Quest

You looked over at the ticking clock hung on the wall: the hour hand pointed to 6, and the minute hand was just shy of 15. Jack should most definitely be awake by now, the ever-so-diligent student. You hoped you could catch him before his morning practice to warm the icicles off your nose.

Getting ready didn't take long; you hastily donned a borrowed coat of Jack's and then some shoes, setting out on your dark trek to Savanaclaw after.

It was warmer once you stepped through the respective mirror, but that chill was still set deep inside you. Weaving through the area all while avoiding any students, your feet would lead you to Jack's door. You knocked once, kicking and shuffling your feet while awaiting his visage. The door soon opened with a creak, revealing your tall sweetheart.

Jack's hair was noticeably damp yet neat, and instead of being dressed up, he was cozied in casual wear. His brows raised, seeing you in front of his door this early, when not even the sun had peeked from the horizon line.

"What are you doing here?"

"I came to see you. Can I come in?"

Despite his surprise, it was apparent he was rather happy to see you, demonstrated by the gentle wagging of his tail as he sidestepped. Once you got in, he shut the door, eyes glued onto you. You questioned him while you used your heels to pry off your shoes:

"Why are you dressed in that and not your usual practice wear?"

"Oh, I'm not doing morning practice today after all." Jack put his left hand beside his head, rubbing at it.

"So, I have you all to myself?"

His eyes widened, then relaxed before he shifted them to aim at the floor. "Uh… I guess so." Meanwhile, a pinkish hue began to blossom across his cheeks.

"Good, come here." You moved to get into his arms, to soak up the boy's endless warmth. Your breath hit his neck as you smushed up your nose against it. Jack shivered, his tail stiffening in response, and his now bumpy arms instinctively locking around you.

"You're cold." He pressed his nose against your head. You ran your hand up his arm to feel the goosebumps that prickled his skin from the temperature difference.

"Then hold me tight and warm me up." You murmured, making Jack's tail quirk back up, accompanied by a small, content hum.

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...afternoon

Leona yawned, exaggeratedly stretching his mouth wide while scratching at his stomach; his other hand occupied with the task of cushioning the back of his head. His tail flicked against the grassy floor before settling over his legs. With winter here, making campus cold and blindingly white, the greenhouse was an especially good spot to snooze in. The area was heated with not a single speck of snow in sight; as per usual, ideal for this lion's commonplace "skipping to nap" habit.

You, on the other hand, were suffering. Despite the campus building's heating, you still felt cold and wanted nothing more than to properly warm yourself up by Leona already. Once the bell rang for lunch, you wasted no time packing up your things to get to Leona. Taking a second to mull it over as you walked out, you deduced he was most likely at the greenhouse; having not seen your lover in the hallways, there's hardly any other place he'd be.

Pushing open the doors to exit the building, you were greeted by the cold breeze nipping at your cheeks. You sighed, rubbed them for a moment, then continued with your walk. The pathways were beginning to face obscurity under the light blanket of snow, but having taken this route so many times, you didn't need its guidance.

Arriving at the mat of the glass house, you wiped your feet and, to remove the light snow that collected on your body— lest it mess with the lush foliage— shook your limbs. You then invited yourself in, heading to that one spot you knew Leona favored dearly.

As predicted, in the distance was Kingscholar himself, hardly responsive to an exasperated Ruggie, who somehow got there before you, and seemed to be taking— or trying to— Leona's lunch order. By the time you got close enough to hear the conversation, Ruggie was turning away to leave, his ears lowered and body slightly hunched. He shot you a look, as if to silently tell that Leona was being particularly annoying today.

When you stepped close, Leona's nose twitched, nostrils flaring for a mere moment before one of his eyes popped open. The green iris focused on your form, trailing up and down until it was concealed. He didn't speak, but the end of his tail began to slowly curl and then undo itself at the end.

You lowered to your knees and maneuvered yourself to lie on your side. Your head nestled on his shoulder; the side with the arm he used as a pillow.

"What are you doing?" His brows furrowed a bit, eyes still hidden.

"I'm cold; warm me up, please."

"Huh? Why should I? You should've worn thicker clothes." He grumbled but, nonetheless, tugged you snug against his body with his free arm.

"Because you love me."

"I don't." He growled as gently as he could, but still, he did. Leona's nails would leisurely rake up and down your back. If you needed his warmth, he would provide.

While scratching, when you happened to react positively to a particular spot, he'd tease just around the area before aiming for it.

Leona waited for a few minutes until he decided it was safe to stare down at your sleepy, shut eyed face. He couldn't bear to meet your loving gaze. Feeling so mushy was embarrassing, after all.

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...evening

A large cloud of white air dissipates into the air as you let out a shaky breath. With the absence of the sun, trying to keep warm was more of a struggle. The 3-inch-thick snow was a challenge to get through, and as you tugged your jacket closer to your body, you recalled why you were doing this in the first place. You'd left the safety of your bed to surprise Ruggie by picking him up from a gig at Mr. S's Mystery Shop. Since the night was so cold, you hoped to coerce him on the notion of hanging out and cozying up together in your bed.

Surely convincing him would be an easy feat. A night together had to sound like a better choice than the alternative: him walking back to his place alone, with his tail tucked in between his legs, shivering to death. Though as you told yourself he needed you this night, more than you needed him, you couldn't deny your increasing shivers saying otherwise.

Ruggie should be free in a couple of minutes. Earlier, he shared with his schedule, and how he should be done for the day at around 8pm— which you hoped still held true. Any hold ups would be the last thing he—you —needed.

The building eventually came into view, giving you a bit more pep in your step at the thought of your lover being just a door away from getting wrapped in your embrace. Once you got to the entrance after ascending the little stairs, you pulled on the handle. But, it didn't budge. You gave it another yank before knocking. When no one came to open the door, you safely assumed they were still busy and hadn't noticed your presence among whatever task they were getting done. You shrugged and fished around in your pocket for your device to kill time. Unfortunately, your pocket turned up empty— you had left it on the table, forgotten in your rush. After sighing, you leaned against the wall. There really wasn't much else to do other than wait.

Scattered snowflakes began to flitter down from the sky, landing along the ground and on your clothes; a few even settling on your eyelashes. Despite it being freezing out, the sight of the snow falling from the sky, further blanketing the trees, was beautiful. Maybe one day you and Ruggie could fool around out here; you could toss snowballs at one another, make snow angels, and kiss the other's red nose and cheeks until both your faces got too warm to continue.

The images of a winter romance kept you musing in your head for a while up until you heard the front door unlock and the bell ring. Ruggie stepped out, giving Sam a goodbye from over his shoulder. He finally faced forward and met your gaze, and instead of joy, he yelped, eyes shot wide as he nearly jumped out of his skin. He settled down quickly after realizing who was standing outside of the shop this late.

"You could've given me a heart attack. Why are you here? How long have you been standing there?" He grumbled, crossing his arms as his ears flattened against his head.

"Oh, a few minutes, maybe? I came to pick you up." You looked at him, and reached your hand out to cusp his warm cheek— like you'd been wanting to for a while.

"Gaah! Your hands feel like ice!" Ruggie jumped and winced away; though after he saw the look hurt on your face from him doing so, he took both your hands into his and blew hot air onto them, rubbing them after.

"Haha, my whole body feels like ice."

"I can imagine. A few minutes, feels more like a few hours." He mumbled.

You pursed your lips and took your hands back, just to put one around his waist to guide him towards your dorm.

"Yeah, well, now that you're free… I think you should come warm me up in my bed. I have a list of reasons as to how this will benefit you, if you need convincing."

Your dear lover smiles in response to your earlier compliments and brings his right hand up infront of his chin, the other supporting his elbow. He then spoke, pulling you from your lovesick daze:

"Is that right?"

To his inquiry, you hummed in response, then gave him a question of your own, letting the hair unravel free from your finger:

"Will you let me braid it, Jade?"

Air blew out from his nose as if he were attempting to muffle his laugh. But, it was in vain, for he soon he let out an actual chuckle. Jade's smile grew a tad wider, and his eyes squinted ever so slightly as he dragged his words.

"Will I?"

"Jade…"

Seeing that frown, he moved his left hand to rest at the lower part of your back, aiming to ease you a bit. Though, he still couldn't help the extra laughs that came out before settling.

"Yes, go ahead."

Despite him being a bit of a mean tease, you still granted him another sweet peck on the cheek as thanks.

Bringing your hands up to separate the little strand into three, you started braiding near the root. You entwined the strands together— the right one moved to the center, then the left did, then the right, and so on and so forth. It eventually formed a beautiful little braid under said pattern.

As you got to the end, you realized you hadn't grabbed a hair tie to hold the braid together. After asking Jade to hold the end of your handiwork, you moved over to your worn drawers to fetch one. Yanking the top one open, and moving all of the stuff around, led you to find a little hair tie, but, you'd find some other items, too: A pack of forgotten face masks tucked away in the corner, and some white, shell hair clips— both items bought in hopes of a moment like this.

Giddily, you came back to him and quickly tied the band around the end of the braid. You then raised and waved the pack of three hair clips as well as the face masks infront of him, to which he raised his brow at.

"Are those for me?"

He seemed a bit surprised, evident by the way his eyes widened, but he schooled his expression to neutrality.

"The hair clips are just for you, but I wanted to do the masks together. Have you ever used one?"

"I haven't." He shook his head.

You popped the clips open once the masks were aside and— after analyzing his hair— found the best spot to put them. Using your thumb to brush the right side of his bangs back, you slid two clips on it, joining it to his main hair.

Taking a step back to admire him, he smiled at you. You returned the sentiment, and scooped the pack of face masks back into your hand.

The seal of the iridescent package was quickly torn, and out you pulled a cool, light green mask. Without being asked, Jade held his braid aside for you, granting better access to his face. When you brought the thin sheet close, he shut his eyes. Jade tensed up for a split second, feeling the unexpected wetness of it, but he appeared to enjoy the sensation.

You used both of your thumbs to press and smooth the self-care item onto his skin. And once the task was done, you sat back at his side, ready to put one on yourself. But, Jade was already pulling it out for you, waiting for you to shut your own eyes. The damp mask settled onto your face, and Jade smoothed it out; his ticklish touch causing you to shift in place.

Jade traced his fingers along your jaw as the solution sank into your pores, a gleam flickering in his eyes.

"My, aren't you cute?"

꩜ ‧.°. 𖦹.°.‧ ꩜‧.°.𖦹 .°.‧꩜ ‧.°. 𖦹.°.‧ ꩜‧.°.𖦹 .°.‧꩜ ‧.°. 𖦹.°.‧ ꩜‧.°.𖦹 .°.‧꩜ ‧.

"Your black hair is so cute."

As you ran the pinched fingers from your left hand down, along said thing, Floyd gave you his signature, open mouth smile.

"You like it?"

He maneuvered you closer from the sideways sitting position you were taking on his lap; and assured that the right arm slung around his neck was secured proper. But, Floyd's grip was tight anyway, preventing you from possibly slipping away from him. Once satisfied, he leaned back against the headboard of your bed.

"Can I braid it?" You asked, letting your hand move to caress his cheek, the thumb gently swiping.

"Ehh? What for?" He stopped smiling, his head tilting to the side.

"I've always wanted to."

Floyd exaggerated the act of mulling it over with a huge pout and averted, squinted eyes, all before sighing loudly.

"I'll want something from you too, then."

He gave you another squeeze and nipped at your cheek with a laugh; earning a yelp from you. You pushed his face away, then pinched his ear in retaliation. Floyd seemed eager to mess around, but you quickly reminded him of what you wanted first. You gave his lock a little tug and had him let go of you to be able to use both of your hands.

Floyd watched with interest as you took his black hair and separated it into three to braid. The weaving motions kept him still for a little, but he was starting to fidget; impatient. You sped it up, as the eel before you lifted his hands to squeeze and play with your cheeks.

"Mmum im oum!" Your words came out jumbled when he squeezed your cheeks, enough to have moved your lips into a tightly puckered position.

"Mmn? What'd you say? Cut it out?" But, he ignored you, squeezing your flesh rougher. Floyd only planned on stopping once you finished your task.

You continued to form his little braid, and once you were finally done, you let go, and so did he. Floyd was just about to start holding you again before you scurried away to get to your nightstand's drawers. He whined at you but shut his mouth seeing the little, red, coral hair clips and a face mask package you tossed onto the bed.

"Eh?"

You scooted back over and waved the items in front of his face.

"What? I agreed to the braid, not that stuff." Floyd flicked the hair in question, then crossed his arms while turning his nose up at you.

"Please?"

This time, Floyd had to actually think things over. He kept his upturned nose position before leaning his head in close once he came to a conclusion.

"Fine, but you can't leave my side for the next few days." He smiled wide, tackling you down onto the mattress.

You two wrestled for a bit— which was mostly him managing to pin you down— but you were able to grab hold of one of the hair clips. Using your hand to grip his chin, you stilled his face, then secured the braid back to his main head of hair; but by now, the braid had mostly unraveled.

Floyd loomed still over you, the hair clip having stopped his movements. He looked back at the package containing the face masks, and quickly snatched it. The thing was torn open and he haphazardly set one wet sheet on your face. You had to help him move the mask so your eyes weren't being covered.

He laughed at how it looked on you, and while he was busy laughing, you were able to catch him off guard with slapping the mask onto his face. Floyd yelped like you had earlier. It didn't take long for him to regain his bearings, though. He pulled you up and back onto his lap; this time in a straddle.

"We did what you wanted. I want my thing, now."

"Yes, Floyd. I'll stick to your side."

He seemed pleased to hear that, after all, he loved skipping class or work to go see you. Maybe Azul would be thankful if you were there at the Mostro Lounge to keep him in line. But, Floyd shook his head.

"That's for the mask and clips. I want what you owe me for the braid."

Turning over led you to meet the sight of said boy sleeping without a care. His limbs were thrown in different directions, as the same with his silky, white locks. But, you supposed him abandoning you wasn't so bad, as now was a perfect opportunity to admire him freely; to watch the way his chest rose and fell, to coo at his long lashes, and to fawn at the subtle wrinkles that formed near his eyes and cheeks from all the smiling he did.

Your heart pleaded with you to touch him, to caress him as one would porcelain. And, after some consideration, the back of your hand came to trace down his cheek. Kalim reacted to it, his face scrunching with a long exhale leaving his nose. You pulled back, and his expression then relaxed.

Soon those beautiful, red eyes of his fluttered open, settling half lidded. Surprisingly, he was just staring, not saying anything. There was no good morning, no mumbling incoherently about a dream he might've had, nor did he even mention how he missed you while he was asleep. He instead yawned rather loudly; stretching out even further.

Eventually, after deciding he got his fill of your image, he scooted over with a closed grin— nestling himself in your arms like it was the only place he belonged. He shuffled one of his legs in-between yours while burying his face into your neck, and then he tossed an arm over your torso.

The warmth he provided seeped through your clothing, and no longer was the nagging chill nipping at your bones.

Your lips met his scalp to pepper gentle kisses all over it. Kalim in turn started to giggle and squirm; even more so as your hand snuck up under his shirt, the tips of your fingers trailed up his backside, effectively tickling him. He clung on tighter, retaliating with some kisses of his own to your neck. His smile shone through the pecks, teeth scraping against you at some point.

It was so warm, and he was so lovely, what harm was another hour of laying there with him? Your responsibilities could wait.

─── ⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ༓ ☾ ∘ ⋅ ⋅ ───── ⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ༓ ☾ ∘ ⋅ ⋅ ───── ⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ༓ ☾ ∘ ⋅ ⋅ ───

There was hardly any light out when you awoke, the sight accompanied by a strong sense of warmth pressing up against your back. Taking in a deep breath, you wiped your eyes and looked around to regain your bearings. It was quickly evident that the room wasn't yours, rather, it was Jamil's.

You remembered trying to coax Jamil into staying at your place last night, which would give you the opportunity to dote on him like he so deserved. But, he didn't budge, insisting he had to sleep in his dorm so he was near Kalim. Not that he wanted to decline you. Not at all.

There was a bit of begging on your part, but you both settled on sleeping over at his place instead.

It was weird for Jamil, at first, having someone in his bedroom at night. He'd never even been in a relationship before, so someone playing with his hair and massaging his aches away with such interest was very new. But, he didn't dislike it, quite the opposite actually. He was happy— happy that he got such a private night with you, and you alone.

His feelings towards you were especially evident now with how firm his hold was, even though he was asleep. You tried to move, to turn around to cuddle him back, but his arms weren't budging. Thankfully, Jamil was a rather light sleeper and woke up after you struggled.

He let go of you and you were able to turn over. It was hard to make out his expression with the limited lighting, but he seemed a little surprised that you didn't scoot away; he even appeared a tad bit embarrassed that his subconscious betrayed him by making him cuddle you so tight. Wanting to ease his bashfulness, it led you to lean in close; now able to press a gentle kiss on his chin, you did so.

Jamil let out a small huff in response, and tried to hide his face after by lowering his head. But, your hand came to tilt it back up. Your thumb glided along his cheek which gave him a bit of encouragement to kiss the edge of your mouth. It soon turned to regular lip pecks between the two of you.

Now the sun was higher in the sky; Jamil had to get up soon, to get ready for another day. But maybe, just maybe, you could convince him to postpone his responsibilities and stay in bed longer.

─── ⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ༓ ☾ ∘ ⋅ ⋅ ───── ⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ༓ ☾ ∘ ⋅ ⋅ ───── ⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ༓ ☾ ∘ ⋅ ⋅ ───

Rook sighed, watching as you slept so comfortably under the solace of the warm blanket, blissfully unaware of his gaze. For about an hour now, he's been entranced by your face; staring at every little pore, hair, and mark that graced your skin. And as much as he yearned to touch you, he dared not to; for he had no desire to pull you from your slumber. Even if he wanted to see you awake and enamored with him— just as much as he was with you— he was content with this show of vulnerability.

And, it was like that for a while longer, him staring at you, his body dead still, hardly breathing.

But, Rook could tell that you were going to wake up soon— your muscles were not as limp, your breathing was beginning to change, and he heard your heart speed up. When you finally did awake, batting those big beautiful eyes and stretching out those kinks so gracefully, he could only think of gushing over you. He barely opened his mouth, intending to voice his feelings before your finger placed itself over it. You shushed him gently, much to his surprise. Though, that emotion didn't last long as he watched a grin settle onto your face. Rook smiled right back.

Your hand traveled up to bury in his blonde hair, and your fingers gently curled to scratch his head. He let you do as you pleased, for now. Such affection wouldn't go unreciprocated.

Rook hummed as you continued to mess with his hair, and he was delighted to see you come closer. Small laughter bubbled up in his throat as you pressed kisses to his freckles, and he'd shut one of his eyes when your lips ventured just a bit too far up.

After a bit, you decided to move down to give him a nice kiss on the lips. Rook let you get close, but moved his head away at the last second. He wagged his finger with a coy look. It seemed he wouldn't let your act of shushing mischief go unreciprocated, either. Only when you pouted did he entertain the thought of letting you try and kiss him again. But, he ultimately decided he'd rather do it, so he could set the pace; just to see you squirm.

He leaned in very slowly, eyes locked onto yours. If you got impatient and tried to meet him halfway, he'd put his finger over your lips the same way you did to him. Finally, he granted you your kiss, his hand gently cupping your cheek.

Having bottled up his emotions for his whole life in fear of the consequences that would have come from not doing so, made vulnerability feel foreign. It was only in shared moments like these could he allow himself to live, one step at a time.

Though, he couldn't dwell on such thoughts any longer as you came back to him, a grin plastered on your face. Jamil was sitting on your shared towel, under the shade of a tree. Before you could sit down, he oh so thoughtfully wiped away any sand that collected in your absence.

You sat at his side, close, yet not touching; And how he wished you were. Just seeing that sparkle you got in your eye whenever you looked at him had his cheeks warming up. He never thought he'd get to experience this. When love first blossomed in his chest, he denied it, simply chalking it up to respecting you more than the others. But when he began to subtly look after you, to remind you of things, to make excuses to be near you, did the pieces start to align for him.

He's just happy that you returned his affections.

Now, he observes as you hold the crimson, heart shaped shell you found in your hand as if it were something precious. You start to ramble about how perfect the little thing was, and how it complimented him so well; all while beginning to fish around in your bag. The bag seemed to be missing what you needed, however. A long string and a blade to make the necklace were nowhere to be found. You sulked, but Jamil didn't seem to mind the turn of events.

He took the hand that was holding the shell, and pressed a soft kiss to the knuckle. At that, the sadness you felt was gone, and slowly, to give him the choice of whether or not to pull away, did you come closer. You saw how his lips parted, how his eyelids lowered. You maneuvered onto his lap, setting aside the little heart as you aimed to claim his again.

Your hand came to rest on his cheek, and his breath hitched, that heart of his starting to beat faster. Jamil watched as you shut your eyes and finally connected lips. The kiss was tender, there was no rush to be had. His arms came to wrap around your torso, one thumb gently swiping up and down. It was only the two of you there at the beach, and he was able to be greedy for once. You wormed your way into his heart as he did yours. Now that he finally had something— someone— for himself, he didn't plan on letting go.