#deuce fluff

It was Deuce birthday, and all of heartslabyul was buzzing like a mouse who just fell in the coffee mug. Cater was snapping photos left and right while putting little snacks on the tables. Riddle stood on a stepladder directing the placement of every single ribbon with military precision. Trey was in the kitchen, sleeves rolled up, baking not just one but two different cakes. And Ace? Ace had sprinted out the door twenty minutes ago, because of course he completely forgot to buy anything for his best friend.

You, meanwhile were exactly where you wanted to be, in Deuce room, sprawled comfortably on his bed while he stood in front of the mirror looking like he was preparing for war instead of his own birthday party.

“You’re overthinking it.” you said with a soft laugh, watching him hold up two nearly identical shirts. “Everything looks good on you, Deuce. Just pick one.”

He groaned, running a hand through his messy blue hair. “But it’s my birthday. I don’t wanna look like… y’know… a delinquent who got dragged into formal wear.”

You sat up, grinning. “It’s part of your charm. And anything is fine… just don’t dye your hair blonde again.”

Deuce’s ears turned bright red at the memory. “You don’t have to remind… my hair was fried…”

You laughed harder. The sound seemed to relax him a little. He finally sighed and held up his birthday jacket that always made him look surprisingly cooler. “This one?” he asked hopeful.

You nodded, giving him a thumbs up. “Perfect. That’s the one.”

While he changed you turned around scrolled through your phone, sending a quick message to Trey that you’d be down soon to help with decorations. When Deuce stepped out, adjusting the cuffs of his jacket, your breath caught for just a second. He looked… really good. The jacket fit his shoulders perfectly, and the red brought out the warmth in his eyes. He fidgeted under your gaze, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Does it look dumb?” he mumbled.

“It looks great!” you said honestly, smiling. “You look really handsome Deuce.”

His cheeks flushed again, but he smiled, that shy, genuine smile that always made your stomach do a little flip lately. You’d been feeling those flips more and more often, but you kept telling yourself it was just because he was your best friend. A really cute best friend. Who happened to be incredibly sweet and earnest and…

Nope. Not going there today.

“Alright, last thing.” Deuce said, sitting down at his desk. He picked up the black eyeliner pen and leaned toward the small mirror. “The spade. Easy. I do this every morning.”

Except today it wasn’t easy.

His hand shook. The first line came out wobbly. The second made the spade look lopsided and tiny. On the third attempt he nearly poked himself in the eye and let out a frustrated whine, dropping his head onto the desk with a thud. His little mirror clattered over onto his textbooks.

You couldn’t help giggling. “What’s wrong, birthday boy?”

Deuce turned his head just enough to peek at you, cheek squished against the wood. “I’m too nervous about the party… My hands won’t stop shaking. It keeps coming out all messed up.”

You stood up and walked over, tilting your head. “Want me to do it? My hands are steady.”

His eyes widened. “You’d do that?”

“Of course. Come on.”

Deuce straightened up immediately, scooting his chair back a little so you could step between his legs. You picked up the eyeliner, then gently cupped his jaw with your free hand to steady his face. The second your fingers touched his skin Deuce startled. His cheeks flared bright pink, and you yanked your hand back like you’d been burned.

“Sorry!” you said quickly, face heating up too. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable…”

“No!” Deuce blurted, shaking his head so fast his hair flopped. “You didn’t! I’m comfortable! Super comfortable! It just… surprised me….That’s all. You can… you can touch me. I mean! My face! For the spade! ….Please….”

You nodded, cheeks still warm, and warned him softly, “Okay… I’m gonna touch you again.”

This time when you cupped his jaw, he stayed still. You tilted his face up toward you. His eyes sparkled as he looked up, wide, honest, a little awestruck, and something in your chest tightened. He was so close. You could see the faint scars on his nose, the way his lashes cast tiny shadows on his cheeks. Your own heartbeat felt way too loud. “Close your eyes,” you whispered.

Deuce obeyed instantly, lashes fluttering shut. His breathing was shallow. You leaned in, focusing hard as you drew the spade with careful, steady strokes. The room felt smaller. The only sounds were distant laughter from the garden and the soft scratch of eyeliner on skin. You were so concentrated on making it perfect that you didn’t notice how still Deuce had gone, or how his hands had gripped his own knees like he was trying not to reach for you.

When you finally pulled back slightly to check the shape, you smiled proudly. “There. Looks really good, if I do say so myself…” You trailed off.

Deuce had opened his eyes. He wasn’t looking at the mirror. He was looking at you, pupils wide, cheeks flushed dark red, expression completely unguarded. The way he stared made heat rush to your own face. Your hand was still gently cupping his cheek. Neither of you moved. Neither of you spoke. The air felt thick, electric.

Deuce’s lips parted. “Hey… I…”

The door slammed open.

“Yo! Deuce! I found the coolest present ever! You’re gonna lose your mind when you open this!” Ace barged in waving a brightly wrapped box, grinning like an idiot.

You both jumped. Deuce nearly tipped backward in his chair. You stumbled back a step, heart hammering.

Ace stopped mid sentence, blinking at the two of you. “Uh… what’s with the tomato faces?”

Deuce recovered first, scrambling to his feet and pointing accusingly. “Ace! You’re supposed to knock! This is my room too!”

“It’s our room, genius! I don’t gotta knock in my own room!” Ace shot back. Then he looked at you, completely missing the tension. “Anyway, Trey’s looking for you downstairs. Something about needing help carrying the extra trays.”

You nodded quickly, trying to will the blush off your face. “Right. I’ll head down now.” You gave Deuce one last glance. He was still staring at you, something unreadable but intense flickering in his eyes. You offered him a small, shy smile before slipping out with Ace.

The door clicked shut behind you.Deuce stood frozen in the middle of the room for a long moment, hand pressed over his racing heart. The spade on his cheek felt warmer than usual, like your touch had left a permanent mark. All those months of weird feelings, the way his chest got tight whenever you laughed at his dumb jokes, how he always saved the best parts of his meals for you, how he stayed up late replaying conversations you’d had, suddenly crashed over him.

“Oh man…” he whispered, staring at the closed door. “I’m so screwed.”

Deuce never got nervous. Never, ever. But as he sat there, waiting for you at the park, he could feel butterflies start to flap in his stomach. 

He had no idea why he was so nervous. You were coming. You said you were coming. So he should be totally, one hundred percent fine. But he couldn’t help but not feel fine. Besides, it wasn’t every day you were about to tell your best friend since forever, girlfriend for the past few months that you loved her. Of course he would be nervous.

But Deuce never got nervous. So he wasn’t nervous. At least that’s what he kept telling himself.

Checking his phone again, you still hadn’t texted him with any changes to your plans to meet him at the park. So what was taking you so long? Why was he so worried about you? Why couldn’t he just snap his fingers and have you appear right before his eyes? Just where were you?

“HEY!” Your voice and your hand on his shoulder caused Deuce to almost jump out of his skin. He was just about to call you again and here you are.

“O-oh. Hey Y/n.” He smiled, trying to get his racing heart under control. But it was all for naught as you laughed that pretty laugh he loved so much.

“Hi Deuce. Sorry for scaring you.” You continued to laugh. “But I saw you sitting over here and I saw my opportunity and I just had to take it, you know?”

He nodded, rolling his eyes. “I’m sure you just had to.”

You nudged his shoulder. “Oh c’mon, like you wouldn’t do the same to me.”

“I-” He paused. “Fair point but still!”

Shaking your head, you took his hand and smiled. All he could do was smile back. “Are you ready?”

Was he ready? Was he ready to finally tell you the three little words that changed everything? Not that that didn’t already happen when he asked you to be his girlfriend, but still. He wasn’t sure he was ready to tell you how much he loved you and how much you meant to him.

“I’m ready.”

And with that, your date began.

A date at the park had been your idea. You wanted to spend time outside and stay active with Deuce without going overboard. Besides, this park was where your relationship began. The playground was where you first met Deuce and the pond nearby was where he told you he wanted to be your boyfriend. None of that was lost on Deuce. It was like you knew he was going to tell you he loved you today and that’s why you picked this specific park. The idea alone sent butterflies fluttering in his stomach, but he kept it hidden. Today was going to be perfect, he made sure of it.

And it was. After the two of you walked around the pond, you spent a little time playing on the playground. It felt like you were little kids all over again. Those happy memories lived on in your date and it made him happy to share it with you. You still had the same smile and laugh that he liked even when he was younger. He fell in love with you all over again.

If only he could tell you.

As the sun started to set, the two of you were lazily swinging together on the swing set, your hands interlaced together. The atmosphere had changed from childish fun to sweet and romantic. He knew time was getting closer to the perfect moment to tell you how much he loved you. But he still wasn’t sure he could do it.

“I had an amazing time with you today, Deuce.” You said, staring at the sky painted in red and orange as the day was coming to an end.

With the way you spoke, it also sounded like you were ready for the date to be over as well. He needed to tell you now or never. “Yeah, I did too.”

“Good I’m glad. We should do it again sometime.”

“Yeah, we should.”

You looked over at him with a sweet smile. “I always enjoy spending time with you, you know?”

Something about the way you said it made his heart flip in his chest. “Yeah, me too. You’re my favorite person to hang out with.”

“I love you, Deuce.”

There it was. The three little words he had been terrified of saying this whole time. And you just said them like it was nothing. He couldn’t believe it. 

“Are, are you sure?”

You laughed instead of getting offended. “I’m pretty sure I love you. I wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t mean it. But if you think it’s too soon-”

“No! I mean it’s not too soon,” he explained. “I’ve been trying so hard to find a way to say the exact same thing to you all day.”

Again, you laughed. “Oh, Deuce, leave it to you to make things more complicated than it needs to be. I love you and you love me and that’s all I need to know.”

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely.”

“Well, I love you.”

You find yourself unable to respond, your mouth hanging open and your brain scrambling for something. The only thoughts you’re able to process are sensations and feelings and him. His back is warm, you think. You lean closer to him as if you weren’t close enough. You can hear his heart beating, feel his chest rising and falling, and in this moment you don’t think there’s anywhere else you’d rather be. You shift in your seat, overwhelmed at everything, and Deuce gasps softly.

“Are you okay?” he asks again, and your heart squeezes from how tender he acts.

“Ah...yeah. I’m okay.” you try to relax, melting against him in the warm breeze of June, “I was just thinking...”

“Good things?” he perks up, voice hopeful and sweet.

You laugh like wind chimes, soul light and happy.

“If it’s you, it’s good.” you giggle, “I was thinking about how...I don’t think I ever would have found this feeling if it wasn’t for you. I’m grateful everyday for you.”

Deuce tenses up. You flustered him, and as endearing as it is, you can’t bring yourself to tease him. You’re just so embarrassed, just as warm, and you hope he understands just how you feel in the limited words you can use to express it.

“I don’t think you...” Deuce trails off, breathing in deep, “I don’t think you could exist and have me not fall in love with you.”

Your heart lurches, and you try your best to fight off the gush of warmth that drenches your soul. It seeps into you, and you know no matter what happens, Deuce Spade will always be a part of you, sewn into the tapestry of your life and hung up for everyone to see.

“Happy Birthday, Deuce. I love you too.” you choke out, tightening your grip on him.

It’s the only thing you can say in your current state.

“Riidddlleeee~!” He huffed and crossed his arms above his chest, leaning back into the black and red Heartslabyul tea chair as he sees your form gradually getting closer. You huffed and puffed, though your face is painted with a smile that makes him feel so much at ease, he doubts there’s anything else in the world that’ll make him feel the same way.

“You’re late,” he states matter-a-factly and you laugh nervously, your left hand coming up behind your head to scratch it. “Mmhmm, potions class ended a little late. Sorry, is the tea cold?” you sit down on the other empty chair, there’s already tea poured for you and again, you reach your left hand out to grip the tiny teacup handle, taking a small sip. 

He forgives your tardiness, not pushing it further. The two of you fall into easy conversation, updating each other on what was happening in your respective classes while enjoying the tarts. You hold the fork with your left hand, and that’s when Riddle stands, swiftly maneuvering himself beside you and holding your right elbow in a strong grip, moving it upwards to get a glimpse of your hand. 

As he thought, your right hand is covered in bandages from the fingertips all up to your wrist. His eyes narrow at the discovery. “Your right hand is your dominant hand, I was finding it strange you kept using your left,” You aren’t even surprised that he noticed, but he was definitely going to scold you now. 

“What’s this? Something I should know about?” He moves his hold to just below the wrist, careful not to aggravate anything. “...Just an accident from potions class...” you finally admit, a little pouty that you had to reveal it. He scans your face carefully for any trace of dishonesty, but he didn’t think he saw any. He then sighs and carefully traces the bandages lightly with a fingertip.

“You should tell me these things, but I’ll worry about your punishment later,” and proceeds to drag his chair to sit right next to you. You’re aware that he hasn’t let go of your right hand, laying it on his lap and covering it with his, rubbing his thumb over the bandages in soothing back and forth movements while his other cuts the tart for you.

“It’s difficult eating with your left, right?” There is the tiniest hint of a smile on his lips, as if he was secretly pleased by this opportunity to feed you.

Cater Diamond

“Hm~ Nothing interesting on Magicam today, it looks like,” Cater hums to himself while eating lunch, the fork tapping on his plate as he’s engrossed at just looking at his phone. If Riddle saw him right now he’d be livid at how the fork tapping was just making unnecessary noise. Trey sat next to him, properly eating his lunch, unlike Cater who liked to check his social media first, before doing anything else.

“Your food’s getting cold, Cater,” Trey reminded, to which Cater only replied to with a brief sound of agreement. Trey sighed, sometimes the only thing that could really get Cater’s attention was his phone and-- “Can I sit here?” 

Cater’s eyes darted upwards at the familiar voice, his lips already upturning into a pleasant smile knowing that he’d be greeted with...your bandaged face. His phone drops with a loud clatter on the table, along with his jaw. He shoots up from his chair, eyes wide and trying to process that huge slab of white gauze on your left cheek. “What happened?!” 

He was not expecting it, hence the unintended loudness in his voice that turns a few heads, causing Trey to hush Cater a bit and pull him back down on his seat. Cater’s body doesn’t listen. He wasn’t done questioning you about the obvious wound on your cheek. “Collided with someone during flying class,” you simply state, but shot an apologetic smile towards your boyfriend. 

“And you didn’t call me as soon as it happened? Who took you to the infirmary? Did anyone even go with you?” You’d think that Trey was a worry wart, but Cater was just the same in certain situations. You laid your food tray on the table as Cater came around to your side and inspected your cheek a bit more, putting a hand under your chin and twisting your head left and right. 

And finally, when he was sure that there was no real cause for alarm, he sighed in relief but had a mischievous grin on and swiftly snapped a photo of you, bandaged cheek and all, surprised look on your face at the suddenness of it. “This is for making me worry...” Cater mumbles to himself, tapping on his phone for a moment before pocketing it and making you sit next to him. 

“Now come on, your food’s getting cold,” Cater says and Trey could not help the sense of deja vu he feels, holding back a sigh at the display. Moments later when you’ve all finished lunch and you whip your phone out, there’s a notification from Magicam that you’ve been tagged on a photo.

Of course Cater had posted it. A picture of you looking so unready for the camera, eyes slightly confused and gauze on your cheek. The caption read: “This one decided to give me a scare today. Honestly can’t let you out of my sight for even a moment. #stillcutetho #forevermycutie”

You couldn’t bring yourself to be annoyed at the ugly candid photo of you. 

Trey Clover

“Hey Trey, sorry, can we reschedule?” Your voice over the phone communicated raw regret. It wasn’t difficult to hear. 

The two of you had been planning on going out of town for the weekend, just a quick broom ride out of the college and into a small town that was popular for their quaint and quiet cafes. Both of you had been looking forward to it for quite a while, Trey for the sweets, you for the change in atmosphere. 

“Of course, what’s wrong?” He’d already been ready to go, backpack slung around his shoulder but he shrugs it off at your words. He’s extremely accommodating, and there are times where you truly thought you didn’t deserve such a kind guy. There isn’t any sign of anger in his voice, nor accusations. He should be a lot more angry than this, seeing as the two of you had been talking about the small trip for a while. 

“Had an accident in PE lesson, my ankle’s sprained,” Though you can’t see it, his brows furrow at the information, turning to immediately leave his dorm room. “Where are you? At your dorm?” he sandwiches the phone in between his shoulder and cheek as he pushes his door open. “Yeah, I’m okay though, I already went to the infirmary, they gave me an anti-swelling potion and it’s bandaged.”

“Those’ll only last an hour at most, I’ll come over, just wait,” the finality in his voice is almost sweet, and when he arrives at your room minutes later, he has a plastic bag in his hand and a pastry box in the other. You’d been sitting on your bed at that moment, lightly swerving your foot around to maybe stretch and relieve it a bit more. 

He carefully yet firmly embraces you in his arms as a greeting, breathing in your scent and exhaling slowly, then presses a kiss atop your head before kneeling in front of you and inspecting your ankle. He talks about the medications he brought with him, saying that he has relieving cream when the anti-swelling potion runs out, and some extra over the counter mini-dose potions for pain, if any.

He’s diligent and thorough in looking at it, just wanting to make sure it was really just a sprain instead of something more. “...It should be fine in a few days...Guess we can go next weekend instead?” He offers, looking up at you with a smile. 

You return it half-heartedly. “Yeah...I’m sorry,” He chuckles lightly and kisses your forehead on his way up. “There’s no need for that, I’m just glad it isn’t something worse,” he then taps a finger on the white box he deposited on your bedside table. “Besides, cakes can be enjoyed anytime, anywhere. You most likely need to have extra to help heal your ankle,” he winks and although you’re always worried about gaining weight with his constant way of spoiling you, you also can never say no to his hand-made sweets. 

Ace Trappola

Your schedule didn’t align with Ace’s on Mondays and Tuesdays, so Wednesdays was the first day of the week where the two of you could leisurely spend lunch together. Ace was fiercely competitive and determined, one of the things he would talk to you about was how he was improving in magic, and trying to one up Deuce in their little friendship-rivalry.

You supposed his determination and energy charmed you. Likewise, he loved how you always matched his energy, or at least didn’t judge him for it. It’s a simple relationship with a strong friendship as a foundation, that’s probably why the two of you got along so well. You were as much best friends as you were lovers. 

Animatedly talking to each other as you both made your way to the cafeteria, you’re sat down next to him moments later with your tray of food as he goes to retrieve a drink for you and him. You’re humming while waiting for him, looking at the scrumptious meal in front of you and he can’t help but grin at your sunny disposition. “You’re in a good mood today,” he comments as he sits and places both your drinks on the table. 

“Aren’t I always?” you reply as you start eating and there’s no way his smile could get any wider. He’s just about to turn to his plate of food too, when something on your jawline catches his eye. He pauses for a moment and leans in further towards you to take a closer look. “What’s that...?” he whispers without thinking and you turn your head to ask “Hm?” 

It gives him a better view of a reddish, rash-like print near your jawline, next to your chin and it alarms him when he realizes its a bruise forming. “Where’d you get this?” He drops his fork and cradles your face in his hand, brows knitting together and searching your face for any more. 

Frankly you’d forgotten about the small accident, “Monday at flying lesson, just had a rough landing,” you grin a little but he doesn’t return it and instead winces, imagining how rough a landing it would’ve been for you to get a bruise like this. “You could’ve told me earlier,” he drops his hand, but the frown on his face doesn’t disappear, and it looks so odd on him cause you’re so used to his smile. 

“Sorry, I forgot about it,” but you pick your hand up to pinch on his cheek. “Don’t fret about it, it’ll go away in a few days,” 

“Ouwch,” he slurs as you continue pinching, to which he swats your hand away right after. “How’d you even manage that? It’s not easy to mess up a landing you know?” 

You take a bite of food and nod your head, “Guess I have to practice with you so I can Ace it,” then wiggle your eyebrows. Ace opens his mouth in a laugh-scoff, but he also feels an explosion of warmth in his chest at your lame yet endearing jokes.

Deuce Spade

Try as he might to stay awake in History class, it was just the hardest thing to do, specially on a Monday morning. Ace was a great distraction, only if he could stay awake as well, but Ace would sometimes fall asleep faster than Deuce would. 

He began to daydream. Hey, it was better than actually sleep-dreaming, right? At least he was still awake. He propped his head on his hand, the words of the teacher just going into one ear and out the other. His mind wandered over to you, and he suddenly thought of your timetable. You should be having alchemy class right now, he had your timetable memorized by heart. 

As clueless as Deuce was--and still is--about dating and the like, the two of you had managed to work through and figured out that you liked each other beyond what friends would. He cared for you--and constantly had you in mind--almost like you were a part of him. 

“Deuce, Deuce!” Ace hissed at him and nudged his side with his elbow, causing him to snap back to reality, only to find that their teacher wasn’t there anymore. “What? What happened?” He asked, looking around. He was sure that the bell hadn’t rang yet. 

“Gee have you actually perfected the art of sleeping with your eyes open? Did you not see that guy from the other class come into our classroom asking for help from our teacher?” Ace gave him a deadpan look. Deuce shrugged. In a matter of seconds the hushed classroom came alive with chatter and whispers, all quieting down when the teacher came back announcing. “Nothing to worry about, just a small accident in the next class,” and everything was settled and  back to History class again.

Deuce almost wished that the accident had gone on a bit longer. He didn’t think at all that you were caught in it, and only found out during lunch time when he saw a very imposing bandage and gauze on your clavicle area while picking you up from your classroom. 

“He~llo~” you greeted him in a sing-song voice, as if nothing had happened at all, not noticing his half-confused half-concerned look. “Let’s go for lunch?” You clapped your hands together, excited at the prospect but you yelped a little when he pulled you aside and had you lean on the closest wall. 

“What’s that? Are you hurt? When did that happen?” He was sure as hell that you didn’t have it yesterday. Your hand unconsciously comes up to touch the area he was pointing at. That was the only time you recalled the incident. “Ah! Yeah! You gotta hear this! There was like a huge explosion during chemistry lesson today!” and yet your eyes sparkled like it was an amazing discovery. “All this purple goop flew everywhere and the cauldron basically broke. Isaac had to go to the infirmary cause he got most of the damage. I just had some of that hot purple goop fly on my shoulder, so, yeah. Everyone else was pretty lucky, we only got this much damage. It’s just a slight burn,” 

You smiled, and yet he couldn’t find it in him to smile back. It could’ve been much, much worse and that fear struck him in so many places at once. “You’ve really gotta practice those defensive spells from magic class,” he tells you. 

“I could, but everything happened so fast, you know?” You tugged at his hand and started walking with him to the cafeteria and he merely followed. All the while thinking, this wouldn’t do, despising the fact that he couldn’t protect you at that moment. Still, he understood that these things just happened sometimes, but it was certainly more fuel for him to get stronger. 

Leona Kingscholar

“Leona,” 

As usual, you found him lazing around at the botanical gardens. On his side, arms tucked under his head as a cushion, breathing even and slow. Your smile reaches your ears. In this state, he looks so relaxed, and it’s easy to admire his cute ears--something that he’d get grumpy at if you blatantly stared at it while he was awake.

“Leona,” you tried again, kneeling down next to him on the grass and putting a hand on his arm. You’re being soft on purpose, it’s just how you were. Screaming at his ear surely wouldn’t help. That’s probably one of the things that he liked about you. You weren’t TOO annoying.

“Mm,” he responds this time, arm twitching a little under your touch. He isn’t actually easy to wake up, Ruggie says that if Leona is in a particularly deep sleep, you’d have to drag him up and awake. For Leona though, there’s something about your voice that’s easy to wake up to, though he would never admit that out loud.

“What now?” He knows it’s you, and he’s still gruff with his manners and words, it doesn’t really change much for you, except on certain occasions. “It’s lunch time, I got your sandwich,” you reply and this causes him to peek an eye open. “...I thought I told Ruggie to get it for me,” which translates to ‘Why are you doing Ruggie’s work? Is he slacking off?’ 

“You did, but I just wanted to spend lunch with you today, so I took it off his hands,” There’s a moment of silence. Your honesty takes him aback sometimes, but he quite liked it. At least he didn’t have to play childish guessing games when it came to you. “That so?” there’s amusement in his voice, and he finally sits up with a half-yawn, turning to face you.

There’s an angry, purple bruise on your arm, the size of a walnut that immediately draws his eyes to it. His face contorts into a snarl, the sudden rage he feels is surprising, even to him. “The hell is that?” and he snatches your arm, pushing his head and nose closer to the bruise to get a whiff of it, to get some sort of clue if anyone laid hands on you because no one, absolutely no one was going to get away with that.

“I’ve had that for a while, it’s from a bad landing during flying lesson a week or so ago. It isn’t anyone’s fault, ‘cept myself,” you explain with a short laugh, not shocked by his reaction. He’s wildly protective, and he probably hadn’t seen the bruise before because it’s the first time in a long time you’ve worn your PE shirt without your jacket.

He releases your arm, but still glares at the bruise as if it offends him. “Better not be,” he lets it go and takes the sandwich from you. There’s no thank you nor any sort of appreciation for your food delivery, but you don’t mind. Leona had surprising ways to show you that he cared, words were just not one of them.

Ruggie Bucchi

“Alright Leona-san, see you later!” Ruggie waved a hand behind him as he trudged off. Leona grunted and watched the smaller male leave. Ever since Ruggie started dating you he’d been away from the dorm for longer periods of time. It kind of irked Leona, but at the same time it had recently put Ruggie into such good moods that he didn’t even mind lining up twice or thrice to get food for Leona. So, the Savanaclaw house leader didn’t complain. 

Today was one of the days where you didn’t quite expect Ruggie to come visit you. It was out of the schedule, perhaps he just wanted to surprise you, or just wanted to get an extra day with you, he didn’t really say. He just thought it’d be alright to wait outside your classroom as lessons finished, hoping to spend some time with you, lounging around somewhere you preferred, maybe the library, or just the plaza. 

He watched as a crowd formed outside your room when the bell rings, students respectively going to their own other schedules, filing out from there. Ruggie’s eyes were quite good, so he wasn’t worried about missing you completely. He would’ve seen you and recognized you the moment you came out, but the thing is, you didn’t. 

He tilted his head a little in confusion. The room was nearly empty now, but he peered inside and you weren’t there either, so he finally opted to ask another student. “Hey, you seen Y/N anywhere?” Ruggie grins, liking that he might have to do a game of cat and mouse to look for you.

“Y/N? They didn’t come to class today. Probably has to do with that horrid broom collision in flying class yesterday, looked like it hurt,” and Ruggie’s excitement withers away quite quickly. Collision and hurt in the same sentence could not be something good. 

“Oiii, what’s the deal with you not telling me you got hurt?” he asked over the phone when you picked up on the third ring. His tone is accusatory, and slightly offended. He had the smallest of angry pouts on his lips, barely even there but definitely jutting out to show his displeasure. “Shishishi, thought you could hide it from me, huh?” 

Ruggie was still very playful around you, and he could be anyone he wanted to be with you, no barriers, no pretending whatsoever. You laughed sheepishly over the other end and explained, “Ahhh... Well, you found out faster than I expected,” Ruggie chuckles again, somewhat half proud that he managed to figure it out so fast, though it had all just been a stroke of luck.

You said you’d be going to the infirmary today, so he met you there and saw that most of the damage had been on your left hand, seeing that there was a brace on it. By no means were you a fragile person, so Ruggie thought it was pretty admirable that you were taking the injury in stride, and not crying about it like a wimp. “Shishishi, see how clumsy you are?” he teased and you only poked your tongue out at him.

Despite that, he stayed with you at the infirmary while the nurse talked about what to do to make it heal better. He was listening, and he was listening intently. He even tried to learn how to wrap the hand properly, in case the bandages unravel and had to be redone. 

As he walks you back to your dorm with your good hand in his, he squeezes it and makes a point. “You know there’s no use hiding things from me, right? I’ve got ears all over the place,” he says this smugly, like he was a spymaster who had access to every nook and cranny of the college. “I know, I just didn’t want you to worry,” you explain and he scoffs with a shrug.

“That’s my job, so let me do it. Definitely beats getting Leona-san out of bed every morning,” he’d much rather do things for you, no questions asked.

Jack Howl

Jack wasn’t replying. If you had to guess, he was probably busy training, or just practicing magift with his dorm mates. He tended to get so engrossed in it that he forgot about the time. Classic Jack. His passion for the things he liked and the way he worked so hard was probably what drew you to him.

You shrugged, and figured you’d make it to your dorm by yourself. It was just a hairline fracture on one of your toes, caused by one of your classmates accidentally dropping their cauldron on your foot. It didn’t bother you until the end of the lesson, when you realized that moving your right foot a certain way aggravated a part of your toes that you couldn’t pinpoint. 

Sure enough, on closer inspection by the nurses, one of your toes was swollen, and also had the slightest of cracks on its bone, and so they wrapped it up tight with padding and instructed you not to wear closed shoes for a while, and opt for sandals. “You can still walk, but make sure to take breaks and here’s a note to excuse you from PE for a week,” the nurse told you.

So there you were, backpack on, one foot in a sandal that you borrowed from the infirmary, and one foot in your usual sneakers. It was easy to tell that something was wrong with your foot cause the toes were bound together by sienna-coloured medical tape. That, and you were limping. 

Back at Savanaclaw, Jack had taken a water break, going over to the bench where his bag was and rummaging through it to look for his phone while downing a bottle of water, sweat trickling down his temples. There was only one message, and it was from you. “Hey Jack :) Are you busy?” His eyebrows go up in a moment of curiosity. “Just took a break from magift practice, are you done with your lesson?” 

Normally he’d be back on the field right after drinking water, but he waited on a response from you...and he still didn’t get one after 10 minutes. So, he opted to call, but you didn’t answer. He huffed to himself, chucking the phone into his bag and getting up for another round of magift when one of his same-year acquaintances approaches him. “Yo Jack! Surprised you’re still practicing,” 

Jack swerves around to meet face to face with another Savanaclaw student, raising an eyebrow. Everyone knew that he practiced any chance he could, why was it a surprise now? “It’s as usual, why is it a shock?” Jack asked, and the other guy, totally innocent and unsuspecting says, “Oh, I thought I saw Y/N on my way back here. Looked like they injured their foot, or something like that. Just thought you guys were dating and you’d be helping ‘em out,” he shrugged.

Jack takes a moment to internalize the other guy’s words. Like an ice melting, and the puddle of realization slowly soaks into him. You WERE dating each other, but he didn’t catch wind of you getting hurt. He grabbed his backpack in the next instant and sprints out of there faster than Leona could fall asleep in class. 

He tries to call you all the way over to your dorm, trying to reach you to at least ask you to stay put and wait for him. By the time you picked it up, you were already nearly there. “Jack?” You ask, and you can hear him on the other side, breathless. “Where are you?” you can tell he’s running, he must’ve found out.

“I’m okay, don’t worry, I’m nearly to my dorm so it’s totally fine!” He cuts the line, and you’re dumbfounded, but seconds later you feel his presence nearing, and sure enough, he’s running towards you at full speed and then stops in front of you crouched over himself, panting as he rested his hands on his knees. “Why.Didn’t.You.Call.Me?” He demanded through short breaths. 

He straightened up, still heaving but glares at your clearly injured foot, and repeats. “Why didn’t you call me?” You smile a little, “Well, I knew you were practicing, I didn’t think you’d be able to hear me through it,” 

“I would, there’s a special ringtone for you!” He’d always had a special ringtone for you, and his ears were quite good, so he knew the sound that he was looking for. Message tones, unfortunately, couldn’t be customized to the person. You stare up at him blankly, and he stares back when he realizes what he’d just blurted out. “A-Anyway, come on, get on. What did you even do?” He turns away from you to hide whatever blush is forming on his cheeks, and also to kneel down to have you get on his back. 

You’re equally glad that he can’t see you as you climb on to his strong back, cause there was a super giddy smile on your face as you try your hardest to explain what happened.

Azul Ashengrotto

“Azul, Y/N’s here to see you,” Jade stated as he pushed the door to Azul’s study open. Azul pushed his glasses up before meeting Jade’s gaze. “Y/N? I’ve told them thousands of times to just walk in,” Jade’s signature smile doesn’t falter as he explains. “They wanted to make sure they weren’t bothering you and asked me to check,”

Azul opened his mouth to say something, only to close it again when he recognizes that it was very you to do such a thing. You knew he’d been busy the past couple of days, you were just being considerate. “Send them in,” He stands from his chair and starts retrieving glasses for the two of you to enjoy some of his self-mixed fruit juice. Neat and proper, Azul lays two coasters on his table, followed by the glasses of fruit juice. 

Though he looks stoic as ever, there’s always the slight pitter-patter of his heart at the thought of seeing you. The door creaks open once again and he turns, expecting to see you standing there with some books in your arms, which is exactly what he sees.

What he doesn’t expect is the patch plastered over your right eye. His hold on his juice glass nearly slips and he puts it down firmly on his table before rushing over to you to grab the books away and chuck it on the coffee table in the middle of the room. “What’s going on? What’s wrong with your eye, love?” 

There’s a tinge of panic in his voice because he goes to the worst case scenario, wondering if you’ve been blinded as he firmly grasps your right cheek to take a closer look at it. It’s such a small thing, but he’s even angrier that he can’t gaze into your wonderfully coloured eyes. “During magift practice this morning one of the teams lost control of the magift disk and it went flying off.”

Azul is thoroughly confused. You didn’t play magift, and you weren’t very fond of the sport. “But you don’t play,” he pressed and you laughed nervously. “Ah, yeah, I was actually just watching. Guess I was just unlucky,” You hear the very controlled inhale and exhale he just did, knowing that he was probably pissed at no one in particular.

“Mmhmm, and who, specifically, was playing magift?” He’d crossed his arms over his chest now, pushing his glasses up again to level his gaze on you. You start listing names. “A bunch of juniors. Umm... There was Felix, Han-- Wait, why are you asking?” you suddenly stop, recognizing the glint in his eyes.

Azul smirks and shrugs his hands along with his shoulders, “They could use some magift lessons, I’m sure Jade and Floyd would love to show them a lesson or two--”

“Azul, it was just an accident. Besides, it actually didn’t hit my eye more than it did my eyebrow area,” you clasp a hand on his arm to calm him down a little, he sees reason only for a moment. “That doesn’t make it any better... Though I suppose I can let it go this time...”

You can tell he isn’t entirely happy with being unable to do anything, but he relents, though tells himself that he won’t let it go if it ever happens again. So those magift players better start playing properly.

Jade Leech

“Here, let me help you with that,” Jade walks around you, pulling on the apron strings and tying it neat and tight behind your back for your bar shift. You helped out and worked in Mostro Lounge, usually mixing drinks, rarely as a server. “Thank you,” you briefly said when Jade finished, posing to walk away and prep the bar when he elegantly pulls at your waist. 

There aren’t a lot of people around yet, and as he tucks you right next to him for a quick kiss on the lips you can’t help but be reminded of how tall he is. “Glad to have you here today, darling,” he whispers before letting your waist go and stepping away, ending the brief moment of affection. 

Jade had always been a little discreet, and you weren’t complaining about that. He wasn’t the type to show off too much, or brag about things and you liked it that way. It’s not that your relationship was under wraps, but the two of you were pretty private people. 

As usual, the shift starts off boring. There isn’t much to do, up until later into the night when students start to file in and you don’t even have time to breathe or think about the orders. At some point, it had just become automatic to you. You see the receipt, you read the order, you make it, you put it down and move on to the next one. It took practice, and a lot of experience. 

At some point during your shift, you and Jade take your break together, and you swap out with another pair of Octavinelle students who temporarily takes your job. You were at the break room, washing your hands at the available sink and lathering it with soap, just as Jade comes in as well. “Busy, isn’t it?” Jade starts and was about to comment on how good you were handling the bar, when his eyes catch the bandages around your fingers. 

And it wasn’t just one, there were several wrapped around them. “What happened to your hands, Y/N?” He was slightly sullen that he didn’t notice earlier, you made a questioning sound, and then catch on to what he’s asking. “Few days ago while mixing a drink I might’ve made a wrong maneuver and the glass shattered in my hands. Um...I don’t know, it’s hard to explain,” you laughed nervously, still not completely sure yourself how you managed to do that, but the whole aftermath had been messy and you had to clean it up on your own, not wanting to bother anyone else on shift. 

“Was I not on shift that day? I thought our schedules overlapped,” He’s upset at himself for not knowing. “Ah, no, I came in to replace someone who got sick last minute.” You were drying off your hands, gently using the available towel. Jade was still for a moment, before gently reaching out for your hands and pressing both to his lips. “Would you like to end your shift for now? It must be tedious with these wounds. I can take your bar duty for today,” 

Your gaze softens, there’s some heat crawling up your cheeks. He’s always considerate when it came to you. “It’s not that bad Jade, don’t worry,” you reassure, and he looks at you for a moment more to assess your answer, and decides to believe you. “Alright, but if it does start to sting, come look for me, understand?” 

Though he knows you might ignore the pain, his goal was to just let you know that you could always rely on him.

Floyd Leech

It was a hot day today, PE would certainly feel like hell on Earth. That was the exact reason why you opted to wear the jogging shorts instead of the jogging pants. You didn’t know that would backfire on you while doing laps around the field, when two reckless sophomore boys from your class just barrel through the field, playing around and knocking over each other, accidentally shoving others in their way...including you. 

Safe to say they got a really loud berating from the teacher, shouting about how they’re not kids anymore and they should stop playing around. Unfortunately, you didn’t come out of it unscathed. You’d fallen to your knees and hands, the grass was probably newly cut and it stung when your knees slightly dragged against it, the friction causing bloody cuts all around it. 

It wasn’t too bad that you had to go to the infirmary, the teacher always had a first aid kit on hand, and had the two or three of you who were unfortunately in the way of the rowdy boys sit down and have a look at the cuts. It was disinfected and wrapped securely by the end of the lesson. 

On Fridays, Floyd and you had the routine of meeting up after your last lesson, which was PE. Your schedules just happened to line up perfectly on Fridays. You’d always wait for him at your classroom, packing your things slowly and making sure you took everything for the weekend. 

“Hey, Y/N,” Two blonde boys stood in front of you with grins on their faces. It was those two rowdy boys from PE. You had nothing against them, in fact, you thought they were pretty funny guys in class who always lightened the atmosphere. You smiled at them, while finishing up your packing. “Hey, what’s up?” The taller one scratched the back of his neck and let out a forced laugh. “We just wanted to say sorry for earlier. Ugh, this idiot here just had to start chasing me halfway through my run so we--”

“Oh now it’s MY fault--”

You sweatdropped as they argued in front of you, but couldn’t help laughing at their weird relationship. Floyd had entered your classroom just at that moment, when you laughed, and when the two guys in front of you swerved their heads towards you to wonder what in Cruella’s name you were laughing about. “You guys fight like you’re brothers, and you kinda look like twins too,” 

The two started denying it, again going on another round of arguments, but they felt a menacing presence behind them, at the same time as your eyes light up at the sight of Floyd approaching. “Floyd!” You smile and walk away from your seat to meet him, but he was engrossed at staring down the two blonde guys. “Hey, it’s the two blondeweeds,” Floyd grinned down at them, and the two flinched when they realized he was there. 

Your class was well aware that you were dating Floyd, it’s probably the reason why people tried not to mess with you. “You guys havin’ fun?” Floyd asked all too pleasantly. In truth, it just annoyed him to see you laughing at their antics, a bit of jealousy boiling in his stomach. His smile completely changes when his head turns towards you though, it’s wide and toothy, but genuine. 

“Angelfish, you wore the shorts today instead of the pa--” He was about to comment about how charming you looked in them, when his eyes drop at your bandaged knees. His demeanor does a 180, the smile disappears and there’s a blank look on his face. People thought that it was creepy when Floyd smiled, but what they should really be scared of was his frown. 

It’s enough to turn a whole room cold as he questions you. “Is there anyone I should be talking to about the bandages on your knees?” Just like that, his smile was back, though it was now more menacing than it was earlier. 

The two blondes in the room tense up. By now, everyone was gone except the four of you. “Hm? Oh, it was an accident, it’s fine,” you weren’t even thinking about the cuts anymore, and Floyd had half the mind to just forget about it too, seeing the happy look on your face and just how delighted you were to see him. “Well, if my angelfish says so~ Hehe~”