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sound-of-addiction · 2 years ago

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The Kicker: Azul Flies Too Close to the Sun (Azul Ashengrotto and Reader)

Warnings: Azul being slimy as usual; unfortunately, no one was feral in this fic.

Summary: You catch the Housewarden of Octavinelle trying to fly. After offering your help, you end up doing more damage than you thought possible.

Classes had just finished and you weren’t keen on watching your friends have fun at their after school clubs. Instead, you wished to spend some time walking the grounds and enjoying the scenery. After having spent so much time in Night Raven College, you had become more than accustomed to the ins and outs of the prestigious high school, but there were days when you discovered new shortcuts and hidden alcoves previously unknown to you. It wasn’t that surprising, however, Night Raven College was expansive and so were the areas surrounding the institution.

Curiosity, forever your greatest strength and eventual downfall, dictated that you cut through the fields where physical education was held. It had been a while since you’ve observed the fields with leisure. More often than not, you were often relegated to either stretching with your fellow classmates or watching your peers fly high into the sky. Coach Vargas was melancholic when he realized that you couldn’t participate in his flight lessons because of your lack of magic, but he made up for it with his enthusiasm to train your muscles to be as firm and as bulky as they can be.

As you traipsed onto the grass, you saw that there was one lone student there, someone still wearing their PE uniform and huffing and puffing like one of those wolves from your homeland’s fairy tales. Surprised and all too willing to back away and give this student a modicum of privacy, you started to walk towards the wooded area when you realized just who you had been staring at.

The instant you saw his glasses glinting in the late afternoon sun and the shock of white curls messily gathered over his scalp, you knew who it was: the Housewarden of Octavinelle.

Now, what were you to do with such a discovery?

Should you be like any other NRC student and derive entertainment and blackmail from Azul trying his hardest to mount and fly a broom?

Or should you be a decent human being and leave right away?

As you pondered the question, your fingers on the trigger mechanism of the camera that hung around your neck, your decision was made for you.

Before you could say so much as a hello, Azul strode over to you, businessman persona in all of its scummy, capitalistic glory. When he was only a few feet away, you noticed that not only was his hair mussed up out of its usual style, but that it was also matted with sweat and his cheeks were flushed a light shade of blue. At first you were surprised, but you quickly remembered that he was technically an octopus and you had seen weirder from the various other beastfolk and of course, the Leech twins.

“Hello, Prefect!” His voice, as always, commanded a sort of presence that more often than not was accompanied by a proposition of some sort. And more often than not, when Azul got his way, he usually ended up with the better half a deal. However, just like his disheveled appearance, his voice wavered and his fingers trembled as he swiped his fingers through his hair. Nervous? Or was he simply tired from physical exertion? “What brings you over to the training fields, today?”

You shrugged. “I like wandering around campus when I have nothing better to do.”

Azul hummed. It seemed that the longer he stayed still and focused on something other than practicing his flying skills, he was regaining the bravado and composure that made him who he was. “You should talk to Jade sometime. He would appreciate a partner when going on his hiking trips.”

A corner of your mouth turned up at that. While the variety of mushrooms Jade foraged for in his travels were questionable, you could not deny that his fondness for fungi was rather endearing. Now, if only he could be as kind and as considerate when coordinating with the other students on other matters outside of poisonous flora…

“I’ll be sure to talk to him the next time I see him.” Your fingers drummed against your thigh before you asked, offhandedly and without ill intent, “Are you trying to fly?”

If it were any other student, you would have regarded the pompous and derisive act that he was putting on as nothing more than his true feelings. Many of the NRC students didn’t like that you were attending their prestigious school because you weren’t supposed to be there, you had landed yourself in a position comparable to the other Housewardens, and your one lone ward was known to be a nuisance at times. However, the light blue blush on his smooth cheeks refused to abate and the tremble of his hand against his chest did little to dissuade you from the notion that Azul was nervous.

You had seen Azul at his lowest, which had contributed to his Overblot, but you had never seen him break a sweat in normal affairs such as this.

Then again, you had never seen Azul sweat before.

“My word! Trying? I must tell you right now that I have flown and have managed to complete the required twenty meters for my first year!” Azul grinned, the manic look in his eyes somewhat amusing, but disheartening when you realized that he was trying to show off and market himself as something he was not.

You shook your head before lifting up both your hands in a placating motion. “I think everyone knows that you’re not one of the best flyers, Azul. Besides, aren’t you supposed to make it fifty meters for second year?”

You weren’t trying to antagonize him, but with the way he tried his hardest to stand his ground and not deflate, made you feel bad. Having to learn how to walk on land barely a year ago and then having to embrace the wonders and experiences of the sky? For someone more adventurous and daring like Floyd, it was a challenge that could be easily overcome with brute force determination. For someone like Azul… and by extension, Jade… Well, you weren’t all too surprised when Coach Vargas said that they valued their hard work and effort rather than their successes.

During your contemplation, you saw that the blue hue of his skin was rapidly darkening.

After having seen a number of Riddle’s breakdowns, you knew that could never be a good sign, differences in color notwithstanding.

“Hey! I have an idea,” you kept your voice an octave above a chipper tone, but with enough sincerity in it to make Azul think over your impending proposal, “why don’t I help you?”

The flush on his cheeks dissipated—thank goodness—but that didn’t stop the young man from massaging his temples in what you assumed was either in irritation or in awe of your audacity.

“How?” He narrowed his eyes at you through his half rimmed glasses, his arms crossed over his chest. “Last time I checked, you had no magic and had never flown a broom before. To be frank, I don’t think I can entertain a deal such as yours.”

Ugh.

Even when you were sure that there was no way you could possibly profit off of Azul, it seemed that he thought everything had to be a transaction.

“Look, I’ve listened to Coach Vargas’ speech about flight, determination, focus, etc. I’ve memorized it. Furthermore, I’ve also had my fair share of encouraging my peers whenever they needed help with flying. I’m practically his assistant when out on the field!” Among other things. Like an errand runner. Or a secretary. Or a school therapist. “The worst that can happen is that you don’t improve and I waste my time out here.”

You hadn’t planned on doing anything beneficial anyway, so there was nothing lost.

“I see.” He cupped his chin with his hand and asked, “What happens if I do improve? What do you want in return?”

“Honestly? Nothing.”

Azul’s eyes gave you an unimpressed look.

“You of all people should know how I work. You help me and I’ll help you out in return. So,” he leaned in close and you couldn’t help but think that even though he was much shorter compared to most threats you faced in Twisted Wonderland, he could be threatening when he wanted to be. “What will it be?”

You thought for a moment, considering.

“How about we negotiate terms after we’ve seen an improvement? I’ll promise to make my offer as painless and as reasonable as possible if that is the case.”

“Sounds fair.” And then his eyes—ironically a striking hue of sky blue—became mischievous. “However, if I see no improvement in my flying abilities, then you’ll have to go out hiking with Jade.”

A scream that sounded more like a bird squawking erupted from your throat. “What? Why?”

Azul shrugged, his gaze far away and distant. “I need someone to keep him on a tight leash… I’m worried that the mushrooms he hides in his room are flowering and spreading their spores around the dorm.”

Ah.

“Wait, if you think it’s such a health concern, shouldn’t you be talking to the Headmage about this?”

Azul shrugged again. “To be fair, when was the last time the Headmage has actually done his job as a caretaker and protector of this school?”

“Point taken.”

The next few hours were surreal.

You and most of the Night Raven College population would happily agree that having the only magicless student in the entire school tutor one of the Housewardens was something that not many could ever see happening. Riddle would never hear the end of it, Leona would have surely bit your head off for suggesting such a thing or ignoring you entirely, and the others would surely take offense to your offer of aid. Not that you would blame any of them, reputation was near and dear to most of the students.

As for Azul, you knew that he had his pride—just like the rest of your peers. However, he was also hard working, shrewd, and willing to go to great lengths in order to accomplish his goals. If that meant that he had to swallow his pride and listen to a student who barely knew the ins and outs of Twisted Wonderland, then so be it. At the very least, he had something to gain at the very end.

It was with a heavy heart that the surrealness of the experience was only because Azul agreed.

And it was that same surreality that faded after the first few minutes of instruction because you finally realized why Azul was so bad at flying.

It wasn’t like he didn’t want to fly.

It was the fact that he was desperate—almost too desperate—to fly.

Ruggie was right. When you observed Azul slowly ascend into the sky, his forehead glistening with sweat and his face fixed into a determined scowl, you saw that his flying technique was desperate. His legs wrapped too tightly around the length of the wood, his hands grasped the handle with something akin to a grip that you would often associate with prisoners on death row, and every second he tried to fly, you could have sworn that he looked like he was only seconds from crying.

After he made his hasty, but stuttering descent back to the ground, you realized why Coach Vargas had a somewhat hard time with Azul.

For all of his determination and willingness to study and plan ahead… It was certainly a let down to know that even after almost a year or so of attending physical education class, he had quite a ways to go concerning flying. Not that you could blame him, however. Walking was already a different beast when compared to swimming and flying was another hurdle that could appear to be insurmountable, even to the likes of those like Azul.

“It’s certainly not the best, but I don’t think you’re the worst.” Azul sent you a withering look. “Don’t believe me? I’ve been watching a few of the first years and there are a few who can barely get off the ground. I think you’ve done a splendid job so far!”

His lips curled into a sneer.

You backtracked, almost instantly knowing that flattery wouldn’t get you far in the presence of a businessman like Azul. “Okay, your form is too rigid.” You pointed at how his elbows were unnaturally too straight and that his back was hunched over in a manner that looked like the fetal position, except he was stuck gripping his broom. “You have to relax your elbow and gently curve your back. Instead of a full ninety degrees, try… I don’t know one hundred thirty five degrees?”

This time, Azul couldn’t help but snark at you, his facade as a cool thinking conman quickly dissolving like sugar in hot water.

“Prefect, I am not a protractor.” His glare would have been debilitating, but his glasses were slightly askew and he was still trembling from his flight.

“Yes, but I recall that you have arms. Furthermore, your back should be slightly straightened. It’s good that you’re leaning forward, but you should still relax your posture.”

Azul pursed his lips.

“Now would be a good time as any, Housewarden Ashengrotto, to actually take my advice." You thought for a moment, a little confused as a thought occurred to you. "Didn't Coach Vargas teach you this already?"

His cheeks colored a more vibrant blue than what you were used to seeing.

"Yes, but his instruction and bluster leaves a lot to be desired."

"And my instruction?"

He huffed. "Adequate."

After you coached him and helpfully adjusted his stance when you noticed that his starting position didn't have a solid stance underneath his broom to aid in a successful takeoff, you advised that he kick off again. This time, when he flew, his flight was markedly more stable, almost like those beginner first years after their first flight lesson. Not bad, but improvement was always necessary.

Furthermore, you noticed that Azul had gotten higher, almost to the point where you thought that if he had stayed in the air longer, had held onto that confidence for only at least a dozen meters more, he would have cleared the fifty meter requirement.

Progress.

Slow going, but steady progress.

At this point, the sky had become darker, the first twinkling stars began to peak out behind the clouds. The sun was gently setting as the hues of pink and violet began to playfully chase gold and orange away. Perhaps it would have been advantageous to let Azul rest and meet up for another day if he was willing, but you wanted to make sure that Azul could pass his flight requirement. While you had started out with mostly pure intentions regarding your private tutoring, a part of you wanted to prove to him that you were an adequate flight instructor. Pride had won you over and you wanted to ride that high of finally making Azul relax and acquiesce to your whims for as long as possible.

Even if that high was to last only a few more minutes, you would gladly accept it.

"Congrats! There was a lot of improvement!" You clapped, the sound pleasant but harsh on the ears in such a quiet environment. "If you would like, you can rest for five minutes before going again."

Panting slightly, Azul regarded you with eyes that flashed with the same sort of predatory gaze that you would often associate with his two best friends. Was it out of place on his disheveled figure? Perhaps. However, you were at ease. You had helped him out and even if you would stand by your words—that you did not seek out payment—you knew that Azul was going to pay you back somehow. He may twist the benefit to his whims, but he wouldn't hurt you outright.

"Prefect, I believe that this level of instruction is more than enough. I think that I can handle my next flight exam without further assistance." He pushed his glasses, which had begun to slip, up the slope of his nose. "Now, it appears that since you've been more than helpful—surprisingly—"

You refused to rise to the bait.

The insult, as subtle as it was, was more than customary within the walls of Night Raven College.

"—I would like to reward you for your efforts." His glasses glinted in the light under the rising moon. "What would you wish for?"

You thought for a moment before a thought rushed to the forefront of your mind.

You chewed the inside of your mouth to stop yourself from smiling too broadly.

"I wish for you to fly one more time tonight with the goal of reaching the standard flight requirement while also utilizing the tips that I gave you."

Normally, Azul would have been too proud and shrewd to even think about cracking his facade at the slightest demand, but it was late. And Azul had put his body through the ringer. Not only that, but you were the insignificant Prefect from Ramshackle Dorm. Even if word did get out that you had seen him in such a state, who would believe you? He was, after all, one of the more formidable students that Night Raven College had to offer.

He let out a shaky breath before nodding slightly.

"It's a deal."

He mounted his broom once again and sailed off into the night.

It seemed that although the conversation had taken his breath away, his posture resembled that of novice fliers instead of the desperate grip that he was employing from before. It wasn't perfect, but you were sure that Coach Vargas and most of the students in Azul's class would be surprised by how well he was taking to flight.

Up and up, Azul's broom went.

At the twenty meter mark, you silently urged him on.

At thirty meters, you saw Azul was slowing, almost hesitant to move on.

Forty meters in, Azul was stalling, idling in the air before stuttering forwards.

Finally, at fifty meters, Azul let his broom soar upwards one meter above your required payment as if to show that he was capable, before zooming back down.

You beamed up at his approaching figure, but you quickly noticed that something was off. For one, Azul was going faster than what was recommended. For two, you realized that there was a shrill scream in the air coming from Azul. And three—a very important observation—you realized that if you did not move out of the way, Azul was going to crash into you.

Instincts honed after dealing with more Overblots than what was healthy, you ducked out of the way, rolling on the freshly cut grass. Not a moment later, you were all too aware of the sound of someone thudding on the ground and a pained whine.

Rushing to stand, you nearly fell over your feet before stumbling towards Azul. There, you were greeted with a foreign sight.

There, on the ground, Azul was curled into a tight ball, his breaths low and shallow. His glasses had fallen off and lay near his head. As your eyes scanned him for any injuries, you noticed that his eyes were screwed shut and his hands were clenched between his legs.

Wait...

You knelt near his head and in a voice that was barely audible, asked, "Hey, ummm... Stupid question, I know, but did you get hit? Like in the... you know..."

Thank the Seven that the moon only gave enough light that you knew Azul was glaring up at you, but not enough that you could feel guilty over the part you played in this predicament.

"I think that's a yes." You hesitated, your hand reaching out to him before you stopped yourself from making contact. It did not help at all that Azul's eyes were watching your every move. "You know, I could help you with the landing next time?"

Azul huffed in pain.

"I'll take that as a yes as well."

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TWISTED WONDERLAND MASTERLIST

#twisted wonderland #twst #azul ashengrotto #twst yuu #dearestones

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sound-of-addiction · 2 years ago

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The Kicker: Floyd Gets Knocked Down a Peg (Floyd Leech and Reader)

Warnings: Floyd shenanigans, feral reader, slight Ace/Deuce.

Summary: Floyd traps you with one of his signature squeezing holds. You do not like that. (Alternatively, Floyd has gone on too long without getting his ass kicked. You deliver. But you don’t aim for the ass).

If there was one thing that you realized after living in Twisted Wonderland, it was that strange things happened pretty much daily. Was it because the world was magical and prone to circumstances that could have never happened in your home world? Was it because you were always the odd one out due to your relatively strange upbringing from a world that was quite unlike this one? Or was it because as the school's beast tamer, you were privy to the comings and goings of the young, wily mages that were more villain than hero even on the best of days?

You were never quite sure, but perhaps it was a mixture of all factors. It would make sense.

Or maybe it was because you were far too kindhearted for your own good.

There was only so much evil and darkness in this world, and you could not stand to spend your life adding to the negativity. As such, what could have been a life free from troubles apart from the errands that Headmage Crowley had you doing for him, you were honestly overwhelmed by how much you had gotten yourself involved.

Willingly.

Or unwillingly.

Today was like any other day.

Classes had been pretty standard, but you were sure that you were falling behind in one of Professor Crewel's classes. Professor Trein, on the other hand, had given you a slight nod of acknowledgement when he had given you an old essay of yours, a higher score than usual written beautifully in deep red ink. Stunned, you had barely stuttered out a thank you before he had strode away in that curt manner of his, Lucius giving a judgmental look as he passed.

Once the day's activities had finished, you had practically begged some free time from your trio of first year friends. Ace, Deuce, and Grim were great in intermittent doses, but even you couldn't say that you weren't just the tiniest bit peeved that they liked to rile each other up. If you didn't know any better, you would have thought that their banter and fisticuffs were a way of showing affection...

Ah, but young love did not have a place in such a school. Especially if the ones in what you could think of as having a close relationship were too proud for their own good.

As you walked down Main Street, the cold eyes of the Great Seven watching your every move, you could have sworn that you heard a shuffling sound. Still relaxed, but wary of your surroundings, you halted in front of The Great Sea Witch, the smug look in her eyes all the more intimidating as the sun began its gradual descent. For a moment, you had thought that you misunderstood. Maybe you were tired or this school's shenanigans were getting to you.

You shook your head and began to walk past the Sea Witch's statue.

Well.

That was what you were trying to do.

The instant you turned around and began to head back to your dorm, you heard the thundering footsteps of someone coming from right behind you. Instincts honed from an entire year of overblots and Coach Vargas' training, you whipped around, a textbook in hand to beat the perpetrator down.

In a school filled with magical students, was this the most effective weapon out there? Obviously not, but you had no choice.

Swinging the book down should have been the end of it—or rather, maybe the start of a beatdown that would have surely killed you—but instead, you were lifted off your feet and thrown into the air!

"Shrimpy is being excitable today! How cute!"

Ah.

It was Floyd.

His high pitched voice devolved into giggles as he swung you around, your legs flying freely in the air. In his rough handling of you, you had dropped your weapon and your arms were pinned to your sides. There was no way you could reach into your bag or start banging your hands against his chest. In fact, the more you struggled, the tighter he seemed to squeeze you.

Typical Floyd.

"It's nice to see you too, Floyd." You struggled to mumble in between gasps of breath. You threw your head back and caught sight of the Sea Witch looking down at you with what you swore was dark amusement. Great, even one of the Great Seven was laughing at your misfortune. "Can you—Aaagh!"

Floyd launched you into the sky again, his mouth wide open with laughter. You tried not to stare at his teeth too hard—you could have sworn that you were used to how razor sharp they looked!—but every time he bounced you up and down, you couldn't help but imagine that if you leaned a little bit forward, his teeth could have grazed your face.

Not ideal.

"Come on, Floyd!" You tried to wiggle out of his grasp, the look on your face pleading. "I'm really tired from performing labs all day! Put me down already! Come on before I do something we both regret!"

Floyd quieted—never a good sign. There were very few times Floyd could be seen as someone who was quiet—even fewer when he could be best described as serious.

At that very moment, he was both.

You had been kidnapped from your world, forced to be an errand runner for a negligent Headmage, and have been closely acquainted with the idea of dying after going toe to toe with Overblots.

This was probably the first time you were halfway through death's door.

His eyes, already alarming due to the unnatural colors of olive and vibrant gold, pierced your own. His lips, usually upturned in a crooked smile, were straightened into a thin line.

And then—

"Nah. I think I like you where you are.”

This was it.

You were either going to die by getting squeezed to death without provocation or you were going to die by trying to get away.

You had managed to stand up against the majority of the strongest mages of Night Raven Academy and barely survived exam season—you knew what you had to do.

Before Floyd could fully incapacitate you with his long spindly arms that had unfathomable strength, you summoned all of the strength that you had, reared one of your legs back, and kicked as hard as you could.

You didn’t know what you expected.

The instant your foot connected against the fleshy parts of Floyd’s groin, you felt your center of gravity shift, the world rushing around you as you fell to the ground. While the impact of the fall was painful, you found that your attention had shifted towards your upperclassman. He had bowled over, his shoulder lightly shaking before collapsing onto the ground right next to you. Curled up in a fetal position like that, you weren’t all too sure what sort of look he had on his face, but you were pretty sure he wasn’t happy with you.

Hesitantly, you crouched near him and even thought about patting his shoulder before thinking better of it.

“Are… are you all right?”

The only sound you could make out was the shuddering moan of a man in pain.

“So…” You fiddled with your phone, trying to find Jade’s contact number. “You’re not dying or anything, but like! This was all your fault, okay?”

In answer, Floyd shifted so that his face was turned towards you. All you could make out, aside from the dark shadows on his face, was the grimace that replaced his wide toothed grin. Even his glare, which would have made even the toughest and meanest NRC student quake in their boots, didn’t seem to hold as much power when he was curled up like a baby mewling for his mother.

You pressed the call button on your phone, a faint sense of hope pulsing in your chest that either Jade would not pick up at all or he would be understanding of the situation. Honestly, you hoped that Jade’s love of chaos would be enough to deter the love that he would have for his brother, but you could never quite tell with the other Leech. If it suited him, he could just as easily kick Floyd while he was down or turn his predatory sights on you.

“Good evening, Prefect.” You could hear the faint sound of clicks of silverware scraping across fine china. Ah, Jade was supervising the lounge today, wasn’t he? “If you’re in need of a favor from Azul, you can—”

“I might have done something. Bad.” You took a deep breath before glancing down at Floyd. His breathing, which had been sharp and erratic moments before, was approaching equilibrium. Despite that, the normally energetic Floyd remained curled up, his eyes closed in what you assumed was concentration.

“Bad.” Jade’s voice was flat, but you could practically see his analytical gaze turn inquisitive, his polite smile turning up mischievously. “Prefect, are you asking for a favor?”

“No! No, I…” You glanced down to find… Had Floyd moved? No, it had to be your imagination! Just in case, though, you moved several feet away. “So like… you know how male humans have external genitalia?”

This time, when Jade spoke, you could practically hear the amusement bubbling in his voice. You did not want to know why he found this scenario funny. “Why yes. I am very much acquainted with the fact that both humans and beastmen alike may seem powerful on the outside, but you could just as easily exploit their weaknesses without much forethought. Or aim.” There was a pause and then— “Would you like to know how knowledgeable I am about male genitalia?”

“N-no! That’s not necessary!”

You’ve lived through several of Jade’s rants concerning mushrooms. You did not want to know what his thoughts were concerning certain aspects of human anatomy.

You swallowed and hoped for the best. Jade seemed “happy as a clam” as one would say in the Coral Sea, but Floyd… Floyd should have gotten up by now, right?

“Well, I sort of… Maybe… More than likely…” You screwed your eyes shut and forced the words out. “I might have damaged the external genitalia of someone. Someone you may know.”

Was it supposed to be this cold in the evening? Perhaps it was your imagination, but when you breathed, you saw your breath condense into a small fog.

“Someone that I may know.” Not a question.

You were so dead.

“Yeah…” You began to chew on your knuckles. Gah, this was like pulling teeth! “You see, I was put in a situation where I had no choice but to—”

And that’s when you felt a large hand grip your wrist. Startled, you opened your eyes only to abruptly drop your phone from pure shock. Towering above you, Floyd stood. The sun was nearly at its lowest point; the shadows all around and emanating from the Great Seven’s statues had become darker, more menacing.

“Hey, Jade! Don’t worry about me! I’m going to have some hands-on learning with the Prefect!” His voice fell by a full octave, making the hair on your neck stand up and the fear in you skyrocket. “Don’t wait up. I’m planning on boiling some shrimp for dinner.”

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TWISTED WONDERLAND MASTERLIST

#twisted wonderland #twst #floyd leech #dearestones #twst yuu #funny

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sound-of-addiction · 2 years ago

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The Kicker: Jade Gets Served (Jade Leech and Reader)

Warnings: Jade’s machinations, feral Ace, etc.

Summary: Jade offers to help you study for one of your exams with Professor Crewel. (Un)fortunately for you, Ace and Deuce don’t take too kindly to slimy eels trying to cajole you into a deal where you might end up getting poisoned by mushrooms. The end result? A scuffle that nearly puts Jade out of commission. Permanently.

You weren't quite sure how you ended up in this situation. Actually, you did know, but you didn't want to admit that it was because of circumstances well within your control that caused you to drop into this situation as you had.

You see, you were studying with the rest of your fellow first years. Ace and Deuce had been silently goofing off in the corner while Grim had been taking a nap on the table, his head resting on one of the textbooks needed to pass Professor Crewel's class.

There was an exam on the last five potions that Crewel had you create, which consisted of the interaction of ingredients, the main uses of the aforementioned potions, and why the ingredients used were important. While it should have been straightforward on paper, you knew from experience that Crewel was tricky and required in depth explanations for all of his essay questions.

Hence the reason why you were silently panicking as you thumbed through the notes that you had taken in the lecture portion of his class.

You weren't the best student (that was saved for the Heartslabyul and Octavinelle dorm heads), but you were certainly not the worst. Yet, you wanted to succeed, to get a passing score. You had no one to impress back home, but you wanted to make it so that all the time spent in Twisted Wonderland wasn't in vain. Even if you could never go back home, at least you had the foundation and the skills to survive past high school in Twisted Wonderland...

Now, if only Ace and Deuce would stop bickering like an old married couple!

You were about to interfere in their discussion concerning the benefits of causing a disturbance in Crewel's class just so they could get out of an exam—it was never worth it, in your opinion—when you felt rather than saw a looming presence near your study table. As the hairs on the back of your neck and arms stood at ramrod attention, you shifted your gaze from the margins of your notebook to find that one of the Leech twins was looking down at you, a curious, but polite smile on his face.

"Good afternoon, Prefect. I couldn't help but notice that you and your friends were making quite the ruckus when I came in." Despite the good natured inflection of his voice, you couldn't help but feel like he was mocking you.

"I see... Were we bothering you?" It wasn't like the Vice Housewarden of Octavinelle to appear out of nowhere. Like the rest of the students of that particular dorm, he didn't do anything unless there was something in it for him.

"I wouldn't say that you were bothering me necessarily, but..." A well placed chuckle alongside his signature covering of the mouth with one of his gloved hands. "The librarian sends his regards.” His golden eye flashed a little in the light. “And a few well meaning threats.”

“Ah…” Out of discomfort, you chuckled a little before leaning over in your seat to whack Ace and Deuce with one of your textbooks. Immediately, Ace made a sound like a dying cat, but immediately hushed when he saw Jade give one of his eerie grins that looked more at home in a horror movie.

With Ace and Deuce finally under control (although, you could see that the two of them were sending side glances at you and the Vice Housewarden of Octavinelle), you finally gave Jade your full attention. If there was one thing that you learned about Octavinelle as a whole was that while most of the students were willing to help anyone in need, there was a price that had to be paid. Had you signed a contract with Azul? Had you asked for help from one of the lower ranking Octavinelle students? Shoot… Or had you made a deal with none other than Jade Leech himself?

Jade must have sensed your discomfort because he merely chuckled and gave you one of his nonchalant smiles that didn’t dispel the differing emotion in his mismatched eyes. “The other tables in the library are filled. May I take this seat?”

You could have rolled your eyes at the blatant lie. You knew full well at this time of day that most Night Raven College students preferred to stay in their dorms or work in unused classrooms instead of going to the library. If anything, Jade would have more than his fair share of the lot.

You gestured for him to take the seat next to you and in doing so, you failed to notice that you had left the first few pages of one of the essays that you had given Crewel a few weeks ago, a red circle surrounding a very, very low score. Ace and Deuce had already seen the score and given you looks of sympathy alongside a few teasing remarks about how you would have to start requesting private tutoring sessions with Crewel. At the rate of how you were doing in certain classes… you had to admit that their teasing was not unfounded.

“Oh my…” Jade’s eyes furrowed in what you could discern was concern, but if you looked deeper, you could make out the undercurrent of mockery. “I don’t suppose you’ve found yourself a dedicated tutor this late in the semester?”

His gaze flitted to the chaotic duo—who were once again bickering, albeit a lot more quietly—and back to you. This time, the concern was completely overshadowed by the obvious amusement that he had at your situation.

“Well… No, not really.” You squirmed in your seat as you tried to evade his probing gaze. That was another thing with the Octavinelle students, or at least with the main trio that you associated with most of the time, it was like all three of them could find out your deepest secrets and weaknesses with just their gazes and with well timed questions. “But I’ve been studying a lot!”

He hummed a little under his breath before fixing you with a gaze that would have easily frozen one of the braver students in their place.

“I see.” His tone sounded unconvinced, but he turned to his own pile of textbooks that he had on hand before settling his gaze upon you again. “I don’t doubt your ability to exceed expectations, but not many would pass up the opportunity to increase your chances of success.”

Ah.

You should have guessed.

Another business proposal.

Your gaze fell upon your notes; half finished equations and misspelled ingredient lists greeted you in return. Oh… You were deep in the shit weren’t you?

“Okay. If someone, hypothetically, were to increase their chances of success, how would they go about doing it?”

You always wondered what it was like to see a shark react to a drop of blood in the water, but seeing Jade’s face now, you realized now that you no longer need to contemplate such an image. It was rather horrifying, like watching a fly get trapped in a spider’s web and start struggling for its life: you were long since desensitized to this, but when you really thought about it, it made your skin crawl with unease.

“I suppose they could find themselves a competent tutor… but I suppose this person—hypothetically, of course—would have to remember that everything comes with a price.” He paused. Was it for dramatic effect? You wouldn’t know, but it did add emphasis to what he said next. “However, if you talk to the right person, perhaps they might offer a rare, once in a lifetime discount?”

Your eyes narrowed. “And does this right person have to be you, Jade?”

He placed a gloved hand over his chest. “Prefect, you flatter me!”

Your eyes narrowed further.

“Your intuition serves you well, I was talking about myself.” He chuckled, his joke entertaining himself just fine. “Since we’re both on a tight schedule this evening, I’ll make this concise: I’ll help you review for your next exam and in return, you have to taste test some recipes that I have in mind for next season’s menu for the lounge.”

If it were anyone else, you would have thought that he would have been getting the shorter end of the stick. Getting tutored by one of the higher ranking students in the school? And taste testing what was sure to be heavenly food? Amazing! The thing was, this was Jade Leech. And Jade Leech was always hiding poison underneath that honey eyed gaze and sweet words that he would murmur.

It was also worrying that Floyd had told you that a week ago, Jade had been out in the mountains procuring various plants for his collection.

Taste testing Jade’s newest concoctions was literally a recipe for disaster, one that would either land you in the infirmary at best or you would end up back in the Ramshackle Dorm… as a permanent non-living resident.

Yet, despite the risks, you wanted to not only get a passing score, but you also wanted to one-up Ace and Deuce. They were equally as average as you, but you were tired of the fact that because they had magic, they were already miles ahead of you in certain subjects. You were studying theory and would it not be nice to be good at least one thing in this school? It rankled at you to admit it, but Jade’s offer was tempting.

“Let me make this clear,” because if you didn’t, you knew that Jade could and would exploit any loopholes that you would leave glaringly open, “you’ll help me ace this exam and all I have to do is eat your food?”

Jade’s smile, ever present, seemed all the more mischievous.

“Now, now, Prefect… I said that the right person would tutor you, not that it would lead to you passing.”

The smug bastard.

He was at least somewhat honest, even if it let you down.

“So what would it take to get me to pass?”

And that’s when you began to be all the more alarmed when you saw Jade’s teeth peek from beneath his lips. A part of you knew that he and Floyd were twins, but you thought it was only Floyd with the sharp shark teeth. To see it from Jade’s (usually) non-threatening visage was alarming.

He leaned in close, the gold in his left eye entrancing and chilling you to the bone.

“Well, I’ve found that since I’ve invested most of my efforts in procuring and preparing my newest additions to the recipes, it appears that I’m running low in my personal stores. Perhaps, if you’re willing, you can accompany me on my next hiking expedition.”

Well, that didn’t sound too bad.

The woods near the college weren’t particularly dangerous and you would be traveling with a seasoned hiker. As long as you took precautions when handling the fungi that Jade wanted to incorporate into his food, you should be fine. It seemed like the main threat here would be the initial taste testing and Jade himself.

All things considered… It was actually a pretty good deal.

As long as Azul didn’t get involved and Jade actually helped you, then you didn’t see the problem.

What you didn’t take into account, however, was the fact that Ace and Deuce had actually been listening to your conversation the entire time. While you were somewhat aware of how protective Ace and Deuce may have been concerning you, it was still somewhat shocking to feel the back of your chair hauled backward. The movement was so jarring, you almost didn’t register the squealing sound the legs of the chair made upon the unrelenting wood underneath your seat. In your peripheral, you could spot a few meandering students sending shocked glances in your group’s direction, but you paid more attention to the fact that Ace had placed himself in front of you while Deuce flanked you at your side.

“No way, dude. They’re going to get by with some good ole elbow grease and determination.”

Because Ace's back was turned towards you, Jade's expression was not made noticeable. Instead, what made you concerned that Jade was miffed at the interruption was the fact that Deuce's grip on your bicep tightened marginally. Deuce was already a strong young man and his grip was not something that should be laughed at, but you were still somewhat surprised by how little you could move under his grasp.

"I can understand your lack of trust in receiving help from others, but I can assure you, I only have the best of intentions for our dear Prefect."

You heard Ace snort in front of you. Knowing him, he was probably only seconds away from offering a rebuttal that would only increase the tension rather than defusing it.

"Hey, Ace?" You grasped Ace's sleeve, not quite leaving the safety of your seat due to Deuce's grip, but you were leaning forward in an attempt to do so. "Come on, I think it might be fun to get some help from Jade! And besides, it's not like he's a bad cook!"

Then again, you didn't have any evidence that he was a good cook either. It was usually Floyd who created the menus for Mostro Lounge.

Ace ignored you, dark righteousness lacing his tone. “It’s not that I don’t trust others. I don’t trust you.”

What happened next remained a mystery.

All you knew was that Deuce was pulling you back, the tall tower of books that had been placed precariously at your side prior to this encounter wobbled before knocking into Ace, and then Ace…

Well, there were a few interesting takes to this situation, but all of them didn’t seem to make sense.

When you asked Ace, he would say that when the tower of books fell, they bumped into him. Normally, this wouldn’t have bothered Ace at all, but Deuce tried to catch the books that began to break free from their formation. While your books about alchemical laws and encyclopedias of fungi were saved from getting crumpled on the floor, Deuce had unwittingly pushed Ace right into Jade’s personal space.

You never tried to ask Jade what happened, but Floyd happened upon you one day and said that Jade watched as the tower of books fell, which knocked into Ace, and Ace began pinwheeling into Jade.

And finally, when you asked Deuce what happened, he said that he wasn’t paying attention, but he did try to get all of the books back onto the table before they fell. It wasn’t until later that Deuce realized that he pushed Ace into Jade.

The fact of the matter was this: your books were safe, Deuce was a good friend, and Ace and Jade were not doing too well in the aftermath of such an event.

You see, all three stories recounted the fact that Ace fell onto Jade.

What these three stories didn’t tell you was that Ace was hotheaded and impulsive.

So when Ace began to realize that his balance was failing him, he reached out to steady himself.

Unfortunately, as coordinated as Ace could be in most circumstances, his talents failed him now. Instead of reaching for the table, he reached out for Jade, but overshot it (somehow), and ended up barreling on top of Jade.

Jade, as composed as he was on any normal day, decided to let loose in the most deranged way possible. Instead of sitting still and taking the blow or trying to steady Ace with outstretched hands, Jade had found it necessary to push Ace back by thrusting his palm upward and straight for Ace’s chin.

Ace did, indeed, fly backwards into Deuce and not into Jade like you had expected.

No, Ace decided to be as overdramatic as possible. His arms flailed like the blades of a windmill and as he continued his descent towards Deuce, one of his arms swept a particularly large textbook from the table and straight

INTO

JADE’S

LAP.

If it were any other day, any other scenario, this detail would have slipped everyone’s minds immediately. However, it wasn’t any other day. It wasn’t even a normal day.

And as such, you had to face the overwhelmingly ridiculous reality that Ace may have had either perfect aim or his anger and confusion was enough to send the book rocketing at speeds rivaling Mach 1 right at Jade’s crotch.

The groin.

The area where Jade probably hid his family jewels.

The instant the book made contact with Jade, the most feminine of shrieks erupted from his throat. Jade didn’t have the time to look abashed at the sound he had made. Instead, he devoted his energy to folding over in his seat before falling unceremoniously on the floor.

His face was carefully blank, but his eyes.

Oh, his eyes.

Something told you that you either had to make amends on Ace’s behalf or make a contract with Azul to make sure that his Vice Housewarden was well in hand before he decided that the three of you were on tonight’s menu.

If you want to donate a Ko-Fi, feel free https://ko-fi.com/devintrinidad.

TWISTED WONDERLAND MASTERLIST

#twisted wonderland #twst #jade leech #dearestones #twst yuu #funny

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sound-of-addiction · 2 years ago

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試験に出ない英単語のパロディです。本来は"胸が小さい"なんですがね………すみません… 最初らへんは激怒してたけど週2〜3回の頻度でやられちゃうから今となってはなんの怒りも感情も湧いてこない、もはや日課。になってたら良いな☺️(良くない)

トイレットペーパーの芯

#floyd leech #riddle rosehearts #twst #twisted wonderland #funny #comic #funako3

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sound-of-addiction · 2 years ago

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Ashton Vargas:

"When I heard the price of Crewel-sensei's coat, the one that looks like it would be hard to run in, I couldn't believe my ears. Argh, I don't get him at all. Why would he spend that much money on something that's not even easy to move around in?"

from the wonderful @mysteryshoptls

You bet that man has a no price coat...->

Hnnnn, he's wearing a SAINT LAURENT!!!!

Out of stock, even Sam doesn't have it lol~

Omg... it's painful that teacher is so rich.... Glamourous, Diva-ish because in our world, it was worn by Céline Dion... Only that... Another Diva...

That's just so unfair (it's truly fair I only want to rant lol)... the only Saint Laurent things I can afford are c*ndoms, and lighter... And I don't smoke.....

Tssssss he's fashion, and a diva, what did we expect?

Yana-sensei knows her job~

#divus crewel #twst #character analysis #twisted wonderland

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sound-of-addiction · 2 years ago

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What You’ve Hidden Part 2

This is a continuation of a story I started writing in response to a post made here. (Which is where you’ll find Part 1 of this story) This is based off of @underqualified-human’s post on their “? Yuu AU” concept, and was really fun to write! I definitely love harassing Crowley. I know I write a lot of anti-Crowley propaganda, but I fuckin’ love his character. He’s such a slimeball and I love it. XD Storytime stops before Idia’s chapter because it hasn’t been released to the English version yet. —– Story is reader-insert, gender-neutral, and is also a continuation of an existing chunk of story I already wrote. The boys discuss how much they really know the Ramshackle Prefect. That is, until the prefect arrives on the scene and begins to explain themself. —– The conversation quickly moved from a lighthearted conversation about the Ramshackle prefect to a cautious journey embarking through the group’s delicate notions of trust.

“I don’t buy it - ___ can’t lie. They’re too honest.” Ruggie shrugs. He’s never seen you lie in a way that mattered. You were always so straightforward with him and everyone else in Savannaclaw, even when it probably would’ve benefitted you to lie. “They’re not a goody two-shoes, but they sure aren’t about to pull off a scheme.”

Jamil on the other hand is now rethinking everything he knows about you. “On the contrary, I’ve found them to be quite.. Crafty, when they needed to be.” He shakes his head thinking back to how you so easily would sneak out of containment prior to his overblot. How you could escape and even collect help. He starts connecting the dots on how you always seem to know just where to look or who to talk to in order to collect help. One could say it’s fate, but it was hard for him to believe in fate after meeting you.

“… They *are* capable of lying.. Lying well, at that..” Riddle murmurs, not comfortable with the conversation’s route, but incapable of stopping himself from treading into these waters as people talk more about it. “When Ace and Deuce want something kept hidden, they’re very good at hiding things from people.” His brow furrows as he thinks on the last dorm inspection.

“Well that at least tells us they’re loyal to their friends!” Kalim smiles big, refusing to fret. “And that’s all I need to know to enjoy their company.”

“Are they loyal to their friends? Or are they just loyal to their resources?” Azul once again steers the conversation into the depths.

“Friends! If they were just looking for power, they wouldn’t have helped Ace and Deuce when they got in trouble with you, right?” Kalim cocks his head to the side, looking to Azul with genuine confusion. It wasn’t hard to imagine what motivated you in his eyes.

“Mmm.. I’m not so sure about that.” Jade starts delving into this thought exercise. “Through those two, ___ got a chance to interact with Riddle, which dragged him into their scuffle with Leona - Which was the primary reason it wasn’t a disaster. Leona helped with Azul, Azul helped with Jamil, Jamil helped with Vil, and so on…” Many of the dormleaders had never heard of the intertwining threads of their interactions with the prefect, or how perfectly it all seemed to meld together.

This starts to garner some genuine concern, causing even Malleus and Kalim to think on the coincidental nature. It’s a little too perfect.

The guys are quiet as they feel themselves consumed with the idea that you might actually be a complete stranger. Someone who has come so close to them all, snaking your way in with ulterior motives. However, they each process the concept very differently.

Riddle just flat out refuses to believe it. He thinks Azul’s being paranoid and that you’d have no real reason to lie to him. And even if his overblot put you off from him, you’d have no real reason to lie to Ace and Deuce. No, Azul’s the one being paranoid here, and he won’t get dragged down with it.

Trey feels like it’s a nonsense consideration. Even if you weren’t genuine when you first met everyone here, you surely warmed up with time - Isn’t that just how being a social person works? No one puts all their cards out on the table without reason. He’s got no reason to doubt you.

Leona on the other hand, lets his mind dance on the edge of the idea. He’d seen firsthand how you can change your tune if you need or want to. You’re not above forcing people’s hands, but.. You also don’t really subscribe to the “Work smarter not harder” mantra that it really takes to scheme. You put too much effort into the things you do to be someone who isn’t, on some level, genuine. Still, he underestimated you once, and doesn’t make mistakes like that twice.

Ruggie on the other OTHER hand figures there’s no reason to worry. Hell, he’s fake as hell when he wants to be. As far as he’s concerned, everyone’s got a grift, and it’d be nice to hear you had one too. Even if your friendship was founded on a lie, he doesn’t care. You’ve never treated him like he owed you, and you saved his life from Leona lashing out at him. As far as he’s concerned, that makes you someone worthy of respect at the least.

Jade himself doesn’t really care either which way. He likes you and is amused by you, but whether you value him as a friend or not matters very little to him. If he wants to deal with you, he will. He doesn’t need an invitation or prior rapport. Still, he likes to think he knows you well. Even if he doesn’t know your real name, he knows how to poke and prod you to get desired responses, and at the end of the day, isn’t that enough?

Kalim’s bothered by the prospect. He shakes his head outright refusing to even consider a world where you were disingenuous. Still, his mind thinks on Jamil. Someone he’s held dear to his heart since he was a very young child was able to fool him and use him and control him. … He doesn’t like the idea that there could be secrets you keep from him. Still, if you do have secrets, maybe there’s a good reason for it. Maybe you’re afraid? Or you just need a safe place to open up? Maybe he just needs to be a better friend.

Jamil furrows his brow in thought. He’d overlooked you once, only to be surprised, and much like Leona, he doesn’t make that mistake twice. But unlike Leona, he has to care as far as Kalim’s wellbeing is concerned. He doesn’t think you’d ever do anything to hurt Kalim, considering you once tracked him down to give him treasure that Kalim tried to sneak to you. If you were in it for the money, you’d have never done that. Plus, there were plenty of times that you could have hurt Kalim by now and you didn’t. If you were some kind of physical threat, you’d have struck by now. But if it’s a power grab, what kind of power triumphs over money?

Vil’s not intensely bothered by the idea of you using every tool in your arsenal to collect strength. If you really were so quietly calculated, it’d be something to applaude. A fake smile here, a warm grin there, you’re bound to make useful connections. It’s no surprise to him that you were able to make useful connections that echoed forward. He finds himself annoyed with Azul’s persistence on the matter, figuring that Azul himself has been bothered by this and is now trying to make it everyone else’s problem. People often try to project their insecurities onto the people around them.

Rook on the other hand is delighted at the prospect. If you suddenly showed yourself to have a side that even he couldn’t see coming, what a rush that would give! Maybe he should poke and prod you more. Maybe he needs to test the waters and see what really makes you tick? People often let the most real facets of themselves surface under pressure..

Idia already had like 20 fears centered around dealing with people going into this conversation - Most of which had to do with them lying to him already. This machiavelean web of social warfare that Azul is painting just gives him a headache. It’s like when the business man thinks he’s onto something in boardgame club and just won’t relent. Idia may not have a high social self esteem, but he knows Azul well enough to not let this get under his skin. At least, that’s what he tells himself. It’s hard to not be bothered by the idea, but he won’t get taken for one of Azul’s wild rides.

Ortho’s only bothered by this line of conversation because it implies that you could lie in a way that tricks his censors - And that just isn’t like you at all! But any attempt to protect your good name is just met with Azul shrugging and saying ‘Anything is possible, I suppose.’

Malleus is the only one who is really torn asunder by this conversation. At first, he was offended that anyone could think that way about you, being your fiercest protector in the matter, but then it hit him that you’ve always been a bit weird. You’ve never been scared of him - Was that an act? How could he ever really know? He knew he wasn’t just a means to an end, but he had no clue if you befriended him genuinely or not. Did you really not know who he was when you met? Or was that a ploy? Whatever the case could be, he’s gutted at the idea that you could be anything less than a friend.

Lilia isn’t bothered by the idea. He pretends to be someone he isn’t all the time. It’s good fun! Even people who’ve spent their lives hiding their true selves in favor of a false self give away truths. He is, however, bothered by the dark look on Malleus’ face coupled by the thunder of the rolling clouds outside. “I mean, everyone has something to hide, don’t they, Azul?” His tone is more pointed, as though he’d uncover Azul’s secrets for all to see if he answers incorrectly.

A shiver runs down Azul’s spine at Lilia’s sharper gaze, surprising him with the reaction. “…. Yes, but when someone knows all of our secrets, shouldn’t we get to know at least SOME of their’s?” He looks to the others to back him up, but isn’t getting much help.

He can’t be the only one bothered by this, right?

—

The group is deep in thought when you arrive. You step into the room and all eyes are on you. Grim gulps from your shoulder, looking at all the staring eyes. Even he can’t ignore the palpable energy of the room. “.. Did we miss somethin’?” He asks tentatively.

Azul takes the lead, snaking his way beside you with a big smile. “Of course not! We were just discussing how we don’t seem to know anything about you, ___. Tell us about yourself?”

You take a glance around the room, which seems to confirm Azul’s claim that the room is waiting for you to talk about yourself. “….” You blink. “.. What do you wanna know?”

“Well, your name, where’s it come from? What’s it mean? Tell us about it.”

Your eyes narrow as you look at the businessman, who laughs off your suspicions. With Azul, there’s always an angle. They must’ve had a bet about your name. Your eyes relax as you look around the room of your friends. Riddle looks annoyed with the octopus man. Trey gives a quiet shrug like 'I dunno why this guy is being weird’. Leona looks more annoyed with Azul than he does with you, but Ruggie seems interested in hearing you explain your answer. Azul is frevently awaiting an answer, Jade making his biggest creepiest smile to the side as his eyes won’t budge from you. Kalim looks somewhere between distressed and excited. Jamil looks like he’s trying his hardest to look indifferent, but you know by the way he glances at you that he’s invested in your answer.

Vil actually moves to shoo Azul away from your shoulder as he takes over the conversation. “Azul’s been 'kind’ enough to express that we don’t know much about you or where you came from. You came here so abruptly, and you had so little to your name in ways of protection. It’s still an amazing mystery to us as to how you adapted so well.” Quite the improv actor, Vil smoothly transitions you into the conversation with the grace of a socialite. While he’s not bothered by the idea of you being cunning and cutthroat, he IS bothered by the idea that Azul might slip up and make it appear as though the entire group is worried. Besides, any chance to get to know you better is a gift.

Rook smiles delightedly as Vil takes over. If there’s anything you’re hiding, they’ll surely be able to sense it. “Ah yes, Trickster, you fascinate with how otherworldly you are! Please tell us more about yourself. How DID you acclimate so well?”

Idia feels sick to his stomach. More social nonsense is piling up. And on the one day Ortho convinced him to come in-person to one of these meetings. He can’t just check out and play a game as things are heating up, so he’s stuck just looking visually awkward and avoiding your gaze. Ortho looks determined, but happy to see you. He waved when you first came in, which signaled everyone that you were there in the first place. Now that things are getting weird, he’s just excited to have a chance to monitor your vitals while you’re under questioning, so he can prove to the others that you’re not lying.

If you’re lying, he’ll know.

Malleus looks like he’s stuck in his own head and upset over something. Deep in thought - When he finally looks to you, his eyes melt a little and the storm temporarily relaxes. Lilia’s more concerned with how strong Malleus’ reaction to this than whatever you could possibly hide from them. He does find it amusing that he could scare Azul with just a judgemental glance though, and files that away as something fun to do if the young octopus man’s antics cause Malleus or you grief. He’s got thousands of years of judgemental dad looks stashed away for such an occasion.

“Well, uh..” You’re not sure what question to answer, so you just answer Vil’s because he’s less creepy about it. “I just did what I could to survive. I’m as surprised as anyone that I’ve been able to last this long.” And it’s true - Everything you’ve done has been on the fly. Ever since arriving in Wonderland, you’ve found yourself in increasingly strange circumstances. You shrug, sorry that you don’t have a better answer.

“But surely, you must have had something - Skills you’ve relied on, plans you’ve laid out. Things that helped you survive through the messes you’ve encountered?” This time, it’s Rook speaking up, trying to coax more out of you.

“Not really, no. I showed up and had a flaming monster thrown at me, I held him up by the scruff of his neck and Crowley dubbed me as his handler. I was given a job as a janitor, and I’d have done it just fine, but Grim wasn’t having it and threw a fit. We got in trouble for it and got a bigger workload with Ace. Then he dragged Deuce into the mess and we all got expelled..” You recount your first week here at Night Raven College.

No one ever really heard the story of what happened when you got here before.

You were a janitor? Crowley didn’t let you be a student? But you came through the mirror! You couldn’t even go home! The frustration of the fear that you’re anything but genuine slowly bubbles away as they begin to find themselves annoyed with Crowley and his handling of the situation.

“If I got expelled, Crowley was gonna throw me out, and I had nothing, so I had to do what he told me to in order to stick around. We went to the mines, fought an overblot monster that seemed ancient, and got a magestone to replace the one we broke. From there, I was pretty ride or die for Ace and Deuce.” You shrug.

Azul isn’t having it though. “That explains why you got involved when they had trouble with Riddle, by why did you get involved when Savanaclaw was scheming?” He won’t forget that you’ve somehow endeared everyone here to you.

“Crowley showed up at my door and told me to figure out why students were getting hurt. When I told him 'Nah’, he blackmailed me with my food budget.”

The room’s stunned to silence.

“…. Crowley.. *blackmailed* you?” Riddle’s the first to speak up, and he’s appalled and pissed. That whole ordeal was incredibly dangerous! He knew Crowley was slimy from time to time, but you didn’t even have magic! That goes against several regulations!

“With your food budget no less..” Trey looks disturbed. Ruggie’s big grin from earlier is gone.

You shrugged once again, desensitized to the idea. “I didn’t want to get involved, but then I had to.”

None of them can sense a lie off of you, but they’re all listening attentively. They need to know more. How do the threads of fate connect you to them?

“What about after that? You didn’t really need to help Ace and Deuce when Azul’s plans came to fruition.” Jade now speaks up, curious. “Surely, if you were scraping to survive at that point, it would have been easier to just ignore and let them fall to their own stupidity. It would even be a great lesson for them, yes?”

“I wasn’t gonna get involved that time either - You’re right, they deserved a lesson. Even Grim got in trouble there, but I was so tired at that point.”

“So what happened??” Kalim asks eagerly, moving closer to listen, like his ears can’t hear you if he can’t see you well enough.

“Crowley again. Said faculty couldn’t get involved because Azul wasn’t technically breaking any rules, and he needed the problem fixed. Once again, I told him no and he threatened my housing security.”

Malleus’ eyes narrow. The storm outside is slowly building again, but this time for a very different reason. Azul feels sheepish. At every turn, you were being threatened and forced into involving yourself in the lives of the other students. So then why were you still so friendly? Ortho’s eyes have gotten frustrated at the idea of what you’re telling them. He’s visibly upset. Rook is stone silent as you have every ounce of his attention.

“And with Jamil..?” Ruggie jabs a thumb in the direction of the long-haired boy from the sands.

“Crowley told me I had to keep the school’s heating running while everyone was away, and I barely was able to remind him to get me food for the winter break. Even then, he held it as a reward I had to earn. He gave me a cellphone in case there was an emergency, but the damn thing was on the worst possible plan, and he never picked up when I called him. Kalim invited us to the dorm for a feast, and Grim and I were so hungry that I decided to let him treat us. When we got there, we got roped into everything..”

“But you escaped. You could have just stayed away at that point.” Jamil finally speaks up, remembering the events. He’s embarrassed by his actions, but he needs to know why you came back.

You throw a thumb towards Azul. “Yeah, but I only escaped because I accidentally flew the magic carpet into Octavinelle, and Azul made me take him back because he had his own agenda. I didn’t wanna be indebted to him for the damage the carpet did, and I didn’t trust him enough to return the carpet safely, so I begrudgingly obliged and got roped into bullshit again.”

Azul looks embarrassed as once again the attention’s all on him. This conversation is more exposing him for his shady bullshit than you for yours.

Luckily, he’s saved by Vil speaking up once again; “With my.. incident - You were pushed into it by Crowley again, yes?”

“Yeah. Your troupe needed a place to stay, and my dorm was the only one equipped for it. I wanted to stay as far out of your way as possible, but it was kind of impossible when I was named as the manager and you knew where I slept. You whipped everyone into shape, and even pushed me to do my best, lest I find my snacks.. uh..”

“Tampered with as punishment.” Jamil nods, remembering the spell Vil had been using. You were in a tough situation, and once again you made the call that allowed you your best chance of survival.

—

Before you can explain anything further, a familiar voice can be heard.

—

“Hello my gracious students! Thank you all for coming to this meeting!” Crowley has finally arrived. Half an hour late. He opens his eyes from his delight to find several people staring at him with malice. He blinks and gulps down his nerves. “… I seem to have missed something.” —– If you like stories like this, check out the rest of my collection in my Masterlist on my profile, or check out my stuff on AO3! https://archiveofourown.org/users/CuratorOfFiction

#Twisted Wonderland #Twst #twst yuu #azul ashengrotto #jade leech #riddle rosehearts #trey clover #leona kingscholar #ruggie bucchi #idia shroud #ortho shroud #kalim al asim #jamil viper #vil schoenheit #rook hunt #malleus draconia #lilia vanrouge #text post

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sound-of-addiction · 2 years ago

Note

May I make a suggestion,but, ever thought of fem azul x yandere rielle art? Or vice-versa

Not really, but now my brain is rotting with the idea of Rielle being a former bully and obsessing over falling for Azul years later.

The young royal has always loved finding pretty and unknown things, trying to understand them as part of the charm. However, Rielle is very superficial and not that bright. It reflects in their treasure hunting when all the treasures hidden a little bit deeper in the sand are never found, or how they can't decipher the object's use. It shows in their decisions when they complied with the bullying of a poor little octopus, and it affects their relationships, getting lovestruck after one look at the mysterious and charming owner of the mostro lounge.

Azul isn't really happy with the attention, but depending if we are talking about pre or post-overblot, I can see her taking advantage of the situation, or trying to just get away from all the fuss.

Content warning: Yandere, obsessive behavior, implied blackmailing, and slight physical aggression.

I just really love it when the darling already hates the yandere before the whole stalking scenario👉👈 and Azul holds a lot of grudges. Also...if we have Neige obssesing and worshipping Vil, I think Rielle just having a knack for examining and borderline hating Azul would be a nice balance.

#female azul ashengrotto #female rielle #twisted wonderland #twst #female floyd leech #female jade leech

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sound-of-addiction · 2 years ago

Note

could you elaborate on further on floyd's part? I'm pretty sure everyone in twst has issues but I always thought that Floyd was more on the stable side in comparison to the rest, so it made me curious about what his possible issues are (i have a vague idea for jade's something something about control and the need to be in it.) But like only if your comfortable! Btw can I be curious anon? Thanks!

See now you’ve gone and done it, you’ve enabled me to talk at length about my boy. You probably were NOT asking for a 5k word analysis of Floyd (including a line reading of his vignettes). But apparently that’s what my brain decides to churn out. So without further ado

Shark Dissection: A Floyd Leech Analysis Essay

Some brief disclaimers: I actually do agree with you that overall Floyd is one of the more stable boys here. I don’t think he’s walking around with some great well of untreated sadness and neglect. Like many people, he’s simply got some issues rattling around his brain that have gone kind of unaddressed and unprioritized, and the longer they go without comment the more likely they are to cause problems that seem inexplicable. Additionally, there’s admittedly some level of self-projection occurring here. In terms of behavior, I’m not much like Floyd. But the way his brain works makes sense to me, feels familiar. In a way, he takes a lot of the impulses and feelings I have and acts on them in a way I wouldn’t have the nerve to irl. This also means that I see a lot of myself in the way that he handles his own internal state.

I have ADHD. Floyd, while not canonically diagnosed, has a lot of behavioral overlap with typical ADHD diagnostic criteria. Part of that package is emotional dysregulation. The ADHD brain isn’t particularly good at regulating anything, and that includes feelings. My entire life I’ve had this thing where if you ever asked me how I was feeling, I honestly couldn’t tell you. I might even get irritated with you for asking. How am I supposed to know what I’m feeling, or why? I just know I’m going through it, and its not gonna stop until I can either distract myself or someone comes along to lift it. I have to figure out what I’m experiencing after the fact, rather than just basically be able to understand the cause and effect of my own brain chemistry. Floyd’s frequent mood swings and “irrationality” track a lot with stuff that I’ve been going through my whole life, and unlike me I don’t think Floyd has the language or the desire to fully understand why he is the way that he is. This combines with some elements I see in his past to create some issues with developing consistent relationship attachments that he hasn’t acquired by virtue of biology or proximity.

All this to say: I don’t consider my reading of Floyd the end all be all. I’m too bound up in it to say that I’m being objective. But I do think there’s a lot of textual evidence for the things that I do see in him, so take that for what you will. So let’s get into it.

It all starts from Jade and Floyd’s way of relating to other people. More specifically: they kinda don’t? The twins have a habit of seeing other people as more tools for their own entertainment than actual people deserving of notice. I’d argue a lot of this stems from their childhood, based on some things Jade says in his birthday card:

Could you tell us a memory you have about your birthday?

A memory....Oh, yes. I’ll share a story from my childhood.

It wasn’t just our relatives that would come over for our birthday every year-but associates from our father’s work as well.

And they gave us a mountain of presents.

What kind of things did you get?

All sorts of things: sweets, seaweed eye masks, and strange toys one could only acquire on land.

However, among those things were luxury substances clearly no child would need.

It seems those presents were from desperate people trying to gain our father’s favor...er, rather his trust.

Our father always made sure anyone who sent us those deeply meaningful gifts also left their signatures...

On a document which read, “This gift was given to you out of good faith, and we will not request anything in return for it.”

Even our father had a tendency to worry at times, just like our mother.

Well, they do say that married couples take after each other...It’s good that they get along well.

...Just what kind of household do you two come from?...

Heheh, this is simply a family-run line of work. We do all sorts of meaningless business with all kinds of people...Its very normal.

I’d argue we see two things at play here. One, a family tendency to toy with people, particularly desperate people. Jade is recounting this all with a clear sense of amusement, like it’s an old in-joke. More than that, his father seems to be toying with his “associates” through his sons birthday, making them sign documents assuring that its an honest gift when they all know the actual purpose. Two: Jade and Floyd serving as spectators to larger actions. Jade doesn’t even remember their birthday as being strictly “about” them. Rather it was an event through which they got to participate in the family business and get a little more insight into their father’s dealings. Again, his amusement here is important. For many kids I think there’d be a sense of hurt feelings, or concern, or even pride. But for Jade (and one has to assume, Floyd) this is simply another entertaining circumstance of his life.

I’d argue this stemmed from the home outward, resulting in the twins not being particularly encouraged to see other people as. Well. People. Rather, they approach them like they’re game pieces. This isn’t necessarily malicious. In Azul’s case, what drew them in to Azul was the contradiction between his crybaby nature and his ambitious talent for magic and exploiting others. They thought he would be fun to watch, and so they did, eventually developing a friendship with each other that seems to feature at least some level of trust. However, it definitely showcases this tendency to be driven by curiosity before empathy.

This continues at NRC. Jade and Floyd definitely have amicable relationships, and yet there aren’t truly a lot of people that they trust outside of each other. Floyd ESPECIALLY demonstrates this. He uses playful nicknames, both as a way of telling people apart and a way of subtly putting them down. He picks his favorite targets for bullying and teasing based on who will give him the biggest reaction, and lets his whims dictate how much he wants to engage with any given activity. He won’t put himself out of the way for pretty much anyone but Jade or Azul. There’s no one else in his life for whom friendship trumps his own convenience and entertainment, at least not consistently.

There’s a side effect to all of this though: when you see people as playthings, it’s hard to feel like you can actually trust them with your own emotions. This seems to bother Jade less. Jade doesn’t seem to deal with particularly strong emotions, even playing into the fact that he doesn’t have any around his brother. And as Bean Day demonstrates, he is perfectly capable of having friendly and amicable relationships with other people when he feels so inclined. Jade may sometimes put people off, but you get the sense that if he ever wanted to reach out he would be able to find someone to listen.

Floyd is different. Floyd has emotions which are frequently large and uncontrollable. More than that, he really doesn’t seem to have anywhere to take those emotions when they strike. His entire life, whether by nature or nurture, he’s taught himself that the only people he really needs to care about are his brother (and Azul), who as previously stated doesn’t really seem to experience emotions in the same way as Floyd and thus is often just as at a loss about how to cope with them as anyone else. Thus, the only avenue he seems to trust to make him feel better is to mess with people...or to lash out at them.

So let’s talk about where those emotions stem from. Floyd’s emotions get read as unpredictable for a pretty good reason. They can shift on a dime with almost no warning, and suddenly everyone around him has to deal with the consequences. I don’t really blame any of them for wondering what the hell his deal is. However, I think when talking about Floyd’s emotions, it’s useful to separate the cause of the emotion from the scope of the emotion.

The scope of the emotion, as I’ve already stated, can be attributed to ADHD/ADHD-like issues with emotional dysregulation. As I’ve stated, having ADHD means that your brain doesn’t effectively filter your emotions to give you an idea of what a rational response looks like. As bewildering as it can sound, there are plenty of days where I just can’t connect the dots that what’s irritating me is a project I’m working on. I just know that I’m furious and everyone around me seems to be contributing to it. This doesn’t mean I get an excuse to treat people however I want, obviously, but it does mean that when I’m in the middle of it it can be difficult for me to realize that I’m getting angry at something that isn’t the root cause of my problem. It ALL feels like a cause. Additionally, this kind of behavior is often even harder to contain for people who are undiagnosed, because they don’t know enough about themselves to recognize that they’re being irrational. They may often assume that everyone would act this way in their situation, even if that’s not true. So, my argument is functionally that Floyd is experiencing perfectly rational emotions. He’s just experiencing them to a degree that is unusually destructive, and doesn’t know (or, admittedly, care) to stop himself from acting on them.

As far as the cause goes, while obviously there’s not one cause for every switch, it’s often pretty useful to piece out when you take the time to scrutinize his internal state. I’m gonna go through his vignettes now to point out where the switch happens, as well as why I think it happens.

School Uniform (R):

Floyd, while bored at the library, spots Riddle hunting for a book and decides to antagonize him, holding it over his head and making him chase him around the library for it. However, near there end, we hit this beat.

Floyd: C'mon! Catch me, catch me! I'll give you the book if you do!

Riddle: AUGH! STOP RUNNING AROUND! I AM DONE WITH YOU! Jade has never once pulled these silly pranks, and he's had every opportunity as a classmate! How twins could be such complete opposites, I'll never understand!

Floyd:...

Riddle:Why must you always, ALWAYS...?! Tell me, Floyd! What have I done to deserve this mistreatment?!

Floyd: Ugh. I'm bored.

Riddle: WHAT?!

Floyd: I'm out. Here⁠—take the book.

Riddle:What...just happened? I can't tell if I upset him, or if that was yet another one of his mood swings. *sigh* I've had enough of that man's caprices for a lifetime.

Riddle’s frustration here is 100% understandable here, and I don’t blame him for snapping like he does. Floyd is being a brat, and he’s doing it to bother him. However, I’ve spoken before about how I don’t really think Floyd enjoys being compared to his brother, and this vignette is a huge part of the reason why. Riddle’s not really saying anything different from what he was before. He’s shouting at him, getting upset, theoretically giving Floyd exactly what he wants. But he’s thrown a wrench in the works, asking Floyd implicitly why he can’t be more like his brother, and suddenly all the fun’s gone out of it for him.

It’s important how he frames it here too. He doesn’t say he’s upset. He says he’s bored, and tosses back the book. Again, I don’t want to poor meow meow Floyd too much here. But bothering Riddle is the endgame. There’s no reason for this to suddenly be boring for him...unless boredom is not actually the reason for him leaving, just what he decides to attribute the feeling to. He’s offended, maybe even legitimately hurt that a person who he considers (however unwillingly) a friend has just implied wanting him to be something other than what he is. He’s been rejected, and rather than confront that I think what he’s doing here is rejecting him right back. At least for now.

PE Uniform (R):

Floyd: Huh? What's up, Crabby? You're staring at me. Wanna join in?

Ace: I had no idea you were such a baller. You had three people after you, but you slipped around 'em like... I dunno, an eel or something! I'm seriously floored, dude.

Floyd: Aw, it's nothing special. If you thought that was cool, then check THIS out.

Ace: Ooh, ooh! What're you gonna do?

Floyd: Patience, Crabby. Stand there and watch. Lead up with a dribble and... Slaaam dunk! Yeah BOIII!

Ace: Whoaaa, that was crazy! You're tall AND you can jump that high? I call shenanigans! Ha ha.

Jamil: I'm with Ace on this one. You just jumped high enough to literally look down through the hoop. How did you even manage that?

Ace: You could totally go pro. Maaan, I wanna learn to dunk like that!

Floyd: I got a thing for swimming, obviously, but I like running and jumping too.

Ace: On that note... Would you be on my team for today's practice game?

Floyd: You wanna tag-team those chumps, eh? Sure. Why not?

----

Floyd: I'm bored.

Ace: What?

Jamil: Come on, the match has started.

Ace: Hold up, Floyd. What happened to those crazy skills you were just showing off?

Floyd: Uuugh, this is such a draaag. I quit.

Ace: What the heck, man?!

Floyd: I'm not in a basketball mood.

Ace: But you were totally in the zone like three seconds ago!

Floyd: Yeah. I had fun, and now I'm done.

Ace: Dude, quit being so lazy and make with the dunking already!

Floyd:You are REALLY starting to get on my nerves. How about I squeeze you until you can't whine anymore?

So we have here, pretty standard Floyd shenanigans. He’s having fun, until he isn’t, and then he makes that everyone else’s problem. Again, Ace isn’t in the wrong here for reacting as he does. From his perspective Floyd just flaked out on him and threatened him for asking that he do the thing he said he’d do. Floyd’s being a dick, regardless of the emotions he has around it. What I find most interesting about this interaction though, is specifically how Floyd responds to Ace’s praise. He’s surprisingly quick to undercut his own achievement, waving it off as nothing special even as he eagerly shows off for a little more of it. He reacts enthusiastically to Ace hyping him up, though he treats his own talents like something normal (“I like running and jumping”). Even agrees to be on his team, and I’ve mentioned how rare it is for Floyd to commit to something for someone else. I see this as an example of the “anxious” half of the mixed attachment. Floyd wants to be validated without having to beg for it, enough to jump into things quickly when he’s found an unexpected source of it.

And then a sea change occurs. Sudden mood drops or abrupt lack of interest isn’t exactly unusual with ADHD (though, it happens to Floyd a little quicker than most). Despite having fun with Ace he’s clearly ready to drop the task and move on to something more fun. When Ace (a little understandably) reacts with frustration, that’s when Floyd gets aggressive with him. The avoidant half kicks in. “Oh, so I’m just a dunking machine to you? Well fuck you too then.” He places distance between them to avoid having to really untangle his own feelings on why he’s suddenly demotivated, and also seemingly to hurt Ace for turning on him.

Labwear (SR)

Woof, this one is probably the clearest demonstration of Floyd’s emotional vacillation. Sorry for the back to back long quotes I’m gonna be doing here but. It’s relevant.

Crewel: Floyd Leech, would you care to explain yourself?

Floyd:......

Crewel: You're turning in my quiz completely blank. I can only conclude that you crave a taste of my signature discipline.

Floyd:......

Crewel: How long are you going to stay silent? Even puppies bark back when spoken to.

Floyd:...Aroo. There. Are we done yet, or did you have more barbs to sling my way? All this nagging is really harshin' my vibe.

Crewel:......You're bold, Younger Leech. I'll give you that much.

Floyd: I ain't "younger." I ain't "older," either, but c'mon.

Crewel: I suggest you exercise more discretion in deciding who you bare your fangs at.....you BAD DOG!

So here again, we see those consistent themes: Floyd’s frustration at being asked to explain himself when his motivation suddenly drops, and a connection drawn to Jade that seems to needle at him. Crewel seems to be assuming their birth order based on maturity here, which Floyd objects to very quickly. Almost like it bothers him that Jade was brought up at all.

Jade: Oh, hello, Floyd. Heading back to the dorm? ...What's wrong? You're glowering.

Floyd: Professor Beakfish chewed my head off and assigned me a fifty-page apology essay as punishment.

Jade:"Beakfish"? Like the black-and-white striped beakfish? Oh, you must be talking about Professor Crewel. What did you do to incur his wrath this time?

Floyd: Literally nothin'. I didn't feel like takin' a quiz, so I left it blank. I'm not the only guy with low grades in that class, so how come I'm the only one he singles out?

Jade: Didn't you score a perfect 100 on your last test? Of course he'd think you were slacking on purpose if you went from a 100 to a 0.

Floyd: Maaaan... This is lame.

I think it’s notable that Jade says “he’d think you were slacking on purpose”. Implying to me that he seems to understand that on some level, it’s not necessarily in Floyd’s control when he chooses to put in effort or not (though he acknowledges Crewel is coming to a pretty logical conclusion). Floyd leaves pretty shortly after this to be alone, too irritated to even confide in his twin, after which he has this exchange.

Savanaclaw Student: Hey, who thinks they can just bump into me without apologizin' or— Erk! F-F-Floyd!

Floyd:......

Savanaclaw Student A: S-sorry! We didn't know it was you...

Floyd: ......

Savanaclaw Student B: Look, uh, we don't want any trouble, so...

Floyd: Huh? Nah, don't feel like starting any.

Savanaclaw Student A: Wait, really?

Floyd: I said it's cool, okay? So how about you scram already before you make me wanna ruin YOUR day, too?

Again, we have another repeated pattern here. Floyd’s more likely to get aggravated when someone starts interrogating his motives. Its scope is unreasonable but its cause, at its bare essentials, is understandable. When you’re in a bad mood you don’t want someone to pester you with questions.

What ultimately turns Floyd’s mood around in this vignette isn’t some deep meaningful affirmation, and pretty essentially the most likely person to give it to him in this situation, Jade, doesn’t try. He’s in avoidant mode. He’s going to resist all forms of praise or encouragement and assume ill-intentions. What snaps him out of it, finally, is Ace and Deuce hitting him with color changing magic and him finding it so funny that it instantly snaps him out of his funk. His motivation is kickstarted again, and with it I’d argue a desire for affirmation:

Floyd:Aha ha! I didn't know you could be so incompetent at basic baby magic! You guys are hopeless! Look at this complete mess of colors I've got going from head to toe. Pinks, blues, yellows... What color were you even going for? It's kinda funny bein' this colorful!

Deuce: He's laughing? Does that mean...he's in better spirits now?

Ace: W-we're saved!

Floyd: Now I wanna give it a whirl! Heck, I'll give you guys some color-changing pointers while I'm at it.

Deuce: Who is he, and what has he done with Floyd...?

It seems like a whim, and to some extent it is. I doubt Floyd is really making many cognizant connections between this and his argument with Crewel earlier. But I think its important to understand: what put him in a bad mood was rejection, being chewed out and having it assumed that he’s being intentionally dense and not trying hard enough. What snaps him out of it is giddily spectating someone being actually incompetent, and realizing its something that he can not only try for himself, but help them do as well. That takes him right back up to his peak, and as a direct result, he stops avoiding people.

Ceremonial Robes: (also I couldn’t find an upload of the official translation for this vignette so. Here’s the link to the fan translation I ended up using: https://twistedtranslations.tumblr.com/post/614193938568495104/floyd-leech-dont-wanna-12)

So what does a positive interaction with Floyd look like? As I’ve said again and again: I really don’t wanna fault anyone I’ve previously shown for how they reacted to him. At the end of the day how Floyd feels is no one’s responsibility but his own, and the ways in which he lashes out are specifically designed to provoke and upset people. He can hardly complain when people get, well, provoked and upset. But I think the ceremonial robes vignette showcase an excellent example of someone finding a way to engage with him that actually produces positive and even productive results.

Kalim: If you like music that much, you should enter the light music club! We can play together.

Floyd: I’m fine.

Kalim: But you like musical performances, right? It’d be a waste to quit.

Floyd: I don’t like being told by a human what to do… And right now, moving my body is the most fun. Lately I’ve been interested in dancing! Now that I have two tail fins, it’s been so entertaining. Sometimes I can’t even tell the difference between left and right.

Kalim: Tail fins? Left and right… ah, do you mean your legs?

Floyd: Yes, legs! Moving your legs is fun, so dancing is fun as well. I love fun things. I don’t want to do boring things. Applies to everything.

Kalim: I also love fun things! They’re the best! That’s why even if I love music, I also love dancing… You know, our hobbies are kind of the same, huh?

Floyd: Huh…you think so?

Kalim: Yeah, do you want to try performing together next time?

Floyd: Aha. With me? Okay, but I think you’ll be surprised at how good I am.

Kalim: That’s fine, I’ve heard a lot about you. You should definitely show me how you dance.

Floyd: If I feel like it.

----

Kalim: Ah, here you are! Floyd, do you have a moment!?

Floyd: Huh, what are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to hold a party for the great observers?

Kalim: That’s where I have a problem. The guy who plays the main drum has gotten a cold and can’t participate today. We’ve tried to rehearse without the drum but the song doesn’t feel authentic without the percussion… And that’s when I remembered you.

Floyd: Me?

Kalim: You said you had experience with the drum. Don’t you want to show off your technique to everyone? I’m sure performing together will be fun. Come on Floyd, let’s liven up the party together!

Floyd: Huh? Don’t wanna.

Kalim: …Huh. What do you mean you don’t wanna?

Jade: Pf. Floyd, it wouldn’t hurt you to be more polite in your refusals.

Floyd: I don’t wanna do things I don’t like.

Kalim: But didn’t you tell me it was fine when I offered you earlier to perform together?

Floyd: I told you I didn’t like being ordered around by humans, didn’t I? And you know, I don’t feel like matching with y’all.

Kalim: You don’t have to force yourself to match the other guys. If you do things like you do, that’s fine as well.

Floyd: … For real?

Kalim: Of course! As I said before, having fun at a party is essential! The guests and the entertainers should both have fun.

Floyd: Okay, then I’ll do it.

Kalim: Really?!

Floyd: Yeah. As long as I can do whatever I want.

Kalim: You really saved me, thank you, Floyd!

Floyd is trying to fall into his usual habits, being intentionally difficult, squirming out of things he otherwise promised to do, and insisting on having his own way. In this state of mind even Jade struggles to get him to do anything. But Kalim somehow intuitively hits on the way home. He reaffirms Floyd’s desire to have fun, and encourages him to do his own thing without worrying about whether its correct or not. Floyd even seems a little thrown off by it, confused that Kalim doesn’t have more of a problem with him and surprised by the extent to which he seems to identify with him. As a result, he agrees, as long as it can be on his own terms, and the performance goes shockingly well...

....For a while!

Floyd: … Eergh! Just hitting stuff is boring.

Kalim: U-uh, Floyd, why did you suddenly throw your sticks away!

Floyd: You were the one who told me I could do what I wanted. I feel more like dancing than playing drums.

Kalim: It’s true that I said that, but… Why did you abandon your instrument?!

Floyd: You’re supposed to have fun at a party, right? Everyone should stand up and do whatever they want~

Kalim: … Haha, ahaha! Man, this became super lively and fun. Floyd’s really dancing without worries. Okay. A party shouldn’t be like this. Come on everyone, sing and dance! Don’t hold back on enjoying this bustling party.

Floyd: Oh, you guys finally stood up. How about I’ll strangle you if you don’t get excited?

Jamil: What a terrible fuss. Certainly, a party should be enjoyed… But there’s a limit to everything.

Azul: Floyd’s drumming was popular in his home town. It had a rhythm that made you move your body just by listening to it. Well, the guy himself broke out in dancing all the time… It was always troublesome.

Jamil: If this isn’t a chaotic situation. Aah, how will I explain this to the principal…

Azul: Do not worry, I shall help you. That’s why I came.

Jamil: Why do I have the feeling it won’t be free of charge. My head hurts… I also feel like dancing and forgetting everything.

Kalim: Isn’t this fun, Floyd!

Floyd: Yeah. Dancing is enjoyable after all. … Let’s get fired up even more!

Floyd’s being difficult again, temporarily flummoxing Kalim. What’s crucial here though, is that Kalim doesn’t become upset with him. He does the best thing one can do with Floyd, and rolls right with the punches. For as chaotic as it is, it genuinely seems to improve spirits at the party. Even Jamil, stressed and overworked, seems to get into the spirit as he accepts there’s probably no stopping this train. As a result, Floyd’s investment doesn’t waver. He continues to have a good time. Even the threats, though they seemingly aren’t avoidable, seem more playful than actually angry. It’s a rare interaction with Floyd where everyone walks away a little bit the better for it.

Concluding notes:

So to restate my points: No, I don’t believe Floyd Leech is secretly a sad little boy so tormented by the cruel world. Floyd gets pretty much the reaction one would expect from his behavior. He doesn’t put in the effort to explain himself, or to control himself, and as a result it’s not really fair to expect other people to do the work of untangling his feelings for him. Additionally, I think for the most part, he’s genuinely a pretty happy guy. He has his low points, like anyone, but by and large I think we seem him being pretty content with his life and relationships as they are. Some people don’t need to resolve every issue they have to achieve some sort of equilibrium. I’d argue that Floyd is very much one of those people.

However, in service of a broader analysis: I think often times, we act the way that we’re treated as much as we’re treated the way that we act. Even by the people who know him best, Floyd is often treated as inexplicable, irrational and even frustrating to deal with. For as true as those statements often are, I think it has influenced his own relationship to his internal state. He lacks the kind of cognitive structure necessary to unpack why he feels a certain way, or what he needs to do about it. Oftentimes, I think he’s even a little out of touch with what he’s feeling. All negative emotions get looped under the same category: bored. And being bored is the worst thing there is for someone like Floyd. It’s an itchy, powerless feeling that makes you feel suddenly adrift. What was just working for you, making you happy and excited to be where you were, has suddenly turned on you, one way or another. And now, its hard to even get excited about moving on to something else. What if that turns on you too.

As an extension of this, to quote the old song, how can you know who you are till you know what you want? Floyd is cued enough into himself to know when he’s lacking something, but because all bad feelings are boredom, the only solution left is to sulk or to make something happen. It doesn’t matter what his brain is actually crying out for (validation, stimulation, comfort, privacy). He just has to make something happen (even bad things), or go hide in his room until he can’t take the quiet anymore. Then, when the dust is settled, everyone’s mad at him, and he still doesn’t know or understand why he’s feeling/felt this down. It’d be tragic, if it also weren’t often so, so funny.

#twisted wonderland #twst #floyd leech #character analysis

323 notes · View notes

sound-of-addiction · 2 years ago

Text

The Little Moray Mermaids

Fandom: Twisted Wonderland Characters: GN!Reader, Jade Leech, Floyd Leech, Ace Trappola, Deuce Spade, Azul Ashengrotto Word Count: 7,399 Note: This a long one folks. I enjoyed writing this a lot. Not the mermaid AU I was planning, but it just happened. Hope you all enjoy reading it! Warnings: Some swearing

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It is the sudden quietness of the night that draws you from under your covers to look around the dark. The only light comes from your phone screen that you had been looking at previously, and the occasional lightning that flashes in the dark skies. At 3AM it’s far too early for anyone to be up, though you had kept yourself awake while scrolling through social media. Since early evening the rain has been pouring down in sheets while lightning lit up the sky and thunder echoed loudly.

The lack of thunder makes you pause, but eventually you decide to go back under your covers. However, you hear a loud squeak of floorboards and immediately sit back up. The only other person in the house is your father, who should be asleep at this hour. Tossing aside the covers, your bare feet touch the cold, wooden floors making you jump.

Tip toeing to your door, you crack the bedroom door open to peek outside. You don’t see anything in the gloom of the hallway. Slipping out, you avoid certain squeaky floorboards as you make your way down the hall and to the stairwell. Squatting, you hide between the bars of the stairs, you see your father standing with the front door open.

The porch light illuminates a broad figure in the doorway, who seems to tower over your father despite being about the same height. You strain your ears trying to hear their mumbled conversation, but only manage to catch a few things here and there.

“Clark and Claire want you to…”

“It’s three in the morning!”

“Don’t…bosses wait. They found something interesting, possibly me-” A violent boom of thunder shakes the house and forces you to clap your hands over your ears. Your father nearly drops his glasses that he had been fiddling with. The stranger doesn’t seem to react.

“We can drag… -make it difficult for us.” Finally your father seems to slump forward as he grabs his coat hanging nearby and follows the stranger out into the night.

You stay there frozen for a few moments longer, before rushing back to your room. You open the balcony door only to be pushed back by a violent wind. Managing to stay upright, you try in vain to look for any sign of a vehicle, yet there is nothing in the dark night.

“What was that?” you ask yourself as you lock the balcony door and go back to bed.

---------

It is a sharp, painful flick to the forehead that finally draws you from your thoughts. You drop the controller and throw the offender a nasty look. “What the hell!?”

Ace merely rolls his eyes. “Not my fault you were off in wonderland. You’re not even paying attention to the game.”

True to his statement, you lost the race. “Just got something on my mind…” You fall back against the couch cushions.

“Anything we can help with? My mom always says it’s best to talk to other people if something’s bothering you,” Deuce offers.

Having moved to the town about three years ago, you had made friends with Ace and Deuce. The duo were often seen together at school and on days off. You became an official member later on. Though they caused many headaches, you cared for the two knuckleheads. Oftentimes the three of you would hang out on the weekends. With summer vacation just starting, you were looking forward to spending a lot of time together.

You sigh before explaining, “Some stranger came to the house early in the morning and my dad went with him. I’m just worried…”

The redhead yawns as he stretches. “Maybe your dad is doing something illegal.” A swift slap on the arm makes the boy cry out. “Hey!”

“My dad’s not the type! The most illegal thing he’s done is driving under the speed limit.” You huff in annoyance. “I couldn’t make them out, but the stranger mentioned Clark and Claire?”

The duo share a glance. “What?” You look frantically between them.

“N-nothing!” Deuce immediately becomes fascinated with the television.

“That wasn’t a nothing look! What? Do you guys know them?” You glare at Ace, who nervously rubs the back of his neck.

Again they share a look. “Well…” Ace starts but looks away.

“They’re the mafia!” Deuce blurts out.

“What!” You grab Deuce by the front of his shirt. “What do you mean?!”

The dark haired boy nervously waves his hands. “N-nothing! I mean they’re not the mafia, just like the mafia…?”

Releasing him, you pinch the bridge of your nose, groaning, “That doesn’t make me feel better!”

Knocking Deuce on the head, Ace tries to clarify. “What the idiot means is that they’re bad news. They’re known as the Jester gang. They’re known for doing illegal dealings under the table. And a lot of people who were associated with them have disappeared.”

“Most of the stores downtown pay them a monthly due or else,” Deuce adds. “I wouldn’t associate with them back then.” You had gotten a brief overview of the dark haired boy’s delinquent past at some point, so you have an idea of how bad the two were.

“What do they want with my dad? He’s a marine biologist and professor, not a criminal.” You start rubbing your own temples.

“You could ask him,” Deuce suggests.

“Oh yeah I’m sure that would go well. ‘Hey dad, are you working with the town mafia?’ Like he’d give me the truth.” Staring at the ceiling, you wonder how things could have gone from zero to hundred. “Why haven’t they been thrown in jail if everyone seems to know?”

The two shrug. “Probably because they’re good at covering their tracks. The police have nothing on them, and people are too scared to report them.” Ace starts up a new match.

“Great…”

Your father is a good person, though he isn’t a saint. He tried his best with you after moving to this new town. Having purchased the large mansion over the jagged cliff, he tried to make it feel like home. Still this place is too big for two people. The east wing isn’t even used and most of the rooms remain empty even after three years. You mostly occupy the west wing, kitchen and the rec room down in the basement. It isn’t as bad as you had initially thought; plus your father gives you a lot of freedom to come and go as you please.

Him being tied up with an unsavory group is far from your imagination. Even if he is doing something illegal, he would never tell you willingly.

---------

Riding on your bike down the only road that leads to your house, you peddle to the pier. Locking your bike up, you stroll down to the beach while observing the beach goers. Some lean over the pier balcony looking down into the water below. The flimsy chain link sign that’s supposed to keep people away from the opening does little to actually do anything. People sit in between the gaps, their feet dangling in the air. Everyone seems to be enjoying the nice weather and warm water. Walking along the rocky cliffs, you veer left into a hidden alcove.

The cave is something your father had found while exploring the beach awhile back. It has a large underground grotto pool that connects to the ocean. You had explored a bit of it once, finding small fish and crabs wandering the expansive area. There’s something almost peaceful about being under water despite not being able to breath. All noise seems to vanish and fish flit along without a care. Perhaps your father’s love for marine life has rubbed off on you.

You stop short when you see your father standing over a newly brought table. The entire cave is filled with equipment that has never been there before. There’s even a generator humming off to the side.

“Dad?” you call, brows knitting together.

He jumps; the pen he had been holding falls out of his hand and rolls on the sandy floor. “What are you doing here?!”

“I just wanted to check on the grotto and maybe go for a swim. What’s all this?” You gesture to all the shiny machines. He even has a brand new laptop set up, which he quickly closes.

“J-just research. I, uh, wanted to do some testing on the marine life that gathers in the grotto,” he lies, his eyes not meeting you.

Deciding to play along, you wander over to the edge of the pool. Squatting, you lazily touch the water. “Did you find something?”

“N-nothing like that. Maybe step away from the edge…in case you fall in.” He fiddles with his glasses as he watches you.

Looking at him, you smile. “Please, I know this place like the back of my hand.” Hours of exploring the underground grotto had ingrained the layout into your brain. It is much like a second home; a home you need to come up for air.

“Right… Why don’t we go to the crab shack for lunch?” he suggests.

“Alright, that sounds go-” Suddenly you feel something cold grab your wrist and tug you backwards. The move causes you to lose your balance and fall back into the pool; your father’s terrified face is the last thing you see before you squeeze your eyes shut.

You clamp your mouth closed as the cold ocean water hits you. You sink a bit lower before finally pulling yourself together. Opening your eyes despite the stinging water, you can’t see much in the murkiness. Just as you are about to swim back up, a hazy figure swims toward you so quickly you don't have time to react. You’re staring into a glinting golden eye, which causes your mouth to open suddenly letting out a garbled scream.

A flash of sharp, pointy teeth and a long tail is all you see before you force your body to surface. Rising from the water, you sputter and cough. “What-” You keep hacking up water as your father helps to drag you out of the pool. “What the hell is in there?!”

Sitting on solid ground, you stare up at him bewildered. Your father grabs a towel from a stack in a small cubby and hands it to you. “I…It’s just a very large fish that found its way into the grotto.”

“Very large fish my ass! That thing had teeth!” You try your best to dry yourself off. You lost your flip flops it seems. “I swear something grabbed me and pulled me into the water!”

Hovering nervously, he adjusts and readjusts his glasses. “T-there might be an octopus in there. You know h-how curious they can be… Just stay clear of this place for a while okay?” It’s a weak excuse you both knew, but you decide not to push.

Sighing, you pick yourself off the ground. “I have to go back home and change. But I’ll meet you at the crab shack in thirty minutes?”

Shoulders relaxing, he smiles. “Of course. I’ll get you whatever you want.”

Later that night, you carefully open the door to your father’s study. He’s passed out at his desk, an empty glass in his hand and the still opened whiskey bottle on the desk. His loud snores are all you need to hear. Going back to your room, you grab your backpack and a flashlight.

You avoid the squeaky steps and leave the house by the side door from the kitchen. Biking back to the pier, it’s completely deserted compared to earlier. You need to know what is in the pool even if your father doesn’t want you to. Could it be related to what the stranger came for the other night? Stepping into the cave, you sweep the light around. Seeing that he has left everything as is, you go over to the laptop. It’s password protected… Leaving it alone, you do one last sweep of the cave before getting to business.

Setting the flashlight down so the beam of light points up, you take off your backpack. Reaching inside, you rifle around as you eye the water. Pulling out a plastic bag with a few precooked shrimp, you take one out. Tossing it in the water, you watch as it sinks into the depths. You wait a bit but nothing happens.

Frowning, you throw in another shrimp and wait. When nothing happens, you pull out another plastic bag filled with dried mackerel. “Maybe it doesn’t like shrimp…”

The sudden loud echo of your phone ringing makes you drop the bag. “Shit!” You quickly answer. “What?” you hiss.

“Someone’s in a bad mood,” Ace comments. “We wanted to know if you wanna come to a game with us next week?” You can hear the t.v. blasting in the background.

“And you couldn’t have texted me?” You can almost hear the eye-roll.

“Nope. So you in?”

Grumbling a “fine” you hang up before silencing your phone. “Almost had a heart attack…”

“Ya make funny faces, Shrimpy!” You whip your head up and meet the dual colored eyes of a creature. Leaning against the edge of the pool on the far end, the creature holds up one of the shrimps you had dropped in. Swallowing it whole, you get a flash of sharp white teeth.

Scrambling back a bit, you grab the flashlight and direct it toward the creature. “Y-you’re the thing that I saw!”

Eyes gleaming in glee, the creature dives under the water only to resurface on your end. Leaning against the edge, dangerous eyes watch you. “Hiya!” A webbed hand waves at you. Mouth opening and closing you can’t find the right words. “Ya look like a gaping fish!”

Shaking your head, you stare wide-eyed. “What are you?”

“I’m Floyd. Never seen a moray mermaid before?” he asks almost mockingly.

“M-mermaid? Like half fish, half human…” He definitely doesn’t look anything like the fairy tale mermaids you read about when you were a kid. His turquoise hair is muted under the bad light and he has a longer strand of back. He has fin-like protrusions where his ears should be, and webbed hands that have dangerous looking nails. You can vaguely make out something swishing in the water back and forth.

He clicks his tongue in annoyance. “We don’t all look like the mermaids you humans like to imagine. We’re better.”

“Whose ‘we’?”

Floyd seems to find interest in the bag of mackerel you had dropped. He’s already opened it and is chowing down. “My brother’s here too. So, Shrimpy, what’s goin’ on?”

“Like I know. I-I just found out mermaids apparently exist! How’d you even get here?” You watch him with part curiosity and part fear. Those claws and teeth aren’t for show.

He dumps the remaining fish in his mouth before tossing the plastic bag at you. “Beats me. One second I’m just enjoying a nice snack, the next we’re tossed into a net and then a glass cage. Then they threw us in here and snapped these on our necks.” He taps at the chunky black collar that you hadn’t noticed. A small red light blinks occasionally.

Brows knitting together, you wonder what the device is. You have never seen anything like it, and it is definitely not something your father ever had. “Can’t you leave? The grotto does exit into the ocean.”

“Someone put metal bars on the exit.” He shrugs. “The sea slug has been feeding us, but he keeps his distance. He’s no fun…” Floyd sighs.

“Sea slug?”

“The sweaty human who fiddles a lot with stuff,” he clarifies.

“Dad… What on earth has he gotten himself into?” you mutter.

Floyd yawns loudly. “See ya, Shrimpy. Next time bring more snacks!” He dips under the water before you can say anything else.

You sit there for a while before finally pulling yourself together. Biking back home, your thoughts swirl around trying to understand everything that just happened. You aren’t even sure what to tell Ace and Deuce or if you should tell them. However, you know one thing and that’s whatever is going on is in no way a good thing

---------

It’s a few days later that you are able to go back to the grotto. Your father has left for the day to teach his summer course. You make a pb&j for yourself, before throwing in a few cans of tuna and sardines in your bag. You hesitate before tossing in a candy bar for the fun of it. You’re just about to hop on your bike when a loud ‘meow’ stops you.

“Grim?” The gray and white cat rubs against your leg. His clear blue eyes stare up at you. “So you smelled the tuna and decided to show up, huh?” The feral cat often comes around when he’s hungry. Most of the townsfolk fed him if they happened to have anything on hand. You found the cat likes tuna. A lot.

Taking off your backpack, you pull out a can of tuna and open it. Leaving it on the porch, you laugh as the cat pounces on the food. “Enjoy the meal. I have a fish to meet.”

Riding off, you make the trip to the cave as quickly as possible. Inside, you’re already removing some cans and setting them down. “Floyd? I brought some snacks,” you call.

Against your better judgment, you want to speak with the mermaid some more. It isn’t everyday you meet a mythical sea creature. Hearing a splash, you smile as teal hair pokes out of the water. Rising higher, your smile falls a bit as you stare at the dual colored eyes. Something is off about the mermaid, yet you can’t quite put your finger on what.

His eyes watch your every movement as you take out your pb&j. “...Floyd?” You tilt your head to the side trying to remember your first encounter. “I swear the eyes were switched…” muttering under your breath, you cautiously inch closer.

Finally he speaks, and the voice is definitely different. “So you’re not as foolish as you look. Interesting.”

“You’re his brother then?” you ask, ignoring the insult.

“Jade at your service,” he greets with a smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes. “My brother mentioned you. I’m glad I also got the chance to meet you.”

Sitting at the edge of the pool, you dip your feet in the water. Perhaps not the smartest thing to do since there are two mermaids in there, but you have a feeling they aren’t interested in eating you. “Twins, huh… So, what’s it like?”

“Pardon?” He keeps his distance though he is looking at the things you laid out near the edge. Close enough that one can reach it if they come closer.

“Living underwater, I mean. Is there a city under there like the stories say?” Curiosity wins out over fear.

“You could say that we have a city of sorts. Compared to you humans, it’s cold and dark,” he explains.

Surprised he’s willing to talk, you lean forward. “Cold and dark? Sounds kinda uncomfortable, but I guess it makes sense if you live deep in the ocean. Maybe that’s why no one has seen a mermaid before…?”

“We tend not to interact with your kind. You people aren’t known to be the kindest…” His tone takes on a chilly quality. Yet, you can’t blame him considering he and his brother are trapped in the grotto for unknown reasons.

Just as you open your mouth to say something, you feel a cold hand grab your foot. You let out a yelp and quickly pull your legs out of the water. “You’re so jumpy, Shrimpy~” Floyd teases as he pops his head up.

“D-don’t do that!” Hand over your heart, you let out a deep breath. “I bring snacks and this is how I’m treated…”

Floyd’s already helping himself to your food. Namely your pb&j. “Twish stuff is so wry! I dwon’t understand why you like peanut budder,” he says between bites.

“That was my lunch… Wait, you know what peanut butter is?” You put your feet back in the water after it seems like the moray mermaid loses interest.

Finishing the sandwich quickly, Floyd nods. “We’ve visited places humans eat. Takoyaki is really good!”

“We are able to come on land as humans,” Jade explains, “It’s something every mermaid has done at least once.”

Eyes widen in awe. “So you guys could just become human and walk out of here?”

He shakes his head. “We actually have to make the potion that requires hard to obtain ingredients and there are certain conditions. If it was that simple, we wouldn’t be stuck here.”

“Oh… So magic kinda exists but in potion form?” Every fantasy idea you had read about or seen is suddenly coming to mind.

“More or less.” He shrugs. “What you humans consider magic is not quite the same, but it is within the same idea.”

“Huh…” You stare at the twins thoughtfully.

Floyd interrupts your musings by poking your leg. “Hey, Shrimpy, can ya get us outta here?”

“I can try but I don’t know if I could carry you from the cave to the water. It’s not a far distance but you don’t look very…light.” If you are being honest, they look like they weigh too much. Perhaps you could drag them along?

Jade shakes his head. “That wouldn’t work. We can’t breathe outside of water for too long. The time it would take for you to carry one of us to the water, we’d probably be dead.”

“You have to always be in water?”

“At least halfway up. Unlike the mermaids you humans know of, morays aren’t able to be out of water for long without running the risk of drying out,” he explains further.

Scrunch up your nose, you wracked your brain for ideas. “We could put you in something portable that can hold water… But where would I get something big enough…? Though I guess it doesn’t have to fit your entire body, just enough plus water…”

Floyd suddenly leans over and pokes your forehead. You grimace as water drips off his hand. “Don’t think too hard, Shrimpy. Can ya bring me takoyaki?” Again he switches between topics.

“Uh…I can try? I’ve never made it so I’ll have to look up a recipe.” You glance over at Jade and give him an encouraging smile. “Any requests over there?”

“Octopus carpaccio,” he says, eyes lighting up a bit.

You make a mental note to look those two dishes up. “Great. Two things I don’t know how to make. But I’ll try.”

“Shrimpy!” Suddenly Floyd throws his arms around your waist and squeezes. He squeezes a little too hard causing you to wheeze. You swear your hear your bones creak

“T-too tight!” You weakly shove at his shoulders until he lets go.

---------

It becomes an occurrence for you where you visit the two when you can. Sometimes it’s impossible when your father is there, so you steer clear. Other times, you sneak out late at night to have a chat. You always bring snacks, which Floyd eats happily and sometimes Jade partakes. It seems your father has been feeding them live fish by quickly dumping them into the water before scurrying away. Floyd seems to take fun in scaring him on occasions or just plain up soaking him with water.

The time spent with Ace and Deuce are fun but you still contemplate whether you should tell them. On one hand it would be nice to have their help and support. On the other hand, you don’t want to get them involved with something dangerous. Though you haven’t seen any more shady people, you feel like they might come out of nowhere any second.

You’re still thinking of ways to get the twins back to the ocean. A tank large enough to fit them would be ideal, but you have no idea where you would get one. You also have to think about what would happen to your father when the gang finds out the mermaids are gone. You can only imagine that he would be blamed and punished. There doesn’t seem to be a good ending if you help the brothers escape.

---------

Again Ace and Deuce are at your home playing video games. It’s too hot to do much outside, so the three of you decided to stay inside. However, you are too distracted to pay attention to the match. Your thoughts are busy thinking about your most recent encounter with the twins.

You had gone to visit them a few days before, and they had told you some people had visited your father. The two stayed under the water but could hear the conversation. It seemed the Jester gang wanted to move the twins to their home soon. For what reason, they didn’t know, but it wasn’t good.

“Hey, are you okay?” Deuce asks, nudging you lightly when he notices the glazed over look in your eyes.

“Hmm?” You glance at him blankly. “Sorry I was lost in thought.”

Attention drawn away from the screen, his brows draw together. “You seem to be lost a lot recently. Is it because of…you know…?”

You set the controller down. “Yeah… I just don’t know what to do. If I do anything my dad will get in trouble. But if I don’t do anything they’ll probably end up hurt.”

“Who’s ‘they’?”

You frown at your slip-up. “...”

“Eat my dust!” Ace cheers as he comes in first place. He jumps up and pumps his arms in the air, but stops when he realizes you're both not even playing. “Aww, come on! You guys aren’t even playing!”

Looking between the two, you decide to tell them the truth. “You guys want to see what that gang is using my dad for?”

“Uh…” Deuce looks unsure.

Ace shrugs. “Sure, why not?”

“You sure? This means you’d be involved and could get in trouble.” You gave them an out just in case they realize the trouble they might be getting into.

“When has that ever stopped us from doing anything?” Ace asks with a grin. Deuce nods determinedly.

A chuckle leaves your lips as you shake your head in disbelief. “Let’s get going tweedledum and tweedledee.”

“Hey!”

You lead them to the cave knowing your father won’t be there and stand at the edge of the pool. The two boys are glancing around suspiciously. “What is all this stuff?” Deuce pokes at the machinery.

“Don’t touch that!” Jumping, the dark haired boy backs away slowly. “Come over here.” You had already cleared it with Jade and Floyd awhile ago. The two seemed agreeable to meeting your friends if you ever decided to tell them.

The two peer down in the water. Finally Ace asks, “What are we supposed to be seeing?”

“Jade. Floyd. Meet Ace and Deuce,” you introduce.

Suddenly Deuce lets out a horrified scream as Floyd reaches out of the water and grabs his ankle. Ace scrambles behind you as the dark haired boy falls to the ground. “What the fuck!” the redhead shouts.

Rolling your eyes, you give Floyd a pointed look. He merely grins before letting Deuce go, who crawls behind you as well. “Must you do that?”

“It’s a lota fun!” he cackles.

The two behind you are speechless as they take in the two mermaids. Jade gives his usual smile while Floyd wiggles his webbed digits at them with a toothy grin. “Hiya, Crabby and Mackerel!”

“W-what are they?” Deuce finally asks, eyes darting between the two.

“Moray mermaids. They were apparently caught by the Jester gang. Not sure what they’re doing with them, but my dad’s been monitoring their vitals for the past month,” you explain.

Ace moves from behind you as he examines them from a safe distance. “They’re kinda…scary.”

“Thank you,” Jade says, his smile widening a hint.

You wave off his worried expression. “They’re fine. Anyways, the reason I wanted to introduce you guys is because I need to figure out a way to get them back to the ocean. They can’t be out of the water for too long, but maybe with all three of us we can carry them quickly to the shore?”

“You want us to carry them?” Both boys hold their hands up. “They look kinda heavy,” Deuce admits, finally standing up to stand beside you.

“Have any better ideas? I’m all ears.” Both shrug in unison. “Fine. We’ll need to brainstorm some more.”

“Ey ey, Shrimpy, did you bring snacks?” Floyd watches you expectantly as you take off your backpack.

You pull out a tupperware container. “I actually made takoyaki. The first and second batch were cooked too much. I think this one’s pretty good.”

“Wooo!” Floyd grabs the container and starts chowing down.

Ace pouts. “Why don’t you make us stuff?”

“You never asked.” You chuckle as Floyd shares a few with Jade but mainly eats the rest.

“So, if I asked for a cherry pie…?” He looks at you hopefully.

“Make it yourself. You got two hands and feet,” you answer with a huff. “It’s not like these two can walk into a kitchen.”

“Tsk.” Ace crosses his arms. “Treats a bunch of fish better than your best friend,” he mutters.

Ignoring his grumblings, you take back the tupperware once Floyd is done. Bidding farewell to the two mermaids, the three of you return back to your house. Though the two boys are still wary of the mermaids, they agree to help you figure out a way to get them back to the ocean.

---------

It’s nearing the end of summer vacation and no plans have been made. Despite three heads, it seems none of you can come up with a good idea. You did try lifting Floyd out of the pool together once, but he proved to be heavier than he looked. With his extremely long tail, you could barely get him a few inches out. After struggling for an hour, you gave up though Floyd seemed to enjoy the experience.

As you walk along the pier, you notice a lone figure up ahead walking along the shore. Having come back from a tennis match, you had decided to check in on the twins. You might not have paid attention to the person if it weren’t for how they are dressed. It’s summer time yet this strange person is wearing a long gray jacket and a black fedora. You linger behind as you watch the man from afar. Eyes narrowing, you grip your racket as you see him veer to the left toward the hidden grotto.

You walk a little faster as he disappears around the bend. Inching closer, you can hear mumbling. Peeking inside you see the stranger standing in front of the pool with the twins bobbing in the water. You shuffle closer as you lift your racket, ready to smash his head like a tennis ball.

“Shimpy!” Floyd notices you and waves causing the stranger to whirl around. His eyes widen when he sees you ready to pummel him.

“Wait, (y/n)! Don’t hit him!” Jade calls to you. You stop mid-swing, brows drawing together. Jade lets out a breath of relief. “This is our friend, Azul.”

The silver haired stranger looks between you and the twins. “A friend? You have a human friend?” you ask, lowering your racket.

“Nah. Azul is a mermaid like us. He’s just usin’ a transformation potion,” Floyd explains as his tail flicks water around.

“Oh…right.” You recall that the twins did say they could become human. “So, what’s he doing here?”

Azul seems to finally pull himself out of his stupor as he speaks. “They wanted me to come fetch them.” He adjusts his silver frames as he examines you. “I didn’t realize they had made an acquaintance on land…”

“I didn’t realize they had friends,” you say, looking between the two.

“Yup! We’ve known Azul since he was a cute, chubby little octopus,” Floyd chortles.

Sputtering, Azul glares at Floyd. “You signed a NDA about that!” He receives a toothy grin in return.

As much as you want to hear more, you decide to change the subject. “So are you going to give them a potion to make them human?”

“Well about that…” he coughs “I don’t have any potions. A bunch of kids ran into me and knocked them to the ground.”

Jade ponders for a moment. “That’s too bad. We might be able to still get out though. You see, the hulking man that brought us here came a few days ago saying they were going to transfer us.”

“Transfer? To where?”

“Not sure. But they mentioned somethin’ about meat.” Floyd’s face darkens as his lip curls upward.

You feel your body suddenly get cold. You had been reading up on legends of mermaids, and a few were less savory than the fairy tales. One legend existed that if a person were to eat the flesh of the mermaid, they would gain immortality. Of course you had scoffed at the idea, but perhaps there were some who believed in it.

Azul looks almost green. “God they’re going to… Ugh! Humans can be so barbaric.”

“Ditto. When will they be coming?” you ask, you mind racing.

“In three days from now at midnight. There will only be two men as they mentioned something about being watched. I think when they’re transporting us, it might be the best time for your friends to try and get us out. There’ll be portable tanks, so if you can distract two of them, perhaps you can do something.” The three share a look before nodding.

Rubbing your temples, you sigh. “Alright, I’ll let Ace and Deuce know. We’ll figure out a way to distract them.” You glance at Azul. “Do you have somewhere to hide before then?”

“I’ll return to the sea,” he says.

“Oookaaay…” You honestly don’t know what he can do to help, but since the twins trust him, you don’t say anything else.

You and Azul leave the area in silence. You head up back to the pier while Azul walks further down the shore. Taking a look over your shoulder, you see that he’s already waist deep in the water; clothes and all. Shaking your head, you send Ace and Deuce a quick text before hopping on your bike to head home.

You wait for the two out on the porch while playing with Grim. The cat jumps up and down as you dangle the fish-on-a-string toy just enough that he can swat at it. You perk up when you hear the sound of Deuce’s motorbike. The duo come to a stop, and Deuce parks his bike; Grim seems to find interest in the vehicle.

“Did someone die?!” Is the first thing Deuce asks.

“What? No!” Ace only shrugs when you turn your confused gaze to him.

The dark haired boy frowns as he hangs his helmet on the handle of his bike. “But you said it was an emergency…”

“No one’s dying. Yet. But this is an emergency. Come on, let's get inside first.” You lead the two downstairs.

Ace sits down on the couch. “So what’s up?”

“Apparently the Jester gang plans to move the twins,” you start “to their house. And they want to…eat them…”

“...”

“What. The. Fuck.” Ace’s eyes widen as he stares at you in disbelief. “Why the hell do they want to eat them?!”

“Like I would know. I mean there are stories about mermaids granting immortality by eating them, but who knows if that’s true.” You shudder at the thought. “Anyways I need your help.”

Deuce sighs. “As much as I don’t like those weird guys, I guess we can’t leave them to be eaten…”

“I guess…” Ace agrees halfheartedly.

“Alright, so I have a plan…”

---------

Hiding out under the docks alone is a bit unnerving, especially when it’s pitch black and quiet. You comfort yourself with the knowledge that Ace and Deuce are hiding in the parking lot, so at least they’re nearby. You had gone over the plan with the two a couple of times, but still you are nervous. It’s not everyday you do something illegal against a gang that could kill you if they ever found out.

The two men sent by Clark and Claire had already walked by with their large tank. They both seemed rather annoyed and grumbled a lot. You can only hope that the distraction the two boys had planned would work enough. Gripping the wooden baseball bat you brought, you periodically glance at the dark waters. Unsure if Azul is actually out there waiting, you can only hope.

The plan is to toss the twins off the pier balcony where beach goers like to sit. It’s the quickest way to the water and should be fairly easy. All you have to do is tip over the large tank enough that they could get out. Of course this half-baked plan relied on a lot of things happening in the right way.

You tense when you hear the squeaking of wheels and see the two grunts coming around the bend. It’s hard to see what’s in the tank, but you do notice the two seem to be struggling more. You watch from your hiding spot as they push the tank up the ramp while swearing once and awhile.

Hiding back in the darkness, you send Ace and Deuce a quick text. You wait as the two men take a quick rest once they’re no longer on the ramp. A loud pop rings out in the quiet night followed by multiple loud pops and cracks.

“What the hell?!” You hear the two men arguing before one runs off.

The other one that stays behind rubs the back of his head muttering about inconveniences. As you creep up behind him, you grip the handle of the bat tighter. Clenching your teeth, you strike the back of his head as hard as you can. The wooden bat meets his head with a sickening crack. He falls to the ground like dead weight. Swallowing the lump in your throat, you nudge his body with your foot. He’s breathing.

“Oh thank goodness…” you mumble before tossing the bat aside.

As you struggle to push the tank toward the end of the pier, you wonder how the other two are doing. The loud noises have stopped and everything is eerily quiet once more. As long as they distract the other guy long enough, you’re sure you can make it.

“(Y/N)?” You freeze. Slowly looking over your shoulder your stomach drops as you meet your father’s gaze.

Turning fully around, you press your back against the tank. “Dad…”

His clothes are in disarray and his hair sticks up. “W-what are you doing?”

Everything seems to be frozen in place. “I…I’m helping my friends. What are you doing here?” Last you checked, he was asleep in his study.

He rubs the bridge of his nose. “Of course you went back to the pool,” he says to himself. “Always so curious…” He shakes his head before meeting your gaze. “I couldn’t let them do what they wanted with the two mermaids…”

All the tension in your body relaxes. “You’re here to save them?”

He sighs and rubs his face. “Somehow… I don’t know, but I see you made it before me.” He gestures to the tank.

“What about the gang? Aren’t you afraid of what they’ll do?” you ask.

Walking over, he helps you push the tank. “They can’t really prove anything. And even if they try to do something, I have a lot of evidence against them. I might be a teacher, but I won’t let someone threaten my family.”

Nearing the edge, you pause to push the top off the tank. A few seconds later Floyd and Jade pop their heads out of the top. “Shrimpy!”

“Hey, you guys good?” You notice the black collars are gone.

“Yes. Those two men were more afraid of us than anything else,” Jade says with a chuckle.

Your father looks between you two, mouth open. “They t-talk?!”

“Yeah… what you guys never spoke to my dad?”

Floyd waves a web hand lazily. “Nothing really interestin’ to say to the sea slug or those guppies.”

“Sea slug?” Shock still on his face, he starts to fiddle with his glasses.

You pat your father on the shoulder. “Don’t worry about it.” You turn your attention back to the two. “I’d suggest getting ready cause we’re going to just tip this thing over the edge.”

Both nodded before ducking down into the tank. With your father, you’re able to tip the tank over. You hear a muffled thump and then a loud splash. Peering over the edge, you see the twins bobbing in the water. Azul pops up as well.

“Bye, Shrimpy~!” Floyd waves.

“Thank you,” you hear Jade say before the three duck under water. A green tail flashes in the water before disappearing under the waves.

Letting out a relieved sigh, you grin. “Well that was fun.”

“(Y/N)!” Ace and Deuce run toward you. Both have leaves and twigs in their hair and clothes. They both stop to catch their breath.

“Did…they…leave?” Deuce asks between breaths.

“Yeah, we just saw them swim off.” You jab a thumb in the direction of the sea.

“Good! We might have a problem…” Ace glances at your father. “Uh…we accidentally knocked out the guy.”

Deuce nods. “He was getting too close to us, so I might have panicked.”

You shrug, not really caring. “And that’s a problem? They weren’t nice guys. Anyways, I also hit the other guy with a bat. We can just report them to the police for…”

“Transporting exotic fish?” your father supplies.

“Yeah, that’s good.” You wrap your arms around both their shoulders. “Come on, let’s go back to my place.”

Rolling his eyes, Ace sighs. “This was the dumbest plan ever. You owe me.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll make you something to eat.”

“Poached eggs?” Deuce asks hopefully.

“Sure!”

“I want my cherry pie first!”

“It’s two in the morning, Ace…”

“...still want my cherry pie!”

---------

An entire year passes without much drama beyond the Jester gang finally getting arrested on charges of transporting exotic species. Though the police don’t say how they came to this conclusion, you notice a bounce in your father’s step. You continue your life as if two mermaids hadn’t just appeared during your summer break. By the time summer rolls around once more, you’re almost convinced it was all a mass fever dream you shared.

Wandering on the shores of the beach, you look out on the calm waters. Tourists are slowly coming back though for now you have the beach to yourself. You let the water lap at your toes as you stare out. Finding out mermaids existed made you curious about what else could be out there. What other myths could be true.

“Shrimpy!” You let out a yelp as arms suddenly wrap around your middle and crush you into a tight hug.

“Floyd, don’t scare, (y/n),” another voice comments playfully.

Looking up at Floyd, who still has yet to release you from his hold, a grin bursts from your face. “You guys came back!”

“Of course we did, Shrimpy. I missed ya!” He nuzzles the top of your head as you try to wiggle out of his hold.

Jade chuckles as his brother finally lets you go. “We wanted to come see you sooner, but it was difficult procuring some ingredients. However, we’re glad we made it for summer.”

“Is Azul here?” You don’t see him.

“He had some stuff to wrap up, but he’ll be here in a few hours.” Floyd grabs your arm. “I wanna see the sights!”

Jade gives a mock bow. “We are in your care.” He grasps your other arm.

“Alright, alright. I’ll be your personal tour guide.” Sandwiched between the two, you can only give in. Not that you mind since you did miss them.

“Invite Mackerel and Crabby. We can have a lota fun!” The glint in Floyd’s eyes speaks volumes, but you’re sure Ace and Deuce wouldn’t mind. Hopefully.

Walking along the pier with the two arm-in-arm, you wonder what this summer will bring.

#twisted wonderland #twst #ace trappola #deuce spade #azul ashengrotto #jade leech #floyd leech #text post

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sound-of-addiction · 2 years ago

Note

Here is something different. What do you think leona would be like if he was the first born? Still passive aggressive and sleepy?

Ooh. I love this anon. This is going to probably be a bit more ramble-y than my normal headcanon posts, but here's my ideas.

What if Leona were the first born son?

CW: Not a warning perse but I do talk a bit about book six, which hasn't been translated to English yet. It is nothing major, but just examines some of the ways that Leona is described in it.

To start with, here are some of my thoughts as to why Leona is the way he is now because it gives context to how I think he would be as firstborn son:

We already get to see small glimpses of what Leona can do in canon. His unique magic is incredibly strong, and, as Idia describes in chapter 6: his ability to activate his magic and overall magic energy is "extraordinary" and that he's very in tune with his own magic. He also is incredible at curbing his accumulation of blot. It is highly implied that the only reason that Leona overblots is due to his internal feelings acting as the stressor to cause it.(Chapter 6-34.) He's an incredible magician, and on top of that he's an amazingly analytical and calculating person. One of his hobbies is chess and his other is looking for openings to take advantage of.

Now, Leona himself explains why he's so unmotivated: "From the moment I was born, there's been a boulder on top of me that's too heavy to move." "This is all because I was born second, they'd find fault with me no matter what--just so they could use it as a pretext to praise my brother. No matter what I do I can never be the best." "Maybe if this country selected it's kings on the basis of intelligence, I'd be motivated to do something with that wisdom." (Chapter 2-27)

Truthfully, I think Leona and Falena are a lot more similar than Leona would like to admit, even in canon. Falena is described as 'carefree'. Depending on your perspective (or in this case, how people view the same traits in their king vs their second born son who won't ever reach the throne) carefree can also describe Leona, but that's because he can't be bothered.

So what does King Leona Kingscholar look like?:

Leona is driven. Not having something preventing him from moving up and making himself better the way that that metaphorical 'boulder' does, he's much, much more motivated to care for himself and improve himself. Personally (and as a person with depression), I see him as being depressed, so I don't think that his motivation would hold out all of the time, but definitely moreso than it does now. He wouldn't resort to sleep as a means of escapism so much anymore because he wouldn't feel like anytime he's trying he's just spinning his wheels.

Not playing second fiddle to his brother would mean that Leona would never have overblotted the way that he did. There wouldn't have been a source to cause those negative thoughts the way that it happened in canon. Negative thoughts might still happen, but certainly not to that level.

Do I still think he'd be kind of lazy? Frankly, yeah, but not nearly the way he is shown to be in the story. He would probably shirk his duties pretty rarely and even when he did he would make sure that they would either a) be taken care of by someone else or b) be something he could pick up and do later.

As a King? Leona would be fantastic. He's quick witted, strategic, a natural leader, confident, decisive, wise, intelligent, and incredibly talented with magic. He has a lot of qualities that you see in a great leader, and I don't think him being predetermined to be king will change most of that.

An important thing to note: if Leona had been next in line to be King, assuming nothing else changes, Leona wouldn't have gone to Night Raven College. His father growing ill and passing away would have meant that he had to step up to rule the kingdom rather than furthering his magical education.

Leona would be a political asset to neighboring countries. Being a king with a power to turn things to sand at his touch? That's terrifying, so I think a great many countries would want to cozy up to the sunset savannah for the sake of avoiding conflict with a country where the king wields such power. He would handle it with grace, but I definitely think that would be one of the things that would still put him out of his depth.

Personality wise: I think Leona would be a lot less prickly and quick to anger or get jealous. He wouldn't have as much of a reason to be. Instead, he's probably a king with a wry sense of humor and still just a bit smug. He's benevolent and quick to help someone find a solution to a problem: always wanting to improve the quality of life for himself and the people around him. He's a bit spoiled but that's pretty parallel to how he already is in canon. He's, surprisingly, a caretaker, and looks after his kingdom and the people in it. He's also a surprisingly good communicator, he hates mincing words and would rather that people are just direct with him.

On the topic of kids........ well, I feel like Leona still doesn't like them, so he probably wouldn't have them. Truthfully, I feel like with having the duties of the whole kingdom on his plate, he probably wouldn't have much interest in romance either until he got older too. He would probably still help to care for Cheka once he's around (and be a bit better humored about it), but he's not all that interested in having kids of his own. He would literally be the most eligible bachelor in the whole kingdom and... well it would piss him off. (lol) He would feel like most people are trying to get close to him with an ulterior motive, so he's not all that interested in it unless someone is willing to go out of the way to get to know him and not just try to get at his money or power.

He would probably still like his sister-in-law though. I feel like he would trust her judgement and ask her for opinions if he felt like he needed, be it about a person or a situation. Falena may or may not get asked, truthfully. (He still thinks his brother is a little too lax, but isn't as indifferent to him as it might seem. He would probably be a bit more sympathetic to Falena being in the position as the second son than Falena was to him, more willing to listen and not tell him what he thinks Falena should do unless he asks for his input.)

#leona kingscholar #twst #twisted wonderland #character analysis

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sound-of-addiction · 2 years ago

Text

𝔸𝕫𝕦𝕝, 𝕁𝕒𝕕𝕖, 𝔽𝕝𝕠𝕪𝕕, 𝕁𝕒𝕞𝕚𝕝 & 𝕊𝕚𝕝𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕣𝕖𝕔𝕖𝕚𝕧𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕒 𝕘𝕚𝕗𝕥 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕚𝕣 𝕤/𝕠

Have another fic no one asked for. Also, merry christmas ❤️

Content warning: Spoilers for chapters 3 & 4

Ⓐⓩⓤⓛ

You knew about Azul’s insecurities ever since his overblot. After the two of you started dating for some time he was still very hesitant to share more about it. But you were a patient and supporting person. You didn’t push anything and he was eternally grateful for that.

Your relationship bloomed deliciously and so did your feelings. Both of you knew how to make the other one feel butterflies in their stomach. Feeling safe in each other’s embrace you started opening up more and more. That was when he has shared his obsession with all of his imperfections. He said that he was not enough for you yet he wanted to keep you all to himself regardless. That night you held him close to your chest and reassured him that he was more than enough.

But of course, no matter how tender, those were just words. To seal them, you needed actions.

And so, you came up with a plan dripping with sweetness.

You waited until the Monstro Lounge was closed and your boyfriend was working alone in his office. You sneaked inside and put your hands on your lover’s eyes. He jumped slightly but relaxed just as quickly upon realising it was just you.

“May I know the reason behind my dearest angelfish’s sudden visit?” He asked when you still didn’t take your hands off.

“Can’t I just visit my boyfriend because I missed him?”

“Of course, you can! Now, what’s the issue? Do you need help with anything, dearest?”

You sighed at that. Your boyfriend merely laughed.

“Actually, I wanted to gift you something,” your hands returned to your sides, you scratched your back.

“Oh? But why? There’s no anniversary today… or is it?” An intrigued smile was replaced by a frown as he began to inspect his calendar and go through notes.

“No, no! I just thought you’d like it. That’s all!” You ensured hurriedly.

That statement seemed to calm him down, “That’s a relief. Now, what shall that be?” He shifted in his seat.

You pulled a small mirror out of your bag.

Its frame was colored with a mix of thistle, seafoam green, and turquoise with all kinds of small shells attached. One of the shells was pierced. Through the hole went a white ribbon holding a card of the same color with “You’re beautiful!” written on it.

You put your arms around your lover’s shoulders and placed the mirror on the desk right in front of his face. Your lips neared his ear and whispered.

“This is my present for you, so you never forget how gorgeous your body and face are.”

To say that Azul was moved was an understatement. The rest of the evening you spent rubbing his back as he clenched on you for dear life, his face buried in your chest, his body trembling slightly, his lips muttering about how you’re the best thing that has happened to him in his life.

Well, we can say that the present was very appreciated indeed. Especially after seeing your love treating it with utmost care. Even the tweels are not allowed near it!

Ⓙⓐⓓⓔ

Your boyfriend was quite known for his calm and stoic demeanour. The ability to hide all of his emotions, letting out only a small range of expressions was no small treat. Yet, you somehow always managed to catch him by surprise, mostly unintentionally.

Just like now, when he was staring at the aquarium of the Monstro Lounge with an absent gaze and with confusion painted on his face. The phone next to his ear threatened to slip from his hold.

He was wiping the tables, wondering where his brother who was supposed to be helping him right then was when he felt vibrations in one of his pockets. He took the device out, curious about who could be calling him. A smile crossed his lips upon seeing his beloved’s name on the screen. Wasting no more time, he picked up.

“Hello?”

“Aye Jade! You want a gecko?”

…Huh?

“Cuz I bought you a gecko. Floyd is helping me carry the terrarium-”

“YO JADE WE’VE GOT A GECKO”

“-We’re on our way to Octavinelle, wait for us ok?”

“Alright,” was all the vice dorm leader managed to utter before you hung up.

It was soon after he had finished all of his cleaning duties when you entered the room. You saw him shooting you an amused smile before eyeing the gift. His brother put the terrarium on one of the tables. Your lover peeked inside curiously to see a cute little lizard staring back at him with its unreadable black eyes.

A chuckle escaped his lips as he turned around back to you. He embraced you in his arms softly, placing a tender kiss on your forehead. You eagerly nuzzled your head into his suit. It smelt of subtle cologne and saltwater. The mix that always managed to make you feel at home.

“I thought that since you have so many terrariums, it wouldn’t be bad to put some life inside so you wouldn’t feel lonely when you take care of them.”

“Oya~ Such thoughtfulness, as expected of my significant other. Aren’t you adorable?” He teased in an attempt to divert your attention from his own embarrassment. It was nearly impossible to fluster the master of mischief himself, but if someone were to, it would surely be you!

“Now then, after receiving a gift it’s only right for me to repay the favour, no?”

His eyes sparkled warmly as you brushed your thumb against the pale skin of his face. He caged your palm in his gloved hands and kissed it in a gentlemanly manner, not breaking eye contact for a single second.

The romantic atmosphere was only ruined by the whining of the forgotten eel standing nearby with a conflicted expression on his face.

“What about me huh? I helped carry it!” He waved his arms. “I can’t decide if you two are too cute or too yucky!!

You giggled at those words.

“Yes, of course, Floyd. I apologise for not expressing my gratitude.”

“That’s right, thanks!”

After Jade made sure to properly thank his brother, he took your hand again, to lead you somewhere private. His darling deserved to be spoiled, didn’t they?

Ⓕⓛⓞⓨⓓ

We all know how tiring this man’s mood swings can be. As unpredictable as they are, even you, his s/o have a great struggle with managing them. While your boyfriend usually cheers up the moment he sees you or his brother, that is not the case for other people. So to help those poor, tormented souls, you decided to buy your boyfriend a gift.

“Here!” You exclaimed, holding an octopus plushie in your hands in front of Floyd’s nose. The man examined it curiously. He took it from your hands, then patted and squeezed it gently in his palm.

“Nee~ Shrimpyy. What is that?”

“An octopus plushie!”

“Eh? It kinda looks like Azul.”

“...I fail to see a resemblance? Well, anyway. Look, when you feel happy, you leave the smile on the octy face and when you feel unhappy, you squeeze its head so the unhappy octy says hello. See?”

Floyd watched you like a 7 year old being shown a flashy toy for the first time in his life. “Octy happy… Octy sad…” He repeated in some sort of trance.

When you finished your little demonstration, he wasted no time taking the toy from your hands to experience the magic first-hand. You watched him swap the moods of the octopus plushie without uttering a single word, his concentrated face comically resembling one of a curious cat for good 15 minutes before he came back to the real world.

And when he did, you were enveloped in a hug so tight, it knocked the air from your lungs, as well as your whole body from the couch. You ended up cuddling on the floor and it was wonderful, but you had to go to the infirmary for any broken ribs a medical check up just in case 💀

The plushie was blue and rather small. It was actually more of a brelock than a plushie, because it could be attached to something.

The next day, when he waved at you enthusiastically right before entering the class after the bell rang, you did not miss your little gift attached to his school bag. Jade was intrigued. Azul was conflicted.

Okay, but just imagine. Floyd getting seriously pissed with a deadly aura around him, making everyone nearby run for their lives. The first thing he does is grabbing the little cute happy octo plushie dangling from his bag and switching it’s happy mood to a sour one, with the most cold, terrifying expression ever seen and continuing to chase whoever the cause of his current mood is.

𝘑𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭

A little statue. It was the size of his foot, a golden man on a bronze pedestal.

He stared at it perplexed, you could almost see the gears working in his head.

“...Is that for me?”

“Yes.” You assured as if your hands outstretched towards him and holding the gift were not a solid enough confirmation.

“Dare I ask, why? Or rather, what for?”

You couldn’t stop a sheeping smile forming on your lips.

“For being here, thank you, for being here. That’s all.”

Suddenly, you felt too embarrassed to keep looking at his puzzled face and shifted your gaze to the very interesting colour patterns on the rug you were currently standing on. Each time you visited Scarabia dorm, there was something new to stare at.

Too bad. If you didn’t, you’d witness the deep shade of red that spread all over his face. In a bit of a panic, he swiftly grabbed the gift and placed it on the nearest table.

“Thank, thank you prefect. I shall cherish it.”

(un)Fortunately, there was no more time for a chit chat, since both of you were called by your duties, but there is an old polish saying I’d like to quote, ‘what is postponed will not escape’. I think it fits the situation well, since even if he did have a pretext to occupy his head with something else for the next few hours, Jamil still found himself laying on his side, with the sky dark behind the window yet his eyes wide open, staring at his gift.

He could almost hear the words you said when you handed it to him.

“Thank you for being here.”

The mere memory made butterflies bloom in his stomach once again and he had to spend a good while squeezing his pillow like a teenager in love to calm down. Hold on, he was a teenager in love.

Spending time on his hobbies, hanging out with people, crushing, falling in love, dating, getting excited and feeling all funny inside over a simple gift from his s/o…

Is this what a normal student’s life looks like?

No crushing servitude, no constant reminder to hide his talents in someone else’s shadow, no being there for anyone’s beck and call, only there to obey their whims.

Just holding hands with the person who makes you feel special and talking about everything and nothing, just to hear each other’s voices and enjoy their company?

Could it really be that simple?

Although he had to admit, the thought of spoiling you a bit did not sound bad in the slightest.

You might be confused when you get invited to Scarabia next time and witness a table full of your favourite dishes, drinks and snacks. It might be a bit suffocating, but don’t refuse them.

It’s just his way of showing what he has no courage to tell out loud.

𝒮𝒾𝓁𝓋𝑒𝓇

The whole day, after making sure Malleus-sama was safe and sound, Silver could be seen hurrying through the corridors of NRC. His pace was relatively quick as his eyes scanned his surroundings in search of the familiar silhouette. He hasn’t seen you since this morning when he walked you to your class.

You had lessons in different parts of school so you don’t usually see each other until lunch break. Unsurprisingly, he accidentally fell asleep before being able to meet with you. Now that the lessons were over, he was worried due to you not being anywhere in sight. He even visited Ramshackle but without any results. What could have happened? Was it just some additional work put on you or were you in danger?

In the end, he ended up falling asleep under a tree nearby, caught by the sudden wave of sleepiness.

Sometime later, he was woken up by the soft texture of feathers touching his nose and lips. Thinking that it was just playful birds he only wrinkled his nose and continued the disturbed nap. It was only after hearing a familiar giggle his eyes shot open to see a pair of mesmerising eyes he saw in the sweetest of his dreams.

He was about to tell you about him looking for you, but his attention was caught by the… thing you were holding in your hand. It looked very pretty, different from everything he has ever seen before.

“For you!” You happily exclaimed, carefully placing the gift in your boyfriend’s hands.

“Th-thank you, I really appreciate the effort…” His voice trailed off, unsure if asking that question was in order. “What… Is that exactly?”

“It’s a dreamcatcher!”

“A dream…”

“Dreamcatcher! Something you hang over your bed to only have good dreams. Look, the round part with those net-like threads is to catch all the bad dreams while the good ones flow down of the beads and feathers on your sleeping form. Since you’re quite a sleepyhead I decided it would do well for a gift!” While your boyfriend rarely suffered from nightmares, the symbolism was still valid, right?

Silver stared at it for a while, admiring the skilled craftsmanship and the whole aesthetically pleasing work.

“Is that something common in your world?”

“Yeah, pretty much. But it didn’t seem like it was familiar to the people here. I even thought about making one on my own, but Sam actually had it in stock… I still wonder how that is possible,” You put a finger on your chin.

Your lover put the freshly obtained charm on the soft grass before placing a fleeting, thank you kiss on your lips, a hint of pink gracing his flawless skin. It seemed like his animal friends got pretty interested in the strange thing before them, observing it cautiously.

“Was buying this the cause of your absence after classes?” Silver asked after the two of you were comfortably sitting on the ground, his head resting on your arm, cuddled into each other.

“That’s right. Why? Did you need anything?”

“Not at all, I was just worried,” were his last words before his eyelids closed and his breathing became quiet and regular. He dozed off with a peaceful smile on his face, knowing that something he was gifted by his beloved is going to protect him from nightmares.

#azul ashengrotto x reader #silver x reader #jade leech x reader #floyd leech x reader #jamil viper x reader #twst #twisted wonderland #text post #the floyd one was too funny im dying of laughter

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