Summary:

Two boys; one human and one octomer, both separated by land, meet by the same shore.

A story of first encounters, a crown pin, and unexpected friendship.

AKA: My take on if Riddle and Azul met as kids, and where Riddle got his crown pin from <3

Pairing: Azul/Riddle, Azul & Riddle

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SNEAKPEAK:

The sea was louder than Riddle had expected.

The unruly waves crashed against the sand, arriving in uneven intervals, dragging sand and white foam before retreating into the sea.

Riddle stared at the ocean, a sight so unfamiliar he had only ever read about in books. The book in his lap, "Introduction to Oceanography and The Life Within" by Moe Ana, had not mentioned the noisiness.

It only described the seashore as "the land along the edge of a sea, lake, or other large body of water.

They were far from Crimson City, the capital of the Queendom of Roses. Mother had received news that she needed to travel south. A rather influential politician required her healing skills, and she could not refuse. Father was away from home at the moment, not that Riddle was particularly close with him, as it was primarily his Mother who took care of him. So, that left him in her care.

However, due to his rule-breaking a couple of months ago with Trey and Chenya… He was "not to be trusted with any sort of alone time" as he had "broken her trust." So she had brought him along to her assignment.

Yet, before he was able to step foot inside the beach house, he overheard from the stranger who led them there, that it was a "confidential environment and that kids should stay outside."

So, he was placed by the sea, away from the supposed confidential healing process. Mother, prepared for this situation, had instructed him to stay exactly where she had placed him and handed him the book with strict rules to follow.

He was not to play.

He was not to wander.

He was to observe the coastal wild plant life and compare it with the illustrations in the book.

Riddle straightened his posture and turned the page. It had been…harder to focus. Not that he would ever dare say a thing out loud. It's just… this was the first time Mother had allowed him any time alone since the… rule-breaking, especially in an unfamiliar environment.

The red-haired boy sighed as he tried his best to focus on the words on the page, rather than the urge to touch the ripples of water. It seemed so… peaceful.

"Ocean Colour is the noticeable hue or shade of water that results from the interactions of daylight with the microscopic composition of the water column and water itself."

Riddle inspected the vast sea. The water was a light azure during that time of day, it was around noon with sunny skies. Waves were coming in and out in a gentle rhythm. It was noisy, but he had begun to like it. The water was clean, and the sand was free of rubbish. This beach-side seemed to not be frequented by civilians, as there was no one else around. They were far from any city or town; this beach house stood by itself.

He wondered… would playing in the water give the same feeling as when he played with Trey and Chenya?

Riddle stared at the incoming waves for a moment and sighed. What was with him today? He could hardly focus on reading with the inviting- ahem, distracting noises of the water. He redirected his focus to the plants near the rocks.

There was not much plant life that Riddle could see from where he sat on the sand. Many rocks of various shapes and sizes surrounded him, some with small patches of Sisyrinchium angustifolium, commonly known as "Blue-Eyed Grass". Mother had not given him any paper to write on, so Riddle made mental notes of these observations.

"Rocks by the shore can gain their shape, although normally smooth, based on the erosion of the water. Rocks vary from region to region. For more information on the types of rocks based on region, head to page 476 for the index on 'Rocks Varied By Region'."

Riddle sighed. He had read the book from front to back twice now and completed the crossword in the back of the textbook. His gaze shifted once more to the moving waters.

There was something, almost cruel, about being brought to the sea for the first time but not being allowed to touch it.

But... he did not want to get in trouble anymore. He could be good, obedient and follow his Mother's instructions. He could swallow the urge to play and push it away. He's done it before, he can do it again. If that would please his Mother. He could be trusted with such freedom. She often said, "Freedom is obedience."

The waves rolled in and out as usual, but near the large boulder ahead, something moved. A different, distinct movement. An action that would have gone unnoticed if it were not for the… unusual-ness of said movement.

He blinked. At first, he thought it might be a trick of the water or a shadow cast by the sun. But no… the motion persisted. A small black-and-purple tentacle clung to the side of the rock, twitching with cautious curiosity.

Riddle's eyebrows furrowed as he observed the tentacle. Was there a beached octopoda on land? It was reminiscent of Muusocotpus robustus, known also as a "Pearl Octopus". But he was not aware that this species could also have such ebony colouring.

As Riddle stared at the washed-up octopus, he felt sudden goosebumps on his upper arms, alongside the sensation of… staring? That's odd. Last he checked, he was alone on the shore. He looked around the shore when his gaze shifted more to the left.

That's when he saw it.

Despite, the pale silver hair blending almost seamlessly with the white sea foam by the coast, a pair of sky-blue eyes stared unmistakably back at him behind the large rock.

Was that… someone staring at him?

Riddle's lips tightened as he tried to make sense of whoever it was. Whoever it was, didn't seem to have noticed that Riddle could very visibly see them. He was unsure what to do about this unprecedented occurrence. There was no rule book or instructions to follow.

Should he ignore the figure and return to his book? Or should he address the individual? He doubted that whoever it was posed a serious threat. Riddle could use some spells he was taught in self-defence, but he did not bring his magical pen on this outing. Without the pen his Mother had given him, it wasn't worth risking accumulating any blot by using magic.

If he were to ignore it, he could focus on reading and follow his Mother's rules. Although… now that Riddle was aware of said staring… it was rather uncomfortable. Mother had always said staring was rude.

His mind raced through all the possibilities of action, every rule his Mother had drilled into him, and the tasks he was assigned to obey.

Surely… addressing the staring would only allow them to go away and leave Riddle be. Allowing him to focus properly. The person was still staring, and it was becoming increasingly more difficult for him to pretend not to have noticed.

This was just a way to follow the rules by ensuring this individual would not be a distraction in the future. In fact… Mother would never even know about this because the individual would leave him be before she finished.

It was a very rare opportunity to speak to someone other than his Mother, especially since his… incident with Trey and Chenya. Riddle turned around to confirm that his Mother was still inside the beach house, so it didn't look like he was fooling around or breaking any rules, but... it was not against any of the rules to speak.

"You there, the one behind the rock. You are visible," Riddle called out bluntly. "If you are trying to hide, I can very much see you, so you may as well stop staring at me."

For a second, the figure froze at the sound of being addressed. Then, almost as if jolted by the reminder of Riddle's staring, their head bobbed downward fully behind the rock. Only the dark purple and black tip of the beached octopus remained above the water, twitching erratically, clinging to the rock.

Riddle's eyebrows furrowed. Interesting. The individual had clearly been attempting to remain concealed... but not particularly well. Does the person not know that it is rude not to respond when addressed?

"Don't you know it's rude not to speak when spoken to?" Riddle innocently exclaimed, his Mother would be yelling by now if he ignored her. He pouted at being shunned, placed his book gently on the sand by his right side, careful to not get any grains of sand in the pages.

Riddle got up from his position and stood tall, brushing the sand from his trousers as he tried to get a better look to see if the strange individual was still there.

For a moment, nothing happened. Only the twitching octopus remained with a quiet rush of foam against the rock. Riddle frowned, wondering if the individual had fled after being discovered.

When, a delicate rush of sea-foam went towards the shore. Slowly and cautiously, the pale head of hair rose again, this time closer to Riddle and beside the large rock.

Two sky-blue eyes scrutinized Riddle as the person rose up to their chin above the water. He could see beneath the water's movements that the boy had black skin from the neck down, but a purple-grey face. Even a mole on the left side of his mouth. Riddle stared at the wet, stylized hair curl on the boy's left side of his face.

There was a boy by the shore.

Riddle tilted his head with fascination towards the colouring of this boy's skin, almost like an odd yet wondrous appearance. But it was surely a minute that the boy stayed underwater… How was he able to stay submerged for so long? The wondrous boy regarded Riddle with an expression that was difficult to read.

"…You talk really loudly," the boy finally muttered. His voice carried strangely across the water, softer than he expected.

TO BE CONTINUEDDDDD at this link :3

ok ok ok ok ok here's a very exaggerated and hyperbolic shitpost explanation SPOILERS FOR BOOK 6 BTW

context for some parts: halloween part 1 | part 2 / gym / book 6 chp 67 tower 3 ch 16-17 / glorious masquerade Team A: Azul, Deuce, Epel

so it's criminal by britney spears + riddle and azul's interactions in this fic (mind the tags) "Blood in the Water" by Nehasy + and throw in a lil of neito monoma's neurosis and you got the perfect riddlexazul/azulxriddle the arrangement doesnt matter here i'll just use the term broadly for the whole dynamic

just the entirety of azul and riddle's interactions are so good when you start looking, being DUO magic (doesnt help riddle was my first ssr so of course i tried to focus on his duo with azul) partners, and Book 6's chapters with them. they're clearly fire and water, two sides of a coin, etc. etc. and yet clearly spur each other on so well because of it. as said by azul he wants to be seen as riddle's rival, someone equal to him that he wants to be respected by yet also grow with

the oedipus part comes from my giving azul a DUMPTRUCK mostly but if them getting close physically can def see azul feeding into that for riddle, teaching him all the ropes and riddle just. soaking that positive affirmation up. truly an eve and the snake situation, falling for temptation. and with how deep riddle's mom issues are any positive attention will be compared to his mom and that's a very sexy concept. azul being the whore/madonna complex in comparison to riddle's mom. he's openly greedy, unrestrained, and emotional yet also suppresses himself cuz of his own insecurities. they're very good foils to one another

@oya-oya-okay did this, as I learned from my Strawberry Pocky Challenge that I will fix for December, I decided to make one of a ship that I’m surprise DON’T have enough fics!

February 14 - 24 are the days for the challenge, # - AzuRid Challenge 2024 is the hashtag, stories, art, audio, etc are welcome!!

• Azul and Riddle play checkers on the daily.

• Azul is very unconfident of himself in private so Riddle made a rule for him. "Rule number 95; you must always love yourself no matter what, or I'll do it for you".

• They have been dating for 2 months, they started dating on Valentine's day.

• Azul made a deal with Floyd that if he didn't ask Riddle out Floyd would.

• Azul learned how to bake for Riddle.

• Azul also blackmails students to make tarts for Riddle.

• They only kiss and hug in private.

• Azul makes fun of Trey's glasses saying he has 'four eyes', but Riddle reminds Azul he has glasses as well.

• Floyd and Jade go brrr as they watch them compliment each other.

• Floyd taught Riddle how to use slang in text.

• Azul cried himself to sleep when Riddle texted him; 'no cap ily'.

• Riddle likes to curl Azul's hair on the weekends, and Azul likes to straighten Riddle's hair.

• Riddle burnt a piece of Azul's hair off once, he promised never to tell him.

• Azul once ate Riddle's goldfish.

• Riddle loves Floyd and Jade as family, but he refuses to hangout with them if he doesn't have too.

• Riddle and Azul are crack heads when their alone; 'omg Emily your such a crack head.'