#chiruchiru

Azul templed his hands as the twins looked down at him with matching expressions of amusement. His eyes flicked up to meet their mismatched ones, doing his best to keep his annoyance in check as he cleared his throat slightly, “So what do we know now?”

“The same things we knew before. The only thing we’ve added to our repertoire of knowledge regarding the Prefect is that they are an incredibly good worker.” Jade’s smile remained placid but the tell-tale sparkle in his eyes gave him away.

Floyd, on the other hand, was more obvious about how amused he was, “And that Shrimpy is charming. Wouldn’t you agree, Azul~?” Azul felt his left eye twitch, but other than that he remained impassive.

The problem remained the same as before. The Prefect. Special, they certainly were. Was it their mundanity that made them so special? And why did so many people flock to them?

Azul wasn’t stupid, he could see a certain charm to being close with the Prefect. A friendship with them certainly had its benefits and, if he were being wholly honest, they were rather endearing. 

He shook his head slightly, it made no sense. How could they be such a conundrum when they were so overwhelmingly normal? 

The situation was only made worse by the Prefect themselves. It seemed that each time he interacted with them he’d mistakenly believe he’d come out on top or the Prefect would simply trample over him with an amused and frustratingly charming smile.

It was beyond annoying. Azul had chatted with them numerous times and everyone viewed the Prefect and him as friends now. It wasn’t odd for them to wave at him when they passed in the hall. 

He’d also learned the very thing Jade had mentioned. They were an exemplary worker who was overworked by Crowley. Perhaps that was why they often found themselves in the center of all sorts of debacles.

But in each seemingly hopeless situation they received help from all sorts of people. Even Leona, one of the prickliest people in the entire school, had ended up helping them through various situations. 

This fact, of course, swirled back to the only point of interest Azul had found. Their confounded charm.

There was something about the Prefect that drew others to them. They'd won over their first year squad. They’d won over Sam. They’d won over the ghosts of Ramshackle dorm. They’d won over everyone of importance in Heartslabyul. They’d even won over Floyd and Jade.

A small part of his mind hissed at him that he was leaving someone very important out of that list but he ignored it. Opting to puzzle over the enigma that was the Prefect.

Perhaps the most annoying thing was that they frequently occupied his thoughts. It had progressed past mere questioning the curiosity of how they had become so crucial to the daily workings of NRC.

It had reached the point where something would happen in class and he’d wonder how they would react. Or he would idly think of a comment that he was simply positive would amuse them. At this point they spent so much time on his mind that they really ought to pay rent.

“Azul you’re really kind of…. Pitiful, “ Floyd’s bored sounding voice broke through Azul’s thoughts, shattering his reverie.

Azul looked up at him, wide-eyed and unsure if he wanted to be angry, shocked, or hurt. Just as he was opting for a mixture of the three there was Jade, sweeping over with that mocking smile, “You’ve been puzzling over them this whole time and you still haven’t figured it out?” His tone was cloying and caused Azul to wrinkle his nose but, unfortunately, he knew exactly what both of them were talking about. 

It was That thing that was lurking beneath his curiosity regarding the Prefect. That thing that always hid underneath his less-than-kind view of their mundaneness. That thing that caused his frustration towards Jade and Floyd befriending them. That thing that was the evidence that he too had fallen prey to their charm. That thing that he’d been stubbornly pretending wasn’t real.

The thing that had become the very reason he’d come to hold  them at arms length. Wanting to get closer, but desperately maintaining distance to the point he fought to keep thinking of them as ‘the Prefect’ and not Y/n.

And even now he refused to face it. Azul scowled up at the matching pair of faces that looked down at him with shared amusement, “So you admit you know something that I don’t?”

Floyd grinned, leaning towards his housewarden with a glint in his mismatched eyes, “Oooh~ Jealous?”

Jealous? Yes, Azul supposed he was. The twins seemed to have great ease interacting with the Prefect and they were frequently laughing alongside the two gremlins he called friends when the three of you came in to work. Together.

 It was beyond infuriating and he didn’t even know who he was upset with.

The Prefect, because their confounded charm had caused his childhood companion’s loyalty to waver? Or perhaps it was the twins for daring to find such ease chatting with the Prefect when he felt like the more he learned about them the further he fell into a deadly hole of feelings that could not be named for his own safety.

“Perhaps it’s time for you to actually confront what is causing this jealousy? Hm?” Jade’s advice was less than welcome, especially when it was delivered in such an amused manner. 

Azul glared up at Floyd and Jade, barely keeping his petulance in check as they grinned down at him. He at last looked away mumbling to himself, “Easier said than done.”

The twins shared a knowing look that only served to frustrate Azul more but when they looked back their expression was less mocking, “Just go see Shrimpy. I think they have the answer to your issue.”

Floyd’s voice brooked little room for argument and this fact was only solidified when the two of them swept out of the office. 

Azul let his fingers tap against the desktop agitatedly now that they had left. Unfortunately, they were both right. It was time to confront that unnamed feeling that had long been stirring deep within his heart. The Prefect had the answer, the name of that thing and the power to bring it into the light or forever banish it. 

And so he left, on the now familiar path to their dorm. The weather was the same it had been on that day he’d come to ‘hire’ them. 

He arrived all too quickly it seemed on their porch, pasting on a weak and fakely confident smile as he rapped against their door.

The answer was prompt and their eyes lit up as they spotted him, a smile appearing on their face almost immediately. In the background he could see an already bored Grim slinking away.

“Azul! What do you need?” If they noticed his nervousness they didn’t show it as they questioned his visit.

“I was wondering if you would be free this evening. It looks like the Lounge is going to be very busy so I thought-”

“Sure,” They all but chirped cheerfully back at him before continuing, “I can come now and help you and the twins get prepared if you want?”

He smiled at their offer, a more genuine grin this time as he nodded his head in lieu of answering. That was another aspect of the Prefect’s personality. If they weren’t having a job forced on them then they were actually rather willing to help out. 

He also couldn’t help but notice how different this visit was from the one where he first gained their assistance in the Lounge. They’d been far more guarded then. This time they were relaxed. Grabbing their bag and shouting to Grim that they were leaving to work before shutting the door, locking it, and turning to Azul.

The conversation turned relaxed, drifting into idle chit-chat that would lapse into long periods of silence as the duo of students, Prefect and Housewarden, walked back towards the mirror chamber.

It was peaceful, but that thing that lurked in Azul’s mind had been trying to force its way to the surface and make itself known ever since the Prefect had smiled at him on their porch.

And it seemed from the Prefect’s next words they were going to force his hand, something they had done before, “Azul…. Do you like me?” A seemingly simple question spoken in a soft voice that made him freeze. He glanced over at them to see them looking at him, a nervous expression on their face.

A part of him was desperate to keep the painful game up. Pretend it isn’t there. Avoid it. Play it off. Pretend that this love isn’t real.

But Azul knew his game was up. They had been far too perceptive for him and that had always been a part of their charm. He’d been trying to figure out their secrets and been holding on of his own this whole time.

Azul sighed, forcing himself to hold their gaze, meet them face to face and eye to eye in this singly terrifying moment. 

“Yes,” He was surprised that his voice didn’t tremble or break and that he himself didn’t flee the scene as soon as he answered. Instead there was an almost calm found in answering them.