching the other side. Jade ran a gloved finger over it thoughtfully, then set it aside. It wouldn’t need to be replaced quite yet. Resting his elbow on the counter and his chin in his palm, he looked down at Floyd with bright eyes and a mischief-hiding smile. Even when Floyd pouted and glared and huffed, Jade still found him rather adorable. It was in those expressions that a child lurked.

“It takes the small fry, as you put it, to draw the barracuda. For now, we must simply wait.” It will be fun soon, whispered in the space between words. More importantly, Jade wished to see exactly what the “bitch prize” entailed.

Floyd grunted unhappily in response to Jade’s points. There sure had been more students cramming into Mostro lately. Loud and noisy weaklings who weren’t worth his time beyond giving a little scare and watching them squirm. If they were here for Azul’s new game, they should at least do Floyd a favor and order things that were fun to make. If he had to run around a bunch delivering food, he wanted to at least make fun things and not just boring, normal things that anybody could make.

The glass is taken out of his hand. It’s Jade, so he lets it happen. Anyone else, even Azul, would’ve gotten snapped at if they tried it, but Floyd doesn’t mind if it’s Jade. Floyd does flip his head over so it rests on the counter the other way and he can watch Jade examine the glass.

He kinda hopes he broke it. But Jade puts it down rather than letting him throw and shatter it, so he guesses he didn’t.

Jade joins him on the counter and Floyd scoffs, glaring off at the tank behind him. Maybe he should dunk Azul in. He wonders if Azul would struggle to try and swim in his human form, or if he’d turn back into his octopus form in front of everyone...yeah right. Jade was still smiling at him when Floyd looked back.

“...we don’t need a barracuda.” Floyd grumbles. “The lounge is already full of eels.” But he gets it. Wait and watch and strike at the prey when it’s not expecting it. They’re both good at that, even if people only expect it from Jade. Still, the way Azul coveted thaumarks like the Sea Witch herself...it’d be a while before he gave anybody enough to actually buy the stupid bitch prize.