#passive-aggressive dynamics ftw

[twst-beam]

Falling (quite literally)

This is a story of denial, debts, brooms, and love. Who would have known that accidents could bring people closer?

A jeiriu fic recounting how they fell for each other, Everiu's part 😌 Warnings: injury for Everiu's part, falling from brooms, and an overdose of fluff (headpats galore!). 3.6k+ words, i'm so sorry 🥹

The next time Everiu sees Jade, she swears to herself that she is going to kill him. Consequences be damned, that conniving eel and his infuriating smile had to go.

Unfortunately, fate had other plans. Plans that concerned a particular eel, and a particular dorm, and a wind that had no business being that strong.

One could imagine how startled Everiu was when she saw a dirt-covered Jade sitting in the flowerbed.

"Ah, Prefect. Lovely day isn't it?" Jade flashed her a smile, eyes closed, teeth hidden, acting as if there wasn't a mutilated broom on the roof and a broken window pane and sitting down in an appreciated fern garden whilst covered in soil was as normal as breathing.

She resisted the urge to draw Ector right then and there.

A deep breath, an exhale, keep your face composed, Everiu, nothing is gained from irrationality.

"Truly, although why you are sitting in a flowerbed in Ramshackle Dorm covered in soil is an enigma to me," she raises an eyebrow, taking note of and bringing attention to the broken broom on the roof, "have you, perhaps, fallen off your broom?"

Jade considered lying, a smooth monologue of 'of course not dear Prefect, the sports field is too far away for it to be an accident; no, no, I actually flew here and covered myself in dirt' passed through his head, but that was just as absurd as the former, and Everiu was intelligent enough to rebut everything he said; he opted to be gentlemanly instead.

"It seems so, fufufu. I was never someone who had a talent for flying, let alone flying long distances." He feigns regret by shaking his head. His continuation of "I sincerely apologize for the mess, Prefect, but as it seems I haven't broken anything, I'll be going now." is interrupted midway by the window pane crashing onto the ground.

Cinnamon-colored eyes meet mismatched brown-and-gold ones.

Said brown-and-gold ones widen in shock. This was not good. Incurring debts was never good. He, out of all people, knows that; especially after working with Azul for all these years. It's not like Everiu was the type to get back at people for ruining things, but with the way their dynamic was now...

"I can fix that."

Another raised eyebrow.

Jade starts to stand, towering over Everiu, walking with her, putting on his Smart Businessman Attitude and hoping he could get away with it.

"Truly, the glass isn't even cracked, I could get it done within the day; no strings attached, Prefect, I'd just like to make sure everything is taken care of."

They're standing in front of the crash site now, dirt is littered everywhere, and half a broom lies on the ground.

"Are you hurt?"

"- I beg your pardon?"

Everiu holds the broken broom in her hands, posture regal, not facing Jade but looking at him from the corner of her eye.

"I said, are you hurt. Crashes from that height must hurt, don't they?"

Jade is perplexed once again. She's.. not mad? She's prioritizing her technically-rival's wellbeing over an important part of her responsibilities? Over what Crowley might get mad at her about?

"I- no, I'm alright, thank you."

Everiu nods, satisfied.

"Good. Wouldn't want anything to stop you from fixing what you broke."

Ah, there it was.

A walk from Ramshackle to the Hall of Mirrors to the Sports Field would be tiring, they both knew that. NRC's insanely expansive land made sure of that. Jade, who took long hikes in the mountains and could do just fine walking about half an hour just to get back to class, was up for the long walk.

Everiu, who rode horses and walked regally and whose longest walks were from two ends of a castle and didn't have the insane endurance of Jade, was not.

Grim wouldn't mind if they used his magic for a bit, would he?

"Nyaaaaaa? Now why wouldja need me when you got the creepy-smile eel with ya? He can do the magic to get ya off the ground, lemme sleeeeeep."

That was to be expected, Grim was laying in a sunny spot near a still-fixed window, seemingly not even fazed by either crash.

Everiu scoops him up, careful to avoid his flames and wriggling as the said cat-raccoon-thing complained and lamented about the loss of his precious nap.

"Because, Grim, I'd like to show him a trick or two in flying. He's hopeless enough as it is, and I think it'd be good to.. educate him."

Grim looks at Everiu skeptically.

"With no broom?"

Sometimes Grim gets smart. This is one of those times.

Everiu puts him down with a barely repressed groan of annoyance, the cat once again curling up and going to sleep. Lucky.

Jade is brushing soil off his clothes when Everiu steps out of the Ramshackle door.

"Prefect."

"Jade."

"I take it your meeting with Grim didn't end well?"

Everiu subtly shakes her head, closing the door behind her.

"Not at all. I take it you are going to be going now?"

Jade pouts, feigning regret once again. Perhaps he can get a rise out of the usually-guarded Prefect if he tries hard enough; it would certainly be entertaining, and he wasn't in a hurry to get back to flying class.

"You're not gonna accompany me? How harsh. What if I was hurt?"

Everiu lets out a huff, itching to punch Jade in the shoulder and show him that no, he was not hurt in the slightest, so he had better bring his smug self away from her. Civility, Everiu, civility.

She was about to speak when she was interrupted by a scratchy voice, promising death from above.

"Jaaaaaaaade~!"

Ah, the other eel.

Jade looks at his twin calmly as Floyd drops from the sky, expertly maneuvering his broom so that he can flip upside down and still see the two of them.

"Coach Vargas is looking for youuu, he says you can't skip out on class just because you craaashed"

Jade shakes his head, excuse already forming on his lips. He'd say that he crashed in a flowerbed, and had to change clothes, and didn't have enough time to come back to flying class; no need to mention the broken broom, nor the broken window pane, nor the fact that he'd pushed a few shingles off the roof, no need at all, thankyouverymuch.

"Neee, Jade, where's your broom?"

Hmm.

Everiu holds up a broken half of the broom, bristles and all, trying to suppress a smirk; maybe, just maybe, this will teach Jade not to be so pretentious and shady.

"This broom?"

Floyd's eyes light up as Jade's eyes turn frozen with a promise of revenge. Everiu is torn between feeling smug and feeling as though she just made a mistake. She focuses on the former.

"Shrimpy! Is that Jade's broom?? He totaled it!! Jade, why didn't you tell me!"

As Floyd laughs hysterically, Jade keeps up his calm facade. Inwardly, he calculates what to do to get back at Everiu. She knows this. She's slightly regretting it.

"I thought it would be of no interest to you. Now, Floyd, you can go back to class, tell Coach Vargas that I'm going to be changing my clothes and will probably not be back in time."

Floyd pouts at the dismissal, but complies, not seeing the fun in arguing or staying in Ramshackle any longer.

"Fiiiiiiiine."

He starts to turn around and fly away, eager to fly fast and feel the wind whipping past his face. Jade calls out after him.

"And Floyd?"

"What!"

"I presume you won't tell Coach Vargas about the broom?"

Floyd's eyes flick between Jade and the broom, then to Everiu and back to Jade again.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever."

He flies away in a burst of magic and wind, leaving the two staring at the sky to watch as he turns into a speck in the horizon. Jade turns to Everiu.

"You didn't need to do that."

Everiu feigns ignorance.

"Do what?"

Jade's entire demeanor shifts slightly, looking more menacing now despite still being covered in dirt.

"You know perfectly well what I mean, dear Prefect."

Everiu looks at him from the corner of her eye, by all accounts looking unfazed and unimpressed.

"Were you going to tell him otherwise?"

Jade does not understand her reasoning. Of course he would! Did she think he wasn't going to just because it would get him in trouble? Did she think he was going to try and hide it like a body?

Oh.

"Of course, although if you have doubts I'll gladly refute them for you," with her expectant stare, he decides to change the topic. "I could start with the window pane."

Everiu nods, content, and starts walking away.

It is at this moment Jade realizes he does not have the tools to fix anything.

~

Everiu is sitting in the living room embroidering when Jade comes back from his run to Sam's shop.

"Ah, Jade, welcome back. How was the run?"

Jade smoothens his expression, slipping on a calm smile and acting gentlemanly, replying that it was pleasant to walk and feel the air and see the sights he usually didn't get to see from travelling by Mirror.

Everiu wonders how long they'll keep being passive-aggressive with each other. Probably for all time unless he starts acting properly. She tunes him out; whatever he's rambling about now is probably just nonsense, and this particular flower was tricky to stitch-

"- I've also purchased a broom to repair the shingles on the roof, and will work on it now."

Her head snaps up at this, eyes wide and eyebrows furrowed. He couldn't have possibly done that.

"I'm sorry, did you just say you purchased a broom?"

Jade stops mid-ramble, tilting his head to look at her curiously.

"Yes, Prefect, I purchased a broom to levitate me to the roof. I figured it would be easier than hanging onto a balcony or balancing on the roof itself, given the structural integrity of the dorm... is there a problem?"

Everiu can do nothing but stare as she tries to comprehend how someone can simply just buy a broom.. she decides to let it go, shaking her head as she returns to her embroidery.

"None at all, none at all."

Jade nods and turns, heading for the door; Everiu watches him go, still wondering how someone could just casually buy a broom.. weren't those things expensive?

It wasn't even 10 minutes when she heard a thud outside the window, followed by a curse and an exclamation of pain.

Everiu stands up immediately, putting down her work and grabbing Grim by the scruff, interrupting his playing with yarn and eliciting a strangled "Ffna!?"

She rushes out the door, looking around quickly and spotting Jade sitting on the broom, barely off the ground.

"Jade? Jade! Are you alright?"

Oh Sevens, he better be alright. He might be infuriating, but he was a decent fellow, and she didn't know what to do if he was hurt. Was the broom even fast enough to get to the Infirmary? Wait, is he shaking? Is he crying? Had he broken a bone? Why is he-

He's laughing.

She's worried herself into almost tearing the hinges off the fragile door of Ramshackle and he's laughing.

"Fufufufu, I didn't know you cared for me, Prefect, I appreciate the concern."

Infuriating.

"Get off the broom, Leech, clearly you didn't even get off the ground when you fell down; that, or you gripped the banister so quickly to steady yourself that it made a thud loud enough to be mistaken for you falling to the ground."

Everiu climbs atop the broom, Grim in front of her to be the magic input, and starts hovering.

"Either way, you are not getting on a broom to fix anything. For your sanity and mine."

She tosses him a screwdriver, getting a hammer for herself as well.

"We'll have to work together for this one, you can fix the window pane, I'll fix the shingles. After that you will help me restore the fern garden."

She flies up, leaving Jade staring at the screwdriver in his hand. He can do this, no problem, it's not like he can't work a screwdriver, and restoring a fern garden would be easy work.

Right?

~

An hour later and Jade has successfully repaired the window pane. It wasn't that hard.. not really. Truly.

Everiu, on the other hand, was still hammering away on the rooftop, and Jade politely offers to help her.

Said Prefect hollers out a "No, thank you! I wouldn't like to redo all my work should you crash again!" but Grim shows tiredness from consistently putting out magic, and Everiu lands softly on the ground, going back into the dorm to lay Grim on his bed (yes she made him a bed) (no she will not elaborate).

She walks out to a concerned Jade, and lets out a resigned sigh.

"Alright then, Jade, you will have to fly me up. The broom can carry both of us, I think, and there's only a few shingles I'll need to repair. This will only be a few minutes."

Jade sits in front, Everiu at the back, and they ascend.

The ordeal takes 15 minutes. 15 agonizing minutes off the ground for Jade, and 15 terrifying minutes for Everiu, who wondered if they would crash as she hammered shingles onto the roof.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Finally, the last shingle was hammered into place. Everiu straightened up on the broom as she tapped Jade's shoulder, signalling him to go down.

They descended quickly, and Everiu feared that she would be crushed to a pulp when they hit the ground, but they landed abruptly, inertia pushing her face against Jade's back, but she was alive.

A few seconds of silence...

"You are a terrible flier, Jade."

Jade stiffens, retort on his tongue, something about being better than Azul, but Everiu continues.

"Why don't I teach you how to properly fly a broom."

...what.

No, no, never look a gift horse in the mouth, or in this case, a Prefect in the eye. He sincerely doubted how Everiu could teach him what Coach Vargas couldn't, but this was an opportunity, and it could be fun.

"I appreciate your offer, Prefect, thank you."

Everiu nods, getting off the broom and walking to its front end.

"I'll be sitting in front, if you don't mind. You can sit in the back so we can work on your fear of heights."

How did she know?

"You seemed terrified earlier up there, you were all stiff and trying to make yourself look small. Your breathing was also shallow and your heartbeat was fast. You could have told me, you know."

Jade shakes his head at Everiu's sympathetic tone, trying to maintain some semblance of dignity.

"Simply a matter of being off the ground, Prefect, I haven't ever flown that high."

Everiu takes note of his wording; neither confirming nor denying her statement, very sly. She dips her head in acknowledgement, and gets on the broom.

"Close your eyes, Jade, let the magic flow."

~

An hour and a half later, Jade is.. well, it can't be considered zooming, per se, but he's flying properly now, on the front of the broom instead of behind, a few feet off the ground and making steady progress across. This was very good for his confidence.

A bit too good, actually.

And the wind was not helping.

"Jade, Jade slow down. Jade!"

The eel, unperturbed, kept flying in circles, the expression of serious concentration he wore on his face turning into one of smug teasing.

"Fufufu, Prefect, are you afraid?"

Said Prefect grits her teeth, wanting to push him off the broom and get this over with. Why she even offered to help him she didn't know.

"No, Jade, but I am concerned that we're flying too high and the wind is picking up. It would do both of us good if you would slow down."

Jade sighs and shakes his head, complying, the perfect picture of downtrodden and neglected of his chance to be a broom-master as they descended.

Fate really picks its favorites, and toys with them as it sees fit; usually with events that most probably wouldn't have happened if it didn't intervene. Would it really be true if it was toyed with? Does luck strike only on the chosen? And what of sudden events? Is the butterfly that flaps its wings to blame for a storm that approaches the horizon?

The wind picked up from a breeze to a bluster, and the descent, shaky as it was, rushed headlong and forward, startling both broom passengers and turning the lesson into a survival challenge.

Everiu gripped the broom like her life depended on it (which, in this case, it kind of did), and braced for impact as they hurtled through the air and onto the ground, straight into the bushes that lined Ramshackle's front porch.

Everiu thinks, not for the first time, that she should strangle that eel, and world goes dark.

~

Warm... Soft pillow... A few more minutes...

Ow.

She bolts up in her bed, eyes wide, breathing heavy.

Room. Sunlight. Afternoon. Grim on the foot of the bed. Blankets.

Everiu sighs in relief, so it had been a dream, thank the Sevens... But that did not explain the flash of pain she felt earlier, what was that? Had she left a needle lying around? No, she never embroiders on the bed..

Oh.

She looks at the sling her left arm is in, trying to make sense of what happened, why her arm is even in a sling, how she got here..

So it wasn't a dream.

Everiu groans, a rare sight for one so composed, and sits back against the headboard. She sighs.

at least it's not the right arm....

Her lower back hurts too.. not with the stabbing pain of a broken arm but a throbbing that she probably got from falling hard onto the soil.. But if she fell.. and her arm was in a sling.. who brought her to her bed??

"Prefect, you're awake."

Speak of the devil.

Jade glided in with a trolley; a teapot, teacups, sugar, and a mystery dessert atop the wheeled table. Everiu had no idea where he got any of it.

"How long was I unconscious?"

"14 hours."

What.

"Surely you jest... Jade, I can't possibly have been asleep for 14 hours.."

He pours her a cup of tea, what kind, she doesn't know, but it's soothing as she drinks it in, and Jade looks at her with what seems like concern.

"I apologize."

Both eyebrows go up as the cup stills on her lips. Jade.. apologizing. Perish the thought, it seems too unbelievable.. but he's here, sitting on a chair beside her bed, seemingly concerned and worried about her, and apologizing. This could be a trap. The teacup is laid on the trolley, empty save for a few tea leaves, and Everiu side-eyes him skeptically.

"Do you now?"

Jade nods, eyes closed, and deftly organizes the tea tray.

"I do. My hubris brought both of us into trouble, just like you said, and while I thankfully don't have any injuries, you do, and I feel that it is my responsibility to take care of you until that sling is off."

He stands, pushing the trolley away after laying the plate of desserts on the nightstand. Everiu's barely had any time to process his apology when he reminded her, already out of range, that it was Saturday.

Saturday.

The day of the derby.

The derby she was supposed to participate in that she would not be able to participate in anymore because of her injury.

She was going to kill that eel.

Riddle was going to have her head.

~

Okay so maybe two and a half weeks with Jade doting on her like a personal butler was satisfying enough for her to forgive him.

Maybe.

The outrage that sparked with Ace and Deuce could have brought Grim's fires to shame, but it was alright, if not uncomfortable at the times the sling decided to remind her it was there. She was still able to go to classes, study properly, write, the whole package bar embroidery and horseriding, and her delight when it was time for the sling to come off was brighter than the setting sun.

She sits on the couch, testing her arm, careful not to exert it too much, and grins.

"I suppose my debt is now repaid?"

Everiu looks at Jade quizzically, not understanding what 'debt' he meant, until she remembered why there was even a broken roof, window, and arm.

"Maybe. I'm not letting go of my grudges that easily."

Jade beams, smiling genuinely, making Everiu feel something strange, leaning closer to inspect her arm before giving her head a pat, looking into her eyes and smiling softly.

Alright, that's it. He's got to go.

"Oya, isn't your arm still healing? You have to take care of it or it could break again, you know, and I wouldn't want you to be hurt once more."

Everiu, too busy fighting her own internal battle to quip back, keeps pushing him out the building, down the stairs and out the door.

"Thank you very much for the help, Jade, you've been truly kind, but I'm all better and I've got more things to do so you can take your leave now, goodbye!"

Shut.

She breathes in, heart racing, walking hurriedly up the steps to her room before closing the door with a snap, startling Grim and making him mutter something about how sly eels keep making perfectly fine henchhumans malfunction.

She sinks down to the floor, back leaning against the door, slapping her face in rapid succession.

"Breathe in, Everiu, breathe in.. you cannot, faaaaall...."

She screams into a pillow.

[squidproquoclarice]

I love this chapter!!! Matchy matchy wedding outfits! Albert! Arthur in dog form Dusty! Disgruntled Dido! The world building! Arthur getting more self-confidence! And most especially the sweet requited, yet cautious (almost courtly) love that these two can finally express and are still working out. Will they be on their way to Ambarino next? And are they waiting til their wedding night? Also - like the other anon said - thank you for this despite your schedule. Take time to look after yourself

Fashionable nerds wanting to match a bit for their wedding makes me smile.  So with Sombra, that easily could have turned into another Legendary Animal hunt.  She’s essentially the Mexican answer to Giaguaro, or RDR2′s version of Khan from RDR1.  The Legendary Animal hunts in the main game were fun, but there’s also something that’s a bit of a downer about them.  Mindless trophy hunting c. 1900 is 100% accurate, but I’m a little surprised they didn’t embrace the nuance and hint at some of the problems it would cause in the future, like they did with many other things in RDR2, particularly ones related to thoughtless killing.  The White Bison in particular seems like a misstep since given the chance to do so, R* tried to depict Native Americans as more than just the “stoic noble native”/”ruthless savage” dichotomy, so choosing to slaughter an animal that’s sacred to numerous tribes without any context or consequences is a bad move, IMO. Albert was kind of a natural chance to address more of the ecological mindset and link that together in the way they didn’t in the game.  Plus yeah, him observing that people rush to kill those who take their property and Arthur having a bit of a wince at that as an ex-thief himself was too good to pass up.  Overall I did want to get Albert back in the story if possible because he was such a fun character, and getting Sally Nash back in the picture briefly too, and letting her live her dream, was just an added bonus.(The remarks from Sally and Rob DeFarge that jaguars aren’t good circus cats to display in an act, as opposed to a menagerie/zoo, are accurate.  Jaguars have much more unpredictable behavior than lions, tigers, and leopards so they’re extremely hard, if not impossible, to tame and train.)  Yeah, Dusty pretty much is Arthur in dog form.  There’s good reason Arthur felt drawn to pick up a puppy left abandoned on the street and relates to his anxiety, right?Dido is definitely annoyed, and the passive-aggressive shoving her way back between them given half the chance proves it.  And this is even before they start shutting her and Dusty out of the bedroom so Momma and Daddy can have some private time.  That?  Will not please her.Arthur getting more self-confidence is my jam.  I’m really looking forward to seeing him beyond 1901, because he’s going to continue to grow and change there.  The man we see in 1907 is almost inevitably going to be a lot more comfortable with himself.The journey to Ambarino and Adler Ranch is up next, yeah, and that mission will start in ch 26.  Going to be one hell of a long trip, and opening up more of the map again FTW!As to whether they’re specifically waiting for the wedding night, I’ll see what they say on that, but I’d expect probably not.  That was mostly Sadie joking to defuse the moment of both of them wondering if they expected to go home right then and have sex, and not being ready for that.  They’re neither of them going to make premarital sex into a moral or religious question.I could see Arthur maybe having seriously considered it.  He’s not a prude, but he also doesn’t exactly have a personal frame of reference aside from the cultural notion that “decent” and “proper” people wait, given he hasn’t exactly been around any loving, long-term couples aside from Hosea and Bessie, who were already married by the time they found him.  Had Jake and Sadie waited, he’d probably feel the pressure to do that also so he’s not seemingly treating her and their wedding with less respect than Jake.  But they didn’t, and he knows that, so he’s seeing it’s not quite a black and white dichotomy there.  Being a little excited and impatient a couple days or weeks before the wedding is far different from sleeping together for years without committing.Mostly they’re not rushing to have sex only because they now can do so.  That’s not a good enough reason.  They’re letting things settle a bit first, figuring it out between them, and when they both feel a bit more comfortable with this new dynamic being added to their friendship, it’ll happen.