Undercaffinated, Sleep Deprived Unfltered Disaster

j a d e l e e c h

one of his main duties as the vice housewarden of octavinelle, and as a founding member of the mostro lounge, is information gathering on his fellow students. primarily the prospective students who are most likely to end up in the dorm, but also those that azul has his eye on as a potential contractor in the future. and jade excels at getting his hands on information that nobody else would be able to dredge up — which for you, unluckily enough, included your severe phobia of bugs. which he had once planned to blackmail you with… but now that you’re an item and he’s found himself unreasonably attached to you, that plan has long since been abandoned and your phobia is just something he either passively acknowledges as a part of you… or uses to subtly mess with you (because this is jade leech we’re talking about, what did you expect?)

he has absolutely no qualms about taking care of any and all bugs you come across and will politely remove them from your vicinity without hesitation or complaint. emphasis on ‘remove’ as he much prefers to relocate them back outside to their native environments rather than kill them if he can help it — of course there are exceptions and accidents that occur, but given the choice he’s usually going to opt for the more peaceful approach to helping you deal with the object of your fear

and when you start staying over at his dorm regularly, jade even gets into the habit of scouting the room for bugs and removing them in advance just to make your stay go that much smoother. and to give you further incentive to stay over more often and for longer periods of time too, but that’s neither here nor there…

any particularly interesting or gross looking insects he stumbles across usually end up going into one of his terrariums, handed off to floyd to eat (upon request, though that’s not anywhere near as common of an occurrence as some students may think), or repurposed as a means to mess with other students around night raven college as needed — though he is very picky about what bugs go where, and he’s actually fallen into quite the interesting research rabbit hole as a result of his determination to be as diligent as possible about relocation vs elimination vs keeping vs weaponising

now, moving past how much of a gentleman he can be with you jade leech is still jade leech and that means that you can expect him to start slowly stress testing you and your fear responses. he just can’t help himself, you’re so interesting to him! and he is very very intentional about how and when he does this as to never push you too far and risk genuinely distressing you or risking upsetting you to the point that you feel the need to split with him

one way he does this is by intentionally ‘missing’ a small harmless bug every few weeks or so during his pre-sleepover checks of his dorm. and he’s always careful to choose something slow moving, harmless to humans, and that cannot fly as to not startle you unnecessarily. and he makes sure that it stays in a visible area that’s far enough away from the bed to not leave you feeling overly stressed by his presence between when you spot it and when he removes it

he’ll also start leaving the occasional dead bug around for you to find, placed conspicuously somewhere in your dorm so you can find it and be put in a position to deal with the subject of your fear directly — as, naturally, he makes sure to arrange this step for when he’s unable to help you beyond being a reassuring presence over the phone — but safely as the bug, being notably dead, can’t do anything to startle or unnerve you beyond just… existing in your space, really

and then he slowly starts to transition you from dealing with carefully positioned dead insects with him over the phone to dealing with carefully selected live insects with him over the phone. gradually working you up to more and more ‘frightening’ bugs, but making sure to do all of this so slowly you may not even realise what he’s doing. like, this process will take years of work from his end

it’s like exposure therapy, but free and controlled by your loving boyfriend who only wants the best for you. he even keeps detailed notes that he updates weekly as he observes the minute changes in your response to your phobia. he’s… incredibly invested in the process, to say the least

all of that being said, though, despite his experiments jade is still very considerate and mindful of your fear and is careful to never push you too far, too soon. he also makes his pride in you known when you eventually overcome your fear, at which point he may or may not tell you about his little tests… but only if he’s certain you’ll take it well. otherwise he’s happy to just let you remain blissfully ignorant while he sneakily basks in his own success from the shadows

j a m i l v i p e r

for better or for worse, this particular fear is something that you and your darling boyfriend have in common. so unless one of you is able to get ahold of someone else to deal with the bug in question, or you can overcome your terror enough to squish and/or relocate it… well… you can expect a lot of fire in your future as jamil’s immediate response to bugs is either ‘kill the damned thing with fire’ or passing out from fear. so, if not you and if not kalim then you’d best have a fire extinguisher on hand

and if the bug is a flying species? yeah chances are that you won’t have a chance to scream before jamil is grabbing you and fleeing the scene immediately to find somewhere safe and someone who can deal with… whatever the hell that was

not the most confidence-inducing reaction, admittedly. and especially not if you’re hoping for a partner who will get rid of bugs for you. but, hey, at least he had the thought to grab you and take you with him even in his terrified state instead of just leaving you and running immediately — which is a lot more than many other men would do in his place. so. cut him some slack!

sevens help you if you’re also prone to fainting from fear because then you’ll both be even worse off. though kalim will at least try and wake you both up whenever he finds you and disposes of the bug in question, so at least you two don’t have to worry about that as much

your mutual phobia has become something of a running joke for his little sister. make no mistake, she loves you to bits and will always take over bug handling duties when you visit the family home… but she’s also a younger sister to her core and will make her amusement very well known to both of your expense… much to jamil’s very clear irritation and mortification

you’ll never have to worry about jamil minimising or belittling you for your phobia, or trying to mess with you as a result. firstly because he just… isn’t the type to do that. he was raised better than that, and he wouldn’t even do that to someone he hates. but also because, well, he’s in the exact same boat and while he’s not immune to being hypocritical every now and then he’s not going to act that way to you as his partner

you two end up on rotating shifts when you move in together to carefully check each room for any signs of bugs each night, especially when you’ve had to keep the windows open due to the heat, and within a few months you end up with a pretty solid rhythm to it. and a very solid system, both magical and mechanical, to keep your home as pest free as is physically possible — and your mental health is all the better off for it

if you ever want to go to therapy to address your phobia, you could easily make it a couple’s project with him as sevens know his fear is just as intense as yours. maybe even more than. and while he’ll fight against anything like exposure therapy at first, with enough pleading from you (and insistence from others) he will attend one session with you just to test the waters

whether he sticks to it is up in the air — he already has enough on his plate as is, after all — but he will absolutely support you if you want to go through the process yourself even if he ends up dropping the programme for one reason or another

just know that whether or not you successfully overcome your fear, he is super proud of you for trying to take that step at all because he knows, all too well, how horrible taking that first step can be. but if you do successfully overcome your phobia, you will be the designated bug-catcher moving forward and that is unfortunately nonnegotiable. sorry

m a l l e u s d r a c o n i a

with his limited experience with others, there’s every chance that when malleus finds out about your phobia that he just… passively accepts it as something that non-fae all have to some extent. and as he’s already been raised to treat everyone outside of himself as subjects to protect, the moment he becomes aware of your fear he treats it with the utmost seriousness that he can — never once even thinking about belittling or mocking you for your phobia, beyond maybe the odd teasing remark about you needing his protection once the bug has been taken care of… but that’s neither here nor there

it’s impossible to overstate how seriously he takes you and your fear. like the second he picks up on even the slightest signs of discomfort or tension or terror from you, he wastes no time in responding to and ridding you of the perceived threat — even if the ‘threat’ in question was a tiny, objectively harmless insect. and he won’t tolerate any negative self talk from you about your phobia either, shutting you down firmly but politely and insisting that it’s alright to be afraid… though, malleus being malleus, he does phrase it all in a more formal and shakespearean-esque manner

in fact he actually quietly revels in the fact that your phobia makes you that bit more dependent upon him as your lover. not that he’d ever voice as much outloud as, even with as isolated of an upbringing as he received, he knows better than to say something that could come across as that patronising to his partner. but, nonetheless, it absolutely feeds into his more arrogant and prideful side whenever you cry out for him and his protection, no matter how easily thwarted the object of your fear may be

oh and if your fear happens to make you more clingy and tactile towards those closest to you in the moment? that only makes the whole experience that much more enjoyable to your beloved touch-starved dragon, because then he gets to both revel in the bliss of your affection and attention, and show off his strength to you in such a way as to earn your endless praise and gratitude. and even though he’d never be so quick to admit to it all outloud, the rumbling purr he lets out whenever you leap into his arms or cuddle into his chest/side/arm/neck more than gives his enjoyment away

whenever the two of you visit somewhere new together — like a particular ruin he’s been dying to check out with you, for example — he will use his magic to subtly check the area for bugs and kill any that he spots as mercifully as possible before you even get the chance to notice them. he also does regular sweeps of his own dorm room, the diasomnia lounge, and wherever you’re staying at the time just in case. he’s thorough like that

and sevens forbid he catches wind of anyone attempting to weaponise your phobia or treat you poorly as a result of it, because malleus is nothing if not protective over his loved ones and as you’re his mate he’s more than willing to go the extra mile to intimidate the offending party into silence, apology, and/or exile — depending on the severity and frequency of their offence, of course. he’s protective, not unreasonable

ever curious about children of men and always eager to learn more about his beloved, malleus will also occasionally approach you with specific questions about your fear. like what specifically about insects frightens you, if your fear extends to all bugs or just specific types, when you became aware of your fear, and so on. and rest assured that he’s asking all of these questions nonjudgementally and listens intently to every answer you give — he just wants to learn about you, and about how he can help you, that’s all

he’s also surprisingly good at providing you with comfort and reassurance once the perceived threat has been handled — especially considering just how isolated of an upbringing he had. of course sometimes his wording may be a bit clumsy, and his touch can falter towards being too light when he gets in his own head about his strength, but all things considered he does really well. and you’re certainly not going to complain when your dear boyfriend is just doing his best

if your phobia is bad enough to cause you consistent distress in his absence, malleus may even go so far as to place a fae blessing on you as a means of permanently repelling insects and bugs of all types from your person. it’s not much, not from his perspective, and he truly does wish that he could use his magic to protect you to a greater extent from the object of your fear, but it’s enough to protect you when he’s not there to do so himself and thus it will have to do

a z u l a s h e n g r o t t o

now azul is very insistent of the fact that he is ‘above’ jealousy — that he’s more than comfortable and confident enough in his place as your boyfriend (and, naturally, future husband) to ever give into the influence of such a petty emotion — but if you’ve known him for longer than a few short minutes you’ll know that he’s lying through his teeth. and it’s such a blatant and bold faced lie, even compared to the tales he spins to get a good deal out of the poor unfortunate souls he works with on a daily basis, that you can bet every thaumark you have to your name that the twins would be giving him the worst ribbing of his life if they ever heard those words leave his lips… which is precisely why azul is careful to never broach the subject when either of them could be in earshot

because not only is azul very much so not above jealousy, but he has the most prominent jealous streak of anyone either of the tweels know. of course he is rational enough to recognise that his jealousy isn’t your fault and he never takes it out on you if he can help it, but after the severe bullying and ostracisation he faced in his youth and all the lingering insecurities he has as a result he can’t help but feel a bit antsy and uncomfortable with the idea of you spending more time with others. especially those that could offer you more than he can… even if he would sooner let floyd squeeze him until he literally popped than ever admit as much to you

and no matter how long you two have been together, no matter how secure he otherwise feels in your relationship, that little voice in his head insisting that you can do better and that he doesn’t deserve you will always be there. and it will be that much louder whenever you give him even the slightest of signs that the student he’s jealous of is something that you actually like, even if you’re not doing it intentionally and truly do just feel platonically for the other person. of course that little voice does get quieter and more easy to ignore as he gets older and starts to actually address his personal issues, but growth isn’t easy or linear and it will take him a long time to truly make any progress — years, even… but that’s beside the point

the main way that his jealousy shows is through his very personal and intentional targeting of whichever person he’s jealous of, with azul using every single means he has at his disposal to get them under his thumb so he can keep them away from you. and the methods he utelises to do this vary from obvious to subtle enough to make the sea witch herself proud, including:

having jade snoop around to find out what they want and what they need so he can entrap them into a contract where they get their heart’s desire (or the closest possible equivalent he can get his hands on; resourceful as he is, azul is still only a student) and he gets the peace of mind that they will not be going anywhere near you for the rest of their life. a true win-win situation, as well as an excuse to show off the true benevolence of octavinelle’s housewarden… and thus his preferred method of dealing with his jealousy because it’s just so simple and unassuming, but unfortunately for him this isn’t always an option so he does have to resort to some less elegant solutions every now and again

rearranging their entire work schedule, if they work at the mostro lounge, to ensure that they either never cross paths with you at all or that they’re too exhausted to even properly acknowledge you when you do stumble across each other — thus causing a rift in your bond with the other person that he is all too happy to watch grow and worsen. though he is convincing enough with the reasons he provides for swapping their shifts and duties around (e.g. the lounge is short staffed on those days and need the extra hands, the previous person that performed those exhausting/undesirable duties quit and he will compensate them fairly for picking up the slack, etc.) that there’s every chance that they, and thus you, never catch onto what he’s actually pulling

enlisting the twins to… talk to the individual in question and politely advise them to never speak to you again, unless they want another visit of course. it’s a messy solution and one he will only ever use as a last resort as it involves both letting the twins know that he’s jealous (as he can’t exactly excuse these requests for being in the interest of the lounge as he might a brief research request) which will result in him getting teased to hell and back, and running the risk of you finding out what happened as the leech boys don’t exactly scream subtle when they do dorm visits… especially not floyd who is somehow both the best and worst option for this particular assignment. but if things get to this point he likely doesn’t have the option to be picky anymore so… yeah

yeah… there’s pretty much nothing that he will not do if it means keeping you by his side, even if he knows that his jealousy is completely unfounded, because he’s a problem solver to his core and he can’t help himself but try and correct what he perceives as a disaster waiting to happen. and if he can do all of that while keeping you mostly in the dark about his insecurities flaring up then that’s a bonus

granted, for as sneaky as he can be when it comes to working out ways to keep the other person away from you he is also tremendously unsubtle about his jealousy in other ways that are clear as crystal to you. like how physically clingy he gets with you, his clear displays of anxious body language like pacing and nail biting and averting his eyes, and how much he questions you about the people in your life and your own relationship while trying (and failing) to be completely nonchalant about your answers. so, really, you’d almost have to be trying to remain oblivious whenever his jealousy spikes

so… maybe don’t let him fester in his negative thoughts for too long and drag him into a cuddle pile and start kissing him senseless the second you start to notice the signs, lest he end up ruining some poor student’s life out of jealousy. unless that’s something you want to see him do for whatever reason? but even then, be sure to assure him that you’re not going anywhere because sevens know he needs to hear it

j a m i l v i p e r

after a lifetime of servitude and learning to bottle up all of his emotions in favour of performing a carefully honed neutrality to the world and people around him, it almost goes without saying that jamil has a pretty solid poker face. one that you are unlikely to be able to see through if he’s actively trying to keep it up, unless you’re exceptionally observant or he opens up to you about whatever he’s actually feeling on his own terms. and even after his overblot and his embracing his new freedom as much as he has, it’s still gonna take him a while to actually let himself open up to you like that. don’t take it personally, old habits just die hard for him… even when he really doesn’t want them to

all that to say that while he does have quite the prominent jealous streak, he also knows better than to act irrationally because of it. after all, not only does he have his family’s reputation on his shoulders but he also has to consider how his actions will impact you as his partner, and as a result he is very careful about how he acts around whoever he’s jealous of. not to say that he’s above being petty with them, because he’s not, just that he’s going to be a lot more thoughtful and intentional in how he goes about being petty — he has to have plausible deniability, after all

though his first instinct for a while, before he even considers messing with the other party at all, is to try and work through these uncomfortable emotions on his own. like he does for most things in his life and has been doing pretty much for as long as he can remember. of course this isn’t exactly a successful strategy and he will pivot eventually, but it’s effective enough and he’s stubborn enough to try and stick with it for as long as he can… which, in hindsight, is perhaps a while longer than he should have

eventually though he will end up caving and broaching the topic with you himself, hinting at it over several days to test the waters before actually setting aside a chunk of time one day for the two of you to actually sit down so he can tell you about what he’s been dealing with. because for as much as he hates showing off his vulnerabilities and insecurities to you in such a clear way, he does also want to make this relationship work in the long term and understands well enough that this is very much so a necessary step in ensuring the two of you don’t end up drifting apart or growing resentful (you may be his first real partner, but having spent a lot of time blending into the background he’s been privy to watching many couples implode over one person’s jealousy and he does not want the two of you to end like that. or at all, actually… but that’s beside the point)

and after that conversation, difficult and awkward and uncomfortable though it may have been for the both of you, you’ll come out the other side much more confident and assured in the stability and openness of your relationship. and you, in particular, will have your eyes open to all of the signs you likely missed that pointed towards just how jealous jamil was… which you now can hardly believe you didn’t find as blatantly obvious before he confessed his discomfort to you

like how he would glare at them whenever they were near you, or whenever he saw them around school in general, his eyes observant and judgemental and burning holes into their skull only to return to a more neutral, almost bored, expression the second they looked in his direction. a clear sign of his dislike for the other person to those who were close to him in the moment, namely ace and floyd, but one that was easily missed as he excelled at quickly masking his hatred and blending back into the background before they realised he was the one staring them down

and the way that he’d almost habitually position himself in front of you whenever the two of you bumped into the other person, placing a physical boundary between you and wordlessly but irrefutably cementing his role as your boyfriend to them in a single, outwardly inconspicuous gesture. even inserting himself silently into your interactions with them just to reassert his place and the fact that they really ought to back off, even if he never actually said as much to them

and then there were all the times that he would actively interrupt your conversations with whoever he was jealous of, though he always came to you with a believable excuse so you never really thought to question it. after all, it really wasn’t so out of sorts to think that kalim had thrown another last minute party and your boyfriend desperately needed someone to keep him sane while he did all the prep, or that you had promised to study with him during your free period and it had slipped your mind because of all the chaos you experience on a daily basis, so you’d always bid your farewells and follow jamil without complaint (much to his unspoken relief, and smugness — because once again you chose him and not them)

and the way he’d become more publicly tactile with you whenever they wandered over to you both… though he always kept his gestures on the more appropriate side (e.g. fixing your uniform, kissing you on your hands or cheeks, offering you his arm to hold onto while walking between classes, etc.) so you didn’t necessarily pick up on the more possessive and intentional undertones to why he was suddenly being so physical in those moments. but, saying that, you can’t exactly bring yourself to complain about it as it was nice having your boyfriend be so openly tactile for a change…

… but, hey, hindsight is fifty-fifty and jamil can hardly blame you for not really picking up on his jealousy since he was otherwise going to such lengths to keep it under wraps. though now you know what to look out for moving forward, so do whatever you will with that newly acquired knowledge

l e o n a k i n g s c h o l a r

despite leona’s claims that he ‘isn’t the jealous type’ and that ‘it’s just called being territorial, herbivore. all beastmen are like this’, he is, in fact, a very jealous person. mainly because of his own insecurities and that lifelong fear of coming in second once again, this time in his own relationship with the one person in his life that has actively and consistently chosen him over anyone else. and while he will not take that jealousy out on you — unless, for whatever sevens forsaken reason, you decided to actively try to make him jealous and he knows that’s what you were doing — and while he does do his best to try and hide his jealousy as best as he can, he is also tremendously unsubtle about the whole thing, especially so if you happen to know him well (like, say, ruggie who is usually the first to call him out on being jealous whenever he’s around)

the first sign that you’re likely to notice that gives away just how unhappy he is with the amount of attention you’re giving to or receiving from another person is just how much he’ll be glaring at them. over your shoulder, behind your back, his entire expression cold and calculating and threatening, only to become noticeably neutral and unbothered the second your attention returns to him — an unspoken challenge and threat that is usually enough to force any savanaclaw student to get the picture, and to at least unsettle other students into leaving after a while

(though, granted, his resting face isn’t entirely dissimilar to his expression when he’s jealous and starting to get pissed off — especially if the other party doesn’t know him all that well beyond what little they may have seen/heard of him from his dorm mates — so it’s entirely possible that they’ll just not notice what’s going on and continue on as usual. but, eventually, even the most oblivious of individuals is sure to start feeling unsettled by how intensely leona is staring at them, so it’s a matter of whether he gets tired of inaction and moves to make a more obvious show of possession or whether they finally take the hint and leave first…)

then, if that fails to ward them off at all, he’ll escalate to practically draping himself over your body — making his presence impossible to ignore and really showing off the fact that you’re taken and the other person needs to take the hint and back off. of course he’s careful not to put his full body weight on you because for as funny as he finds it to bother you like that he doesn’t want to crush you and this is solely a matter of staking a public claim on you as your mate, but nonetheless the very blatant gesture is usually clear enough of a sign to get most students to clue in on the fact that you’re his and scamper off with their tails between their legs

he may even go so far as to start growling and threatening them if he feels it’s necessary. though really he’d rather not have to lower himself to that level and it takes a lot more than you’d think for leona to feel truly compelled to start acting so aggressive with another student — granted instincts are instincts and if it’s another beastman that’s trying to infringe on your relationship he has no qualms reestablishing the pecking order in the dorm if he needs to, but if he can get away with it he’d much rather take the easy way out and have them leave before any actual verbal or physical confrontation takes place

and if the passes start to become a bit too blatant and bold for his taste — i.e. they cross the line from excusable or mildly complimentary in tone and turn obviously flirty and disrespectful to you and to your relationship — then leona will just straight up pick you up or drag you away by the arm to go and nap somewhere private. both so he can properly scent you again and remove you from the offending party’s presence, and so he can slowly sleep off his frustration before he does something that gets you annoyed with him

(you’re not even safe from this when he’s not there in the moment to see this all going down either, because his sense of smell is so strong that he’s very quick to pick up on the fact that you ‘stink’ of someone else — which then immediately puts him in a sour mood and results in him pretty much holding you captive in his arms while he naps to rid you of the stench)

he may — emphasis on may — even start attending his usual classes if you and the person in question are part of his cohort, if only to ensure that you don’t end up having to work with them (after all, why pair up with them for a project when your boyfriend is right here?) and thus that they have absolutely zero chances to get close to you in any sense of the word during class hours. not physically, as leona will be setting up shop right next to you and glaring anyone who tries to sit in his seat (no he doesn’t care that they were assigned that seat, it’s his now), or through bonding as he makes it very clear that he’s gonna be your default class partner for every class you have together. no he’s not being obvious… shut up

he will also go out of his way to make sure that you smell like him afterwards, usually by all but forcing one of his jackets on you and insisting on you wearing it for the rest of the day — partially as a very clear visual indicator that you’ve been claimed by him even when he’s not there to literally drape himself on top of you, and partially because the jacket smells like him and if you have his scent clinging to you there’s no denying that you’re his person. his mate. and that usually is enough to ward off pretty much any other beastman that you may cross paths with, and most other students too (aside from the bold or oblivious, but he has his ways of dealing with those too if he needs to do so)

while this isn’t something he particularly wants to do, or that he’ll default to unless he’s exhausted all of his other options, leona can and will fight anyone who simply refuses to take the hint that you’re his mate. and he will win, so don’t worry about that. though, again, this is very much so a last ditch effort from him to really send a message and the vast majority of the time the most you’ll see of his jealousy is what’s listed in the above points instead

r i d d l e r o s e h e a r t s

to say that riddle wears his heart on his sleeve sometimes may very well just be the understatement of the century — after all, anyone who has ever crossed paths with the former rose red tyrant is surely all too familiar with just how quick he has been to anger in the past, as well as just how visibly obvious it was whenever his temper was even just starting to rise. and that very much so extends to how his jealousy tends to manifest now that the two of you are in a relationship

of course he does usually try and rationalise his way out of this headspace when he can (he trusts you dearly, after all, and would very much so like to believe that he’s made some progress towards anger management since his mortifying overblot at the start of the semester), but even so there will be many instances in which you, or whoever is nearby at the time, will be treated to the sight and sound of a positively fuming riddle whenever his jealousy happens to get the best of him. which is more often than not because someone is getting way too close to you for it to be innocent in his presence

riddle has absolutely zero poker face when it comes to how he feels about you, and even if he manages to keep his mouth shut and his temper (mostly) contained all it will take from you is a single look in his direction to realise just how jealous your poor boyfriend is. because, well, there’s really no missing the frightening shade of red his skin flushes from the neck upwards, nor the sour look on his face, nor the way his hands tighten around whatever he’s holding in a way that very clearly indicate just how hard he’s trying not to lash out — like you’d have to be trying not to notice at that point

he will make a point of positioning himself between you and whoever he’s jealous of in the moment, or failing that he’ll just stand by your side and make it abundantly clear through that prolonged proximity that you’re very clearly taken and they ought to back off — or, at the very least, knock off whatever offending behaviour they were engaging in before he moved to intervene… after all, with his reputation being as widely spread as it is its rare that riddle actually has to go so far as to escalate beyond this little show before the other student politely backs down and makes an excuse to leave. especially so if said student happens to be a member of his dorm (and, thus, very familiar with just how bad his temper can get) or if they are close to another student who is (and are consequently keenly aware of how bad of an idea it might be to test his patience and his boundaries when it comes to you, his lover)

and, because riddle is riddle and old habits die hard, he also has a nasty habit of lecturing the hell out of whoever he’s jealous of — systematically scolding them for every tiny infraction that he can think to apply, no matter how niche or unimportant, until they finally break and leave with their tail between their legs… and an apology on their lips too, ideally, but being a housewarden has taught him that accountability to that level is very rare at night raven so he doesn’t really expect that. frankly, as long as they leave he couldn’t care less about what they have to say

he may even try and find an excuse to collar them if he felt their offence was severe enough — though, unfortunately, riddle isn’t so keen to fall back on the same bad habits that led to his overblot so he does actually make an effort to not just collar people because they made him jealous… however if he finds them guilty of breaking a rule at the same time and that warrants being collared, well, that’s fair game in his eyes

the second the two of you leave, or he finally gets the other person to leave, he will be complaining about them for the rest of the day… or until you manage to get him to move onto another topic, but even then he will be quietly stewing on the whole interaction for hours after the fact. and his complaints vary from understandable (e.g. they were rude, they interrupted you too much, they were mishandling their pen and could have hurt someone, etc.) to downright petty in a way that somehow manages to be both deeply amusing and bewildering in the most riddle way possible

in the hours, days, and sometimes even weeks, following a particularly rough experience in regard to his jealousy, riddle will make a point of keeping you even closer than usual. partially to make it even more abundantly clear to those around you that the two of you are an item, but mostly to soothe his own insecurities and upset without him having to ask outright for that comfort. and that involves everything from walking you to and from your classes and sitting beside you during lunch, to personally inviting you to the dorm for sleepovers and unbirthday parties and study sessions — which both gives the two of you plenty of chances to spend time together and grow closer as a couple, and makes it much more difficult for anyone else to try and capitalise on your time in that way that sets his teeth on edge

and sevens help him if the person he’s jealous of happens to be someone that you’re naturally very close to independent of your relationship with him. doubly so if that person is more traditionally likeable than riddle is. because that will only make his insecurities that much worse to contend with as he spirals in ways that are clear as day to everyone around him…

e p e l f e l m i e r

now opening up your notebook and being met with doodles of and related to himself is going to leave epel at least a little bit flustered no matter what it is you actually drew. especially so if he already has a crush on you. but the specifics of his reaction in the moment and how he approaches you afterwards to return your notes is highly dependent on how you chose to portray him in your artwork

starting with more tangentially related doodles — sketches of dubious looking apples, rabbits and hares in motion, maybe even some spelldrive doodles that appear sporadically in the margins of pages and in larger blank spaces in between paragraphs and diagrams, for example

it’s fifty-fifty whether epel actually makes the connection that he was on your mind when you were absentmindedly sketching each item into your notebook. of course the connection is there and there are pieces of him in every doodle if he thinks to look at them closely, but if he’s desperate enough to ask for your notes to copy he may just accept them at face value as just cute looking drawings and not give them a second thought as he reads over your notes. he will compliment you on how cool some of the more dynamic looking doodles looked either way… just with slightly pinker cheeks if he made the connection

if you happened to lean towards a more chibi-esque or cutesy art style and doodled a dozen of him in that intentionally cute way across your notebook… well firstly he’s gonna have no problems putting two and two together, but he’s also gonna be pretty torn about the doodles themselves

because, yes it’s awesome and flustering to know that he was on your mind enough to drive you to distraction often enough throughout your lesson that you ended up with about a baker’s dozen chibi epels dotting the pages of your notebook — a lot of which are shockingly detailed and clearly inspired by actual things he’s done in front of you (one is of him in flight wearing his spelldrive uniform, and another is of him posing in the bunny outfit he wore back for white rabbit fest, for example) — but he’s also not keen on being portrayed in a cute way. even by his crush. because he puts in so much work to not be seen as delicate or adorable, and while some of the poses you drew may be cool in theory the art style itself just makes him feel a bit off

though when he finally returns the notebook to you he doesn’t say as much outright, instead just teasing you for the art he found and inviting you to sit in on his next club session (so he can show you how not cute cool of a guy he is when he’s in action)

and finally there’s the detailed, realistic sketch — the one that is sure to leave him speechless, pink from the collarbone upwards, too distracted to even copy your notes down for a good long while, and then notably more smug and eager to show off around you afterwards. because what better ego boost is there than seeing a detailed portrait his crush made because they clearly couldn’t get him off of their mind?

even better if you drew something from memory that highlighted the parts of him and his personality that he’s the most proud of. like an action shot from a game, the cocky smirk he gets when he challenges someone to a fight, the way he looks when he’s gotten the upper hand on another person, or something else along those lines. because that’s an immediate boost to his ego that’s gonna make him absolutely insufferable for the next few days

but he won’t be particularly upset if your doodle makes him look a bit softer, just as long as you make him look like himself and not the delicate little flower some of the guys around school seems to think he is

yeah… needless to say you really shouldn’t give him your notebook unless you know he returns your feelings and are prepared to get the teasing of a lifetime. if not, you should maybe just text him the footnotes and let him lean on jack for some one-on-one help instead…

r i d d l e r o s e h e a r t s

ever a stickler for the rules, even those left unspoken, riddle is going to lecture you for not paying attention and doodling during your classes instead. yes, even if your infatuation with him was what drove you to distraction. yes, even though you were kind enough to lend him your notebook to make up for the class he missed because he was sick. rules are made to be followed and he will not be making any exceptions for you just because he’s fond of you

that being said, it’s clear as day that his heart isn’t in it when he’s lecturing you for your actions — with the cracking of his voice over certain syllables, the strikingly red flush to his cheeks, the slight trembling of his hands, and his inability to look you in the eye the entire time giving away just how flustered he actually was by what he saw in your notebook. doesn’t make the lecture any shorter or less strict, of course, but it certainly softens the blow once you realise just how much you impacted him with your absentminded doodles

though, of course, the severity and noticeability of his flustered state is massively dependent on how blatantly lovey-dovey or otherwise indicative of you having a crush on him that the doodles he noticed happened to be. but that’s only to be expected given the circumstances

starting off with more vague doodles — like little hedgehogs trotting leisurely across your margines or floating teacups or perfectly symmetrical roses — riddle is smart enough to put two and two together enough to realise that you clearly have heartslabyul or one of the many students that call the dorm home on your mind. though he may not necessarily realise that it was him that drove you to distraction as opposed to one of his dormmates. that’s not to say that he doesn’t have the thought, or that he doesn’t hope that you’re thinking of him in that way over anyone else, because he does and it leaves him terribly red in the face and almost too distracted to study himself in the moment — just that he won’t ask you about those doodles unless you give him a very clear indicator that they were related to him. after all, the queen of hearts has plenty of rules against assuming and he refuses to risk either breaking a rule or embarrassing himself in front of you in such a vulnerable way

moving onto a more cutesy or chibi style of doodle, riddle is going to be equal parts embarrassed and flattered by what he sees. flattered because, well, he recognises his housewarden uniform clearly enough to know that every little sketch depicts him in one situation or another — one of him trimming a rose, another of him clearly happy and eating a tart, a few of him chasing after half rendered sketches of what he assumes to be ace or deuce, and even a couple of him posing in some especially cutesy ways (blowing kisses, making hearts with his hands, pouting, etc.). and embarrassed because, well, a lot of the little doodles depict him in ways he’s not so proud of and he’s mortified that you, his crush, saw him in those moments (or heard about it in enough detail to doodle it from memory). seeing this will leave riddle noticeably red in the cheeks and looking like he’s struggling to keep his composure when he finally hands you back your notes — because, well, there’s no need to worry about incorrect assumptions when you were literally doodling him with hearts in his eyes during your lesson

and sevens help him if he turns the last page of your lesson notes and catches sight with a very realistic sketch of himself because, well, then he’ll be left with absolutely no doubt about the fact that he’s on your mind just as much as you are on his. and the amount of effort you put into perfecting the shape of his eyes, the curve of his pout, and the unique style of his hair is both clear as day to him and more than enough to leave him speechless, pink-faced, flattered, and unsure how to go about asking you out — after your lecture, obviously, as he can’t just let you off because you happened to be drawing him

and if you happened to draw him in a cutesy way in the realistic style? like putting hearts all around his head, capturing him in a moment of unbridled glee, or so on? yeah he’s absolutely done for and not going to be making any progress on lesson catch-up for a good hour or so after seeing that… for better and for worse

again, though, you will be getting lectured about not paying adequate attention during class no matter what… and he will still be thanking you, earnestly and perhaps with slightly reddened cheeks, for being so generous and thoughtful to lend him your notes so he could catch up to the rest of your cohort. especially so if he can tell that you put in extra effort to clarify your class notes and add in any specific details from the lesson to make it clearer for him. standard riddle rosehearts stuff

but, if he can clearly tell from your doodles that you at least fancy him somewhat he will end his lecture with a warm (if slightly stilted in delivery from nerves) invitation to the dorm’s upcoming unbirthday party — delivered with a red face, and averted eyes, naturally. with an unspoken promise of you getting to take the king’s seat, if you so desire.

and if you do agree to attend? if you show as much of a desire to be around him as he feels about you? well you’ll be treated to one of riddle’s rare bright, earnest smiles, before he schools his expression into something more neutral, nods affirmatively, and turns to walk away (and compose himself) while telling you to make sure not to be late

s i l v e r v a n r o u g e

silver vanrouge is not a student renowned for his observational skills or for picking up on the more subtle hints of others. not to say that he doesn’t have his strengths — because he does, in fact, have a great many — just that those strengths happen to lay elsewhere. and that obliviousness extends both to his own feelings (which he didn’t even realise for what they were until sebek oh so helpfully berated him for being distracted during training by his ‘crush’ on you), as well as what the various doodles sprawled across your notebook may indicate

and, in fact, unless you specifically depict him in these doodles as opposed to anything more abstract, there’s every chance that he may not even realise that you got distracted by and started drawing him at all. not without substantial hints and help from his loved ones — and even then he may just dismiss it as coincidence, as he’s never been one to make assumptions and he’d rather not waste his precious waking hours fretting about something that may not be the case at all

even then, though, unless your little doodles of his face include very clear clues about your crush on him he’s unlikely to notice. and beyond being deeply flattered by the fact that you chose to use your talent to draw someone as ‘uninteresting’ as him, especially so if he’s already realised that he has feelings for you, the most he’ll do is compliment your work and thank you for sharing your notes without dwelling too much on the reason why you might have chosen to painstakingly map out the profile of his face or the muscles of his arms when he’s in a defensive stance during training…

again, unless lilia takes some pity on you both and intervenes enough to point him in the right direction. or sebek peeks over his shoulder and starts ranting about humans being too easily distracted by their feelings. whichever comes first

then he’ll be much more flustered, flattered, and comfortable approaching you and asking you out on a date after returning your notes — notably flushed a faint shade of pink from the collarbone up the whole time, which gives away much more than his usual stoic expression might

but circling back to the doodles themselves, his reaction in the moment will vary a bit depending on what you actually drew — though his admiration for your artistic talent will remain regardless of style, content, and so on

with more random vague doodles amusing or endearing him to you even further, even though he doesn’t necessarily put two and two together about them being related to him. in fact, with all of the random forest animals and swords dotting your page he’s more likely to just assume you’ve gained an interest in nature or in sparring — maybe even considering offering to train you himself… before nodding off midway through the thought and forgetting it entirely upon waking up again later on

more cutesy stylised drawings will fluster him, maybe even drive him to distraction a bit as his attention drifts from the notes he actually needs to copy over to the adorable little doodles you left of him. it’s strange seeing himself so ‘cute’ and ‘soft’ — though he’s sure his father would appreciate the doodles a great deal — but he can’t say he’s upset at seeing the little figures of him napping, sparring, and even just hanging out with his family (he finds your much more sketchy and angry looking chibi sebek to be hilarious, though his attention drifts quickly enough to a little doodle you made of him and lilia)

but it’s the more realistic, even if slightly unfinished, doodles that will really get to him. because the amount of love and detail and care poured into the work he was likely never meant to see is enough to really give him pause and leave him feeling warm and light in his chest. and that goes whether you just doodled him from the neck up, exploring his expressions and the planes of his face with a care that leaves his skin feeling uncomfortably hot, or if you doodled his silhouette in action from memory — e.g. sparring, walking, even just studying

he will be a bit embarrassed to see any doodles of him sleeping, though. especially if they’re incredibly detailed. not to say that he can’t still appreciate your talent or be flustered by the fact that you clearly pay a lot of attention to him just because of the position you drew him in… just that he’s gonna be a bit embarrassed in addition to all of that

v i l s c h o e n h e i t

now vil schoenheit is no stranger to being admired, to inspiring art in both abstract and direct ways, so usually he wouldn’t bat an eye at coming across some wayward doodles and sketches centred around his person in a notebook. but because you’re someone he’s started to become immensely interested in, and someone he trusts to the point of leaning on you for support after missing lessons, those doodles that he would have otherwise easily dismissed suddenly become much more important and worthy of appraisal in his eyes

in fact he finds the whole situation very flattering and it feeds his ego to no end to realise that his crush always has him on their mind in one way or another. even when you probably should be focused on other things. and to the point where you can’t help yourself but start sketching out his likeness or things that remind you of him

that being said, though, he also very strongly believes that paying attention during lectures is a virtue and will scold you accordingly the next time you see each other. especially so if your doodles were particularly extensive because vil knows all too well how much time goes into work like that and, as such, can get a good idea of how much time you spent not listening to your tutor

… though his tone will be noticeably more light and teasing, borderline flirtatious even at points, than it would be if he were scolding literally anyone else for slacking off. so do with that whatever you will

circling back to the drawings themselves and his reaction upon stumbling across them in the moment, though, his response is naturally gonna vary a bit depending on what he found tucked away in the pages of your notebook

with little random doodles doing little more than amusing and endearing him — especially if those doodles are a mixture of objects that clearly remind you of him in one way or another. the sketchy rendition of the dark mirror at the top of the page is a nice touch for sure, but the various potion bottles floating in the blank space between paragraphs are absolutely his favourite little doodles you created… with the little peacock strutting across the bottom of the page coming in a close second as he feels an odd sort of kinship with the tiny half-drawn creature

while little animated drawings of him are more likely to earn a smile, a laugh, and some more dedicated attention — especially if your little doodles captured him in more flattering poses and outfits. maybe in his dorm uniform sat on your best rendition of the throne within pomefiore, maybe in a costume he wore for a film he did and that you watched together some time ago, maybe a chibi-fied version of an outfit and pose he was in for an advertisement campaign recently, or maybe something else entirely. as long as it’s flattering enough, within the constraints of the style, vil will be happy with the result — and may even take some photos to keep for himself before he has to return your notes to you

and clear attempts to capture his features in a more realistic style, however sketchy or unpracticed they may be, will leave him notably flustered and flattered by just how much attention to detail you put into the work — because even though he’s more than accustomed to seeing fanworks of himself in this style, there’s just something softer and warmer and more real about how he looks in your sketches that leaves his face feeling unusually hot. and there’s nothing like seeing himself and his beauty through your eyes, and art, and knowing how distracting you just find him, to boost his confidence and further inflate his ego… you’d best hope that rook doesn’t see it, though, as unlike vil he will be making your crush public knowledge very quickly and very loudly

and if vil is in a good enough mood, has the time to spare considering his busy schedule, and knows you’ll take the gesture well, he may even add in some doodles and messages of his own. ever careful not to cover up your notes or drawings, and making sure to keep his little messages light and flirty in tone just to make sure you don’t misinterpret the gesture at all. better to prepare for the worst, after all