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Epel kept his grip firm around Deuce’s waist on the back of the borrowed blastcycle, staring out at the scenery that quickly passed them by with his head resting against Deuce’s shoulder blades. Between the trees that lined the road up to Night Raven College, he could still catch glimpses of the beach they had been on not a few minutes prior, where–

Well.

Where a lot of things had happened. 

Epel took a deep breath. His heart still hammered from the fight with those Sage Island town guys he had gotten them into. His mind still reeled from watching Deuce discover his Unique Magic, and his forehead still felt tender from headbutting the jackass that had grabbed him. The giddiness of finally being able to scream out all his frustrations of the past school year still danced in his bones and made him feel ready to throw down with Vil as soon as they got back. 

Probably wasn’t the best idea, though. The exhaustion of the day was beginning to set in, and fights with Vil were never wise if not in peak form.

He slowly exhaled. Beneath it all, his stomach was in knots. It felt like his face was on fire, the pure warmth that Deuce exuded doing him no favors. Epel pulled away from Deuce slightly to look at what lay ahead of them. The gates of Night Raven College loomed in the dusk, casting the same sort of shadows he had felt like he’d been under during his entire time in Pomefiore. 

At least he finally understood what Vil meant by his power , even though it took screaming at the top of his lungs at the ocean and then getting into a fight with non-mages to realize. Still, even as he mulled over how he was going to explain what happened and the revelations he had to Vil, he couldn’t get the image of Deuce taking all of those hits and then throwing them back in the faces of those assholes out of his head. 

He had thought it was the wind that was making the tips of Deuce’s ears red, but when they slowed to a stop in front of Ramshackle and dismounted from the blastcycle, Epel got to see that Deuce’s cheeks maintained a healthy dusting of red as well. 

“You think you can just waltz back here?!” 

Epel yelped and nearly tripped over the blastcycle as he scrambled around it to meet Vil’s severe expression. His housewarden was standing on the last step of the Ramshackle porch with his hands on his hips and still dressed in his PE uniform. The rest of NRC Tribe was assembled behind him on the porch, either lounging in the worn old chairs or sitting on the edge with their legs hanging off. 

Epel exchanged a nervous glance with Deuce.

An audience.

“Not only did you skip rehearsal, but you left campus without permission, and got into a fight?” Vil snapped. Epel frowned at the fight bit. Was it that obvious that was what happened? In his periphery, he saw Deuce shuffle his feet, bruises blossoming across his knuckles, and scrapes all over his exposed arms. Okay, maybe it was pretty obvious then. “Can you imagine what might happen if this gets out? You two could be barred from competing in the SDC because of this! Does your irresponsibility know no bounds?!”

Epel bit his tongue. Admittedly, he hadn’t even thought about the consequences of the fight that he had… definitely started. It was also his fault for running away from rehearsal like he had in the first place. Maybe if he talked to Vil about all the realizations he had had, then he wouldn’t be as ma–

“Vil, I am so so sorry!” Deuce beat him to apologizing, taking a step forward with a heartfelt hand on his chest. Epel’s head snapped towards him, catching Vil’s eyebrows rising in his periphery. “I was the one who took Epel off campus without permission. I accept whatever punishment you deem fit, sir!”

Epel stared up at Deuce for a second, shocked. Was he really trying to take the fall for him, even after all he had done back at the beach to help him? How he had made him feel seen and understood for the first time since entering Night Raven?

“No, I was the one who ran out in the middle of the rehearsal!” Epel stepped in front of Deuce before he had fully thought through what he was going to say. Vil’s piercing gaze settled on him, his mouth still twisted in a displeased frown. “And- and I started the fight at the beach. This is all my fault, not Deuce’s! And- and-”

Epel’s mind raced to figure out what to say next. His eyes were drawn back to Deuce, who was staring at him with an expression that made his heart skip a beat— his dark blue eyes wide and glimmering, his mouth open ever so slightly, the rosiness to his cheeks growing. For a split second, Epel found himself back on the beach not an hour ago. Deuce had had that same expression on his face once he had finished screaming all his problems at the ocean.

Right, his realizations!

“And if I might add one other thing?” the strength in Epel’s voice dimmed slightly before coming back full force. “I learned something at the beach earlier. I finally understand what you mean when you talk about power,”

“Oh?” Vil hummed in surprise, his eyebrows rising higher. Behind him, Rook perked up from where he was sitting on the porch steps. 

Epel took a deep breath and tried to gather his thoughts. He needed to be eloquent when he explained himself, or else he’d never be able to compete with Vil at his level, let alone beat him. Before he could speak, Epel jolted at the sensation of a warm hand squeezing one of his own. His head whipped around to see Deuce giving him an encouraging smile before letting his hand drop. Epel felt his cheeks burn, his already-knotted stomach twist further in on itself, but his mind calmed. He turned back to Vil and the rest of the Tribe and began to speak. 

“I think… I think deep down, I’ve always looked down on people who care about being cute or charming,” Epel said slowly, forcing himself to maintain eye contact with Vil. He refused to let his housewarden’s scrutinizing frown cow him. “But then you endorsed my hometown’s apple juice, and the demand for it now is making my town incredibly happy. I think that’s how your concept of power finally clicked for me,”

Epel’s gaze flickered briefly back to Deuce. It had been exhilarating to use his charm to start that battle, and it had been even better when he got to watch Deuce discover the full depths of his own strength when he woke his UM. He turned back to Vil and grinned sweetly at him. 

“And now I want to have power like yours, Vil,”

Vil smirked.

And promptly assigned him and Deuce thirty laps around Ramshackle once he had grilled them a little more. 

Epel, for one, was grateful that the punishment wasn’t worse, though he was a little annoyed with how Deuce was lapping him. The laps did an excellent job of getting out the excess energy he had, and by the time both of their laps were finished, the sun had fallen far below the horizon, and the chill of night began to set in. He probably shouldn’t have been surprised to see Deuce waiting for him on the steps of Ramshackle’s porch when Epel finished his last lap.

“You di-” Epel paused to catch his breath. While his stamina had gotten a lot better thanks to the rigorous training Leona put them through in the Spelldrive Club, he was still wheezing slightly at the end of his laps. “You didn’t have to wait for me,”

Deuce, on the other hand, didn’t even seem winded. Stupid track guy. 

“But I wanted to,” Deuce smiled before leading him to the door to the rundown dorm. Epel huffed. He couldn’t argue with that.

At the door, Deuce stopped, his hand gripping the handle. 

Epel gave his friend a confused look. “Deuce?”

“I-” Deuce began. He stopped short and whirled around to Epel, making him take a step back. Deuce’s face was bright red in the flickering porchlights, his dark eyes switching between Epel’s face and whatever was past his shoulders. “You… you keep surprising me. In- in a good way! Ever since we met. What happened at the beach this evening was amazing, an… and I can’t wait to prove ourselves to Ace and Vil about turning our weaknesses into strengths together!”

Epel smiled, a little confused. Where had the speech come from? “Me too, we’re gonna show ‘em once we win the SDC,”

“Ma- maybe-” Deuce’s face seemed to get impossibly redder. Epel was almost morbidly fascinated by it. “Maybe we could… discuss that more? Friday night after rehearsal ends? Out in town? Just the two of us?”

Going out into town together? A jolt of excitement zipped through Epel’s chest. He hadn’t really gotten the chance to explore Sage Island’s port town yet, and who better to do it with than his good friend Deuce?

“That’d be swell,” Epel’s smile became a toothy grin. Deuce’s face stretched to match, his rosy cheeks reminding Epel vaguely of Harveston apples. 

“Awesome!” Deuce patted Epel roughly on the shoulder and quickly turned around, pushing open Ramshackle’s front door. Before Epel could get another word out, Deuce was up the stairs and disappearing into the room he was sharing with Ace. “Good night, Epel!”

“Good night…” Epel trailed off at the slam of Deuce’s door shutting. “What critter crawled up his caboose to make ‘im so jittery?”

He scaled the rickety stairs as quietly as he could, running that conversation with Deuce over and over again in his head. Sure, Deuce could be weird sometimes with how he tripped over himself, but that was also part of his charm, in how genuinely genuine he could be. Despite his occasional weirdness, Deuce and his steadfast companionship had been the bright spot in the dark slog that training for the SDC had been for him so far. 

When Epel got to his room— he thankfully didn’t have to share it with anyone— he closed the door and collapsed face-first onto his bed. 

Going out into town on a Friday night… he’d have to get permission from Vil to do that. Would he let him go on this date, after the stink he had caused earlier today? Surely two days should be enough for him to cool down and move past what happened.

Wait.

Epel lifted his head out of his comforter with a start.

Date? When did he start thinking of this impending outing with Deuce as a date? It wasn’t a date.

Epel sat up and stared intensely at his door. He replayed the evening’s events over in his head one more time. 

Did Deuce just ask him out on a date?

~***~

Epel, much to his chagrin, didn’t sleep much that night. 

He tried his best to not let the sleep deprivation affect him too much as he hurried to class and went about his day until it was rehearsal time. In the back of his head, what kept him awake the entire time was a single phrase, repeating like a broken track record.

Deuce asked him out on a date.

Deuce asked him out on a date.

Deuce asked him out on a date .

A date!

No matter how many times the phrase ran in circles in his mind, it was still hard for him to believe. It wasn’t the first time in his life he’d been asked out, but it was the first time he could feel it in his bones that it was genuine , not like those times in middle school when he’d get asked out by other boys as a joke. The pure sincerity in Deuce’s glittering dark blue eyes and the way he beamed at him upon accepting seemed both too good to be true and too honest to be deceitful.

Epel sighed as he tried to pay attention in World History. Trein’s lectures were actively fighting with his thoughts of Deuce to put him to sleep, the furious scribbling of Jack’s note-taking next to him just lulling him further. He peeked over at Jack’s notes to see if he could get a general sense of what he was supposed to be listening to, but unfortunately, his friend’s bulky forearm kept them half-hidden. Asking him to show him his notes would only cause a disturbance in the class, and the last thing Epel needed was Trein getting on his case for that.

He turned his gaze to the front of the classroom and wrote down the phrases Trein had been penning on the board in quick strokes of chalk. 

Deuce asked him out on a date.

Epel felt his chest clench in a way that made his bones feel like air. 

Was he excited to spend some one-on-one time with a guy who’s become a really good friend to him since the beginning of the semester? Absolutely.

These reactions didn’t feel like normal excitement though. 

Epel eyed Jack. His therianthrope friend had his eyes glued to the chalkboard, his dominant hand moving quickly to get the notes down without a single glance at what he was writing. It was pretty impressive if Epel was honest. 

What would it be like if it had been Jack who asked him out on a town outing?

Epel tried to imagine it, but his chest didn’t clench up the same way as it did when he thought about Deuce asking him out. Sure, it’d be a lot of fun and he loved spending time with Jack, but it just didn’t feel the same, carry the same weight.

Was he developing— or had already developed — a crush on Deuce?

Epel felt his face start to burn. Resolutely, he grabbed his pen in a fist and tried to focus on writing notes.

There was no way he had a crush on Deuce. He was just reacting really weirdly to getting asked out genuinely for the first time. Yes, that had to be it. 

Trein began to switch topics, erasing the compilation of notes he had written on the chalkboard. Epel breathed in sharply and scrambled to copy as much of it down as he could. He’d definitely have to ask to study with Jack later.

Deuce asked him out on a date.

Wait, did that mean Deuce had a crush on him back?

Epel’s brain short-circuited.

A poke in his side.

“Hey, you alright?” Jack asked him in a whisper. Epel forced himself to look at him and found that Jack wasn’t facing him, his gold eyes still on Trein while his satellite-dish ears were angled in his direction. He had a bit of a grimace on, his eyebrows furrowed in a concerned way. “I can hear your heart rate spiking, it’s distracting,”

“Sorry,” he mumbled back. Epel shook himself a little and rolled his shoulders back in an attempt to reset his head. 

He needed to talk to someone about this, about this… this crush . He also needed to get permission from Vil to go on the… da- outing on Friday night.

Epel sighed. 

He knew exactly who he needed to ask.

~***~

Rook was renowned for his tracking skills in school and his savviness for popping up in the places one would least expect him, but what he was less known for was how damn hard he was to hunt down if you needed to find him.

Epel finally managed to track him down just before it was rehearsal time later that day. Rook was slipping out of his room, all dressed in his PE clothes when Epel stepped in front of him, stopping him from descending the stairs. Rook’s vulpine green eyes widened at the same time he grinned.

“Monsieur Pommette, what a surprise!” his upperclassman greeted him. “What can le Chasseur d’Armour do for you?”

Epel didn’t waste time with pleasantries. He tried to shove Rook backward, attempting to get him back into his room. “I need to talk to you about something, it’s- it’s important-”

“Does this have anything to do with Monsieur Spade?” Rook asked, very clearly letting himself get pushed into his room. 

Epel sputtered. He slammed the door shut behind them both and whirled around. “How did you-”

“ Ma petit pomme , it has been obvious!” Rook clapped his hands together, his grin morphing into a blinding smile. “Even before your no-doubt elucidating excursion yesterday eve, I have been captivated by the young love blossoming between you and Monsieur Spade this entire venture! From your stolen glances and shared smiles, to the unending support Monsieur Spade has given you, and that you have given him in turn! Oh , the way you two defended each other against Roi du Poison yesterday had my heart a flu-”

“Shut up, shut up, shut up!” Epel jumped to cover Rook’s mouth with his hands, his face on fire. Had it really been that obvious? Then again, Rook was just observant to a disturbing degree, so maybe it was just him who was aware. “ Yes , this is about Deuce, you can stop waxing poetic about it now!”

Rook laughed and gently brought Epel’s hands away from his mouth. Not for the first time in his life and certainly not for the first time since starting school at Night Raven College, Epel cursed how short he was.

Deuce asked him out on a date.

Epel took a deep breath and let the fact wash over him. He needed to discuss this with Rook now , the clock running down before they had to go to rehearsal. 

“Rook, I need you to tell me what having a crush is like,” Epel said slowly, his eyebrows furrowing when Rook’s eyes lit up, his mouth opening again. “No, no- stop , let me get this out, Deuce also asked me out on a date last night, and ah- I don’t know what ta do because ah’ve never been on one before!”

To Epel’s horror, tears sprung up at the corners of Rook’s eyes. 

“Monsieur Pommette, you’ve come to le Chasseur d’Armour for guidance on your beau jeune amour ?” Rook gasped. Before Epel could react, Rook wrapped him in his arms and twirled them both around. “ Je suis tellement heureuse que vous soyez venu me demander de l'aide! Let me regale to you how I first fell in love! It was the most marvelous forest I had ever come across, the leaves a gorgeous green that provided me the perfect foliage to camouflage myself from the most beautiful buck I had ever been privileged to hunt-”

Nope, nope, nope, Epel had to nip this in the bud now. He should’ve known Rook would be useless on the crush bit, but he had to be helpful with getting Vil’s permission, right? “Rook, what do I do about getting Vil’s permission to go out with Deuce on Friday?!”

“Ah!” Rook set Epel down. “ Oui , I can assist you with this!”

Epel took a step or two backward and breathed in deeply. He exhaled before speaking again, feeling a little calmer. “If I asked Vil myself, would he say yes? Ah’m- I’m pretty sure he’s still mad at me for my outburst yesterday,”

“Be rest assured, Monsieur Pommette, Roi du Poison is not mad at you,” Rook grinned. “In fact, he’s quite proud of you for your revelations! However, obtaining Roi du Poison’s permission to leave campus is not a carefree endeavor,”

Epel sighed, his shoulders slumping. He had the feeling that’d be the case. “Can you… can you talk to him for me? Maybe it’ll go over better if it comes from you,”

Rook hummed, still smiling, but didn’t respond immediately. He stared over Epel’s shoulder before putting a finger to his lips.

What?

Two seconds later, the sound of someone knocking on the door startled Epel. 

“Rook, it’s time for practice!” Kalim’s voice excitably permeated through the wooden door. Ah, so it was Kalim’s turn to rally everyone today. 

“Be there soon, Roi d’Or!” Rook called back with a finger still pressed against his lips. Epel watched him silently, waiting for him to lower it. When he did, Rook’s smile softened. “Rest easy ma petit pomme , I will speak to Roi du Poison on your behalf,”

Epel couldn’t help but sigh in relief. His stomach was still in knots over Vil’s potential reaction, never mind having to interact with Deuce during rehearsal and pretend like he wasn’t freaking out over their impending date, but at least Rook was on his side.

“Thank you,”

~***~

Yesterday’s rehearsal went smoothly, all things considered.

For the first time since starting these damn rehearsals, Epel felt confident in what he was doing. He wasn’t nearly as bothered by all the girly moves Vil had him run through, still working on his perceptions of gendered movement, and the practice had gone well enough that Vil had a pleased smile on his face by the end of it. It had felt nice, seeing his housewarden openly happy with his progress. 

Maybe they could win the Song and Dance Competition after all.

To his own amazement, Epel managed to not let Deuce’s awestruck staring get to him. 

Probably to the detriment of their impending date, he also didn’t really speak to him the entire rehearsal. 

Granted, Vil didn’t give them a lot of time to speak outside of breaks, but even during them, Epel stayed as far away from Deuce as he could, chugging water and doing his best not to look his way and see his crush’s undoubtedly disappointed expressions. Sue him, but he’d just figured out earlier that day that he probably had a massive crush on the Heartslabyul boy. If he had spoken a single word to Deuce, he probably would’ve puked on the spot from nerves.

He hadn’t slept much that night either, staring up at the naked ceiling and studying the patterns of the cobwebs in an attempt to calm his hammering heart.

Thursday’s classes passed by with no news from Rook on whether Vil would let him go out Friday night. Epel tried not to let it get to him, doing his best to focus in class and during Spelldrive club time. 

Maybe Rook had forgotten? Epel shook that thought away immediately. There’s no way he would. 

Maybe… maybe trying to go through Rook was a mistake regardless. Epel dwelled on that thought as he made his way to his room at Ramshackle after club practice, desperately in need of a shower before rehearsals later that evening. Maybe he should’ve just done the usual and confronted Vil. Then again, he wasn’t sure if he was quite ready for a rematch with his housewarden.

Epel had just set his Spelldrive stuff down next to his bed when he heard the sound of knuckles briskly rapping against his doorframe. He turned around and froze.

In his doorway stood Vil, still dressed in his school uniform. 

“May I come in?” his housewarden requested softly. 

Warily, Epel nodded. Vil’s expression was unreadable as he turned and closed the door before approaching Epel. He stopped a few feet away from him, frowning slightly.

“Epel, Rook told me your request,” Vil began without preamble. “Before I give you my answer on that, I would like to apologize for making you think you couldn’t come to me for these sorts of things as your housewarden. It’s my responsibility to be approachable to all of my dorm members, and it seems I have failed you in that regard,”

Epel stared at Vil. Of all things, an apology wasn’t what he was expecting. “Thank you? Uh, sir,”

Vil nodded assuredly. “Now, Rook mentioned something about you wanting permission to go off campus for a date tomorrow night?”

Epel’s cheeks burned. “Ye- yes, with Deuce. He asked me out on a date,”

Vil’s violet eyes lit up. His mouth quirked into a smirk. “Oh really now?”

Epel glanced away. He could feel Vil’s interest getting piqued, shifting the atmosphere in his room. “Ye- yeah,”

“Well, I can’t say I didn’t see it coming,” Vil mused. “Have you thought about what you’re going to wear out?”

Epel frowned at that. Admittedly, he’d been so focused on figuring out his feelings over the whole thing that he’d neglected to figure out what he was going to wear. “Uh, not really, sir,”

Surely just wearing casual clothing wouldn’t be that big a deal? It was Deuce- wait.

Epel turned back to Vil, his eyes wide. “Wait, does that mean I can go?”

“Yes, yes, I already drafted, signed, and sent off your permission slip to Headmaster Crowley earlier this afternoon,” Vil waved his question away, his other hand resting on his hip. “ My question for you was infinitely more important. Uh not really is an unacceptable answer after your little speech Tuesday evening, my poison apple in training. We need to figure this out immediately ,”

“Immediately?” Epel echoed. What did his speech on Tuesday have to do wi- 

Oh. 

He probably should’ve seen this coming. Of course Vil would expect him to practice his charm outside of rehearsal.

“All your clothes are hanging up properly in here, yes?” Vil opened up the closet and started to peruse the selection of clothes he had. “Good, I’m glad you listened to me about that ,”

Epel steeled his will in preparation for a question Vil was probably going to grill him for. “Will casual clothes not be okay?”

Vil paused with his meemaw’s old sledding jersey jacket in his hands. He turned around slowly, staring at Epel like he’d grown a second head.

Yep, okay, he regretted asking that. “Nevermind,”

“Never ask me that ever again ,” Vil ordered. He placed the jersey jacket on Epel’s bed before returning to his closet. “This is your first date, you should have the decorum for such an occasion. As I’ve told you countless times before, first impressions are everything when it comes to making a lasting one,”

Epel tried not to roll his eyes at that. Vil was right after all, and he was trying to embrace his charm now. Maybe if this date with Deuce went well, they could go on another one, and his charm could be a potential factor in Deuce asking him out again. 

Or maybe Deuce saying yes if he asked him out.

“Why my meemaw’s jersey jacket?” Epel gathered the old jacket in his hands, thumbing the fabric. It was predominantly periwinkle in color with snow-white hems and a Harveston apple motif embroidered around the cuffs. On the back, his meemaw’s surname was spelled out in big white letters, along with a large image of her old sled. The inside fabric was radically different in comparison, a red and green plaid that Epel himself was also fond of, edgy and cool. 

“It’s important to wear something you’re comfortable with in situations like this where your nerves could ruin everything,” Vil said idly while sorting through Epel’s array of t-shirts. “That jacket not only is a good representation of the aesthetic you enjoy, but also looks like it’s personal to you. You’ll be wearing something you feel confident in while also showing Deuce who you are,”

“Oh,” Epel set the jacket back down on his bed. He probably shouldn’t be handling it with his sweaty hands. 

Maybe that was what he was really missing in this whole situation— confidence. It wouldn’t make for a fun date with Deuce if he was just a bundle of nerves and didn’t speak with him at all. Otherwise, he’d be not only disappointing himself, but Deuce as well.

Epel rubbed his hands on his Spelldrive uniform pants and turned back to Vil and his closet. As he did, the plaid boots he wore with his school uniform caught his eye. “Hey, Vil?”

“Yes, spudling?”

“What about these?” Epel walked over to his school shoes and held them up for his housewarden’s inspection. “They go with the inside of my meemaw’s jersey,”

Vil regarded the boots with critical violet eyes, his perfectly shaped eyebrows furrowing in thought. Then, his expression relaxed into a smile. 

“Good instincts, my poison apple,”

~***~

By the time Friday evening came around, Epel didn’t feel that nervous anymore. 

During rehearsal on Thursday night, he’d mustered the courage to speak to Deuce again, confirming the plan of where to meet. Apparently, Deuce had a restaurant already picked out, seeming confident in his choice. Instead of feeling nervous at the prospect, Epel felt excited, smiling from ear to ear for the rest of the rehearsal.

Friday rehearsal was ended early on the account that it was Friday and something about Kalim hosting a party back in Scarabia that he and Jamil needed to prepare for, giving Epel more than enough time to shower and get ready before he was supposed to meet Deuce at the Ramshackle porch at six pm. He and Vil had decided on what he thought was the perfect outfit the evening before, and when he stepped out of his Ramshackle room fully dressed, any remaining nerves bubbling in his gut died. 

Dark straight-leg jeans, a black t-shirt, his school uniform boots, and his meemaw’s jersey jacket. When Epel glanced at himself in the communal bathroom mirror, he couldn’t help but grin at how cool he looked.

He was going to knock Deuce’s socks off!

Epel made sure his magestone pen, phone, and wallet were in his pockets before he ran down the stairs to the first floor of Ramshackle, anticipation coursing through his veins. His boots landed on the ground floor with a solid thump , getting a giggle out of him. Through the cracked glass windows of the front door, he could see Deuce’s silhouette waiting for him outside. 

Without hesitation, Epel stepped forward and threw the door open. “Deuce!”

Deuce looked up from furiously texting on his flip phone, his cheeks rosy like Harveston apples and his smile so big it made Epel’s heart flutter. “Hey, Epel,”

It took Epel a second to register that his date was in a suit.

Deuce asked him out on a date… that requires a suit?

“Epel?”

Epel blinked slowly, his chest clenching in an awful way. He was absolutely underdressed. “Uh, why the suit?”

“Why the-” Deuce glanced down at himself, his face fully flushing, red creeping across his handsome features and staining the tips of his ears. He put his phone in his pants pocket and straightened the suit jacket out with a nervous smile. “It’s uh, it’s a Queen’s Rule. Rule sixty-nine, always wear formal attire to first-time events of personal significance,”

Oh. 

Epel dragged his gaze over Deuce’s suit. It was a nice midnight blue that went with his dark eyes, complete with a lavender rose pinned to the breast pocket. The more he stared at Deuce, the more Epel realized that Deuce’s bangs were slicked back by gel and that the spade painted at the corner of his eye matched the color of his suit instead of its usual black. The whole outfit looked good on him, but at the same time, nothing about it screamed Deuce decided this . 

“My uh, my mom and Housewarden Rosehearts insisted,” Deuce filled the space as Epel continued his silent appraisal. “You look great though! I really like your jersey jacket, where’d you get it?”

Epel shook himself a little at Deuce’s question, trying to get his nerves under control. If Deuce had to wear a suit because of one of his dorm’s weird rules, then there was still a decent chance that they weren’t going to some overly fancy restaurant. Still, it was a bit of a shock to learn that his housewarden wasn’t the craziest one out there when it came to clothing guidelines and their enforcement.

“It’s my meemaw’s,” Epel responded after taking a deep breath. “She was a champion musher back in her day. She gave me her jacket when I left to go to school here,”

“That’s really cool,” Deuce grinned. He slipped his phone out again for a brief second before repocketing it and offering a hand to Epel. “We gotta get going if we want to make our reservation, I managed to get Ingihyde to let me borrow their blastcycle aga-”

“ Hold it , spudlings,”

Epel whipped around. Vil stood just inside the doorway with Rook at his shoulder, his arms folded over his chest. His housewarden and vice housewarden were both still in their rehearsal clothes, though there was a certain hastiness to the arrangement of Vil’s hair and Rook’s PE shirt that made Epel squint at them a little.

His suspicions were quickly shoved aside when Rook pulled out his digital camera.

Nope.

Epel backed up and grabbed Deuce by the arm, turning to jump off Ramshackle’s porch. 

“If I see you two walk into this door later than ten-thirty tonight, I’m giving you both a hundred laps around campus this weekend!” Vil called after Epel and Deuce as they stumbled off the porch at Epel’s urging and ran to where Deuce had the blastcycle waiting. “And under a time limit too!”

“ Amusez-vous! ” Rook exclaimed as they reached the blastcycle and scrambled to put the helmets on. Deuce got the blastcycle fired up at record speed, and Epel didn’t think too much about how natural it felt to slide into the seat behind him and wrap his arms around his waist.

“And stay safe!” Vil’s voice was the last thing either of them heard as they peeled away from Ramshackle and down Night Raven College’s main street toward the front gate. 

~***~

It was the perfect Friday evening for a date.

Epel watched the sun-lit ocean flicker between the dark-cast trees as they drove to the town at the center of Sage Island, leaning into but not quite leaning on Deuce’s back. The last snows of February had long since cleared, the temperature dropping with the sun below the horizon, but not to an intolerable degree with his meemaw’s jacket on. Ahead of them, the town’s lights were beginning to spark to life, illuminating their path. It reminded Epel of camping trips to Mount Moln with his parents and looking down at Harveston at night, making his heart ache a little at the sight. 

“So, where are we goin’?” Epel asked Deuce above the wind as they approached the town’s edge. 

“Cater recommended this new barbecue place that opened recently in the center of town,” Deuce threw him a grin over his shoulder. “Said it might be a fun experience for us both!”

Epel felt his heart skip a beat. He couldn’t help the smile tugging at his lips. “Barbecue’s my favorite,”

“I know,” Deuce said, and Epel felt seen. “I uh, I’ve been paying attention to what you get in the cafeteria the past couple weeks,”

Oh.

Epel felt his face heat up. He fought the urge to bury his face in Deuce’s back and let the cold wind wash the fluster away.

Deuce slowed the blastcycle down as they navigated the narrow town streets, at times having to push the cycle forward with their legs to get around the nightlife crowds. No street was left dim by the Edison bulbs hung up everywhere, and the food stands and bars they passed by were packed with people. Epel couldn’t help the way his stomach churned at the sight of so many people in a single space. It felt like the entirety of Harveston was condensed just into the street they were parking the blastcycle on.

“I think we’re here?” Deuce turned off the cycle and slid off, Epel following suit. He took his helmet off and set it on the seat before craning his neck back to see the sign of the restaurant Cater recommended. “Yeah, this looks right,”

“ Mushu’s Dragonese BBQ ,” Epel read aloud. He peered in through the large windows of the restaurant. Inside, the place seemed to be arranged in booths, the booth he could see into having a sort of grill in the center of the table with people picking up and placing small slivers of meat onto it. 

This wasn’t the sort of barbecue he was expecting.

“What sort of place is this?” Epel asked as Deuce led him inside. They stopped at the reception podium while Deuce confirmed their reservation.

“Barbecue?” Deuce said as they were led to their booth. It was in the far corner of the restaurant, near the bathroom, but secluded enough that some of Epel’s nerves eased up. They slid into the booth on opposite sides.

Epel shrugged his meemaw’s jacket off as the heat of the table’s grill hit him and gently set it on the seat next to him. “I was expectin’ ribs or somethin’ when you said barbecue,”

“Oh,” Deuce wilted a little. “I didn’t think they’d be too different. Red Dragonese barbecue is something that’s really popular in the Queendom of Roses where I’m from, what’s barbecue like in the Shaftlands?”

Epel’s stomach dropped at Deuce’s disappointed frown. He didn’t mean to make him sad over his conflicted reaction. “It’s real different, more bone-in stuff. But I think this’ll be cool if you say it’s good?”

Deuce perked up a bit at that. “It should be! Going to a Red Dragonese barbecue place back at home was a treat with my mom whenever my grades were on an upswing or if she had a really good week at work, they’re really fun,”

Epel smiled at that, feeling a little better about his date’s choice in restaurant. It was touching, knowing that Deuce chose to take him to a place that has personal significance to him, baring his soul to him just a little bit. “So what do we do then?”

“Easy!” Deuce said as he took off his suit jacket and rolled up his sleeves. He picked up the small tablet that was situated at the far end of the table and set it down so where they could both see what was on it. “We order everything off of here, drinks, appetizers, and also the meats we wanna get, and then waiters will bring them all around for us. We grill all of the meat and vegetables ourselves with these chopsticks,”

Epel followed Deuce’s finger as he pointed at the cup of sheathed chopstick sets right next to where the tablet had been docked. 

“And that’s pretty much it!” Deuce grinned. “Wanna order some drinks and appetizers first?”

“Sure!” Epel peered at the drinks menu Deuce pulled up on the tablet and selected the lemonade option after seeing no apple juice offered. After that, he sat back. “You choose the appetizer, I want to see what you recommend,”

“I won’t let you down,” Deuce declared. 

While his date was hunched over the tablet, his dark eyebrows furrowed in intense thought, Epel let his focus wander. Their secluded corner of the restaurant was also a good vantage point to people-watch, and he didn’t want his nerves getting the better of him again. Besides, he trusted Deuce and his well-intentioned nature to choose good appetizers for them both.

Wait. 

Epel squinted at a pair of familiar faces at the other end of the restaurant. He blindly patted for Deuce’s arm. “Deuce,”

“Hm?” in the corner of Epel’s eye, he saw Deuce’s head pop up, his concentrated expression melting away. “What’s up?”

“Look over there,” Epel tried to subtly point in the direction of the people he recognized. “Isn’t that Azul Ashengrotto and the Ignihyde housewarden? Ortho’s older brother,”

“Huh?” Deuce squinted at what he was pointing at. Recognition made his eyes glitter in a way that made Epel’s heart clench seconds later. “Oh hey yeah, that’s Azul and Idia! Should we go say hi?”

Epel looked at the pair again. It kinda seemed like they were on a date themselves with how their legs were intertwined beneath the table, but Idia also looked like he was trying his hardest to become one with the booth’s back cushion, half-slumped as he picked at something on the grill with his chopsticks. Meanwhile, Azul alternated between glancing around the restaurant and whatever Idia was doing, his right hand never once stopping its’ writing movement. For one heart-stopping second, Azul’s scrutinizing gaze stopped on Epel and Deuce. 

His writing pace increased.

“Let’s not,” Epel quickly looked away. He heard about what happened after finals in the fall semester, and the Octavinelle Housewarden did not seem like a guy to cross. Epel eyed his date. Hadn’t he been caught up in that whole mess? “Wait, why do you want to say hi to the guy that you made a deal with last finals season?”

“It’s all sorta water under the bridge now,” Deuce shrugged. He turned the tablet towards Epel with a smile. “Pick what meat and vegetables you want for the grill,”

Epel turned his attention to the tablet and scrolled through the entree menu. Right away it became apparent to him that every meat option but chicken and tofu were significantly out of his price range. Beef sounded so good though, he’d been craving it since starting training for the SDC, and he hadn’t had lamb since starting school…

“Oh uh, don’t worry how expensive this is,” Deuce said. Epel reared his head back in surprise.

“What?”

“Yeah, I’m paying for it all,” Deuce replied with a sweet grin. Epel opened his mouth to protest, but Deuce continued. “I’ve been saving up for this, and I wanna treat you,”

“Deuce, you don’t have to-”

“But I want to!” Deuce gestured back to the tablet. “So pick whatever you want,”

Epel’s gaze dragged back down to the menu on the tablet. After a second’s hesitation, he clicked on the beef and lamb options before sliding it back to Deuce. “Okay, but we’re getting ice cream afterward, and I’m paying for that,”

Deuce’s smile was blindingly sweet. “I’m down for that,”

~***~

“So um,”

Epel looked up from watching his beef strips grill. He had to get the timing just right if he wanted them his preferred medium rare. 

“Thank you for agreeing to this,” Deuce muttered, staring very intently at his plate. He had several pieces of grilled chicken and beef that he was picking at but not eating. “It means a lot to me,”

“Of course?” Epel quickly nabbed his beef strips before they overgrilled. “You’ve been a really good friend to me since the beginning of the semester, and you’re really comfortable to be around,”

“I’m comfortable?” Deuce’s eyes widened at the same time the tips of his ears reddened. 

“Mmhm,” Epel took a moment to try one of his beef strips. It was a little more medium than medium rare, but the seasonings on it were incredible. He swallowed. “Things are… easy with you? I feel like I don’t have to perform as much,”

“Oh,” 

Hm. Maybe he shouldn’t have said that? Maybe it was too much. How vulnerable are you supposed to be with someone on a first date?

Epel ate another one of his beef strips to the tune of Deuce’s silence. When he glanced back up at him, Deuce was staring intently at him with his glittering dark blue eyes, his mouth slightly open and his cheeks flushed for what had to have been the third or fourth time that evening. The fluorescent light of the restaurant highlighted the bluish tones of Deuce’s black hair, along with the almost-healed scrapes from the fight Epel had started earlier that week.

He could kiss him right now if he wanted to.

“Uh, have track meets started happening?” Epel changed the subject instead, his heart jackhammering in his chest at the thought of kissing Deuce across the grill. 

Deuce finally did something, clearing his throat and unbuttoning the top button of his collared long sleeve. “The first one’s next Saturday, Jack and I are participating in the relay,”

“Oh cool!” Epel relaxed a little. He put some chunks of lamb onto the grill. “Is it going to be on campus or an away meet?”

“Away,” Deuce smiled wistfully. “Otherwise I would’ve invited you to come watch,”

Epel paused at that. He’d invite him to his track meets?

“Uh- I mean- only if you wanted to go-”

“Next meet, ah’d love that,” Epel grinned. Deuce sat up a bit straighter, his smile so cute and genuinely excited that Epel needed to shove the rest of his beef strips into his mouth to keep from reacting.

“The first meet on campus is three weeks from now!” Deuce exclaimed. “You should absolutely come, we can hang out in between the different races and get snacks,”

Epel smirked playfully. “Deuce, are you asking me out on another date already?”

Deuce choked mid-sip of his water. He pounded a fist on his chest before responding weakly. “Maybe?”

“Really?” Epel’s voice cracked. They hadn’t even gotten through the first date, and Deuce was asking for another one already?

“I like you a lot, Epel,” Deuce said with disarming sincerity. “You’re so determined and hardworking, and the way you stand up to Housewarden Shoenheit is really cool,”

“Yeah, well,” Epel tried to focus on grilling his lamb, heat blossoming across his cheeks. “It hasn’t done me well all that much,”

“But you still do it!” Deuce countered. “And I heard from Jack about how you took on that bet with Professor Crewel, and you beat him at his own game! You’re incredible, dude!”

It was Epel’s turn to be too flustered to speak. He shied away from Deuce’s fond gaze and turned his lamb pieces over with his chopsticks. “You really think so?”

“Yeah!” Deuce exclaimed. “We’re gonna kill it at the SDC with how hard you’ve been working to exceed Housewarden Shoenheit’s expectations!”

“You’ve been working hard too though!” Epel jabbed his chopsticks at Deuce. “Don’t give me all the credit when you’ve been doing just as much, if not more! With our combined efforts, we can defeat Neige LeBlanche once and for all!”

“That’s the spirit!” Deuce grinned, bouncing a little in his seat. He reached across the table and squeezed Epel’s free hand. “It’s gonna be great,”

Epel turned his hand over to squeeze his hand back, a surge of warmth washing over him at the contact. “Yeah, it will be,”

He could get used to unabashed mutual support.

~***~

It was only after they got their ice cream that Epel realized their curfew time was in ten minutes.

The scramble to find the blastcycle Deuce borrowed lost them several minutes, the two of them shoveling their respective ice creams into their mouths while also attempting to mount the cycle and secure their helmets. Epel had to clip his helmet on one-handed, his other hand gripping Deuce as he revved up the blastcycle. Thankfully by ten-thirty pm the streets were mostly clear of people, allowing them a straight shot out of town and towards Night Raven College. Epel had a death grip on Deuce’s waist, hugging him close and resting his head on his shoulder to reduce their drag. 

Hopefully Vil had opted to prioritize his beauty sleep instead of policing them for coming back several minutes late. 

It was a slim hope, but a hope nonetheless.

They lost time having to open the campus’ front gate. Epel had hopped off to wrench it open just enough to slip the blastcycle through, Deuce walking it through with deft kicks of his feet. Once the cycle was clear and the gate was closed, Epel climbed back on and they tore through campus to Ramshackle. 

All the lights were off as they approached. Deuce parked the borrowed blastcycle at the end of the porch steps as Epel ripped his helmet off and ascended the steps as quickly and as quietly as he could. 

“Housewarden Shoenheit is going to kill us,” Deuce bemoaned behind him. “I’m so sorry E-”

“Ssshhh!” Epel shushed him, waving a hand in his direction. He tapped his magestone pen on the doorknob and frowned when he saw sparks. “Someone magicked the doorknob,”

Vil, undoubtedly. He probably used his UM on it the moment ten-thirty struck.

“We have to go through a window then,” Deuce whispered. Epel turned around to see a determined expression on Deuce’s face. “I think I can get the window in mine and Ace’s room open,”

A jolt of excitement zipped through Epel at the prospect. “Let’s do it,”

Deuce took him by the hand and led him to the back of the decrepit building. Epel wasn’t sure if it was his palm that was sweaty or if it was Deuce’s, his pulse racing as they picked their way through the soggy debris. When they reached the back of the building, Deuce let go of Epel’s hand and didn’t hesitate to launch himself at the small woodpile that sat beneath some of the second-floor windows. Epel gasped as he expertly climbed up the pile and fiddled with the window that was level with his head. After a few seconds, the windowscreen fell away, and Deuce shoved the pane open.

Epel stared up at Deuce, speechless.

That was so cool .

“Come on!” Deuce whisper-yelled, extending a hand down to him.

Epel shook himself. Just a short climb up a woodpile and he and Deuce were home free. He carefully scaled the woodpile, mindful of the dark gaps. It wasn’t warm enough for snakes to wake up from torpor, but it never paid to be careless with that sort of thing. 

He grabbed onto Deuce with one hand when he reached the top and braced the other on Ramshackle, pure adrenaline coursing through his veins. Deuce shoved the window open a little more before turning to Epel.

“Okay, you climb through first,”

“Won’t it weird Ace out if he sees me climbing through his window versus you?” Epel arched an eyebrow.

“Nah, I don’t think he’ll care if he’s not asleep,” Deuce said, nonchalantly grabbing Epel by the hips and hoisting him up to the window frame with little effort. Epel tried to be cool about it, smothering the embarrassing noise that crawled up his throat. He pushed himself through the open window and fell onto the floor with a thud .

“Dude, what the fuck,”

Epel looked up and saw Ace’s unimpressed face across the room, illuminated by his phone. He waved.

“Nope, you and Juice aren’t involving me in this,” Ace rolled onto his side, his back facing Epel.

“Epel, are we good?” Deuce asked from outside. Epel picked himself up and gave him a thumbs up. “Sweet, comin’ through,”

Deuce’s landing inside his room was a bit more graceful, hands first and slowly lowering himself onto the floor instead of the much louder landing Epel had done. Once he was fully through, Epel stepped around him and slid the window shut.

For a moment, they stared at each other, the gravity of successfully sneaking back in hitting them at the same time.

“If you two kiss right now, I’m calling Vil,” Ace grumbled from his bed. Epel couldn’t help but giggle a little at that.

“I should probably get to my room,” he murmured with a giddy grin. Deuce nodded mutely, wearing the same expression. 

“I’ll walk you,” he whispered back. From his bed, Ace made a gagging noise.

Together, Epel and Deuce crept towards the bedroom door. Epel checked the doorknob for a spell and breathed a sigh of relief when there was none, slowly opening the door and creeping down the hall. Each creak of the old wooden floors made Epel wince, Deuce’s heavier footsteps behind him both reassuring and anxiety-inducing. His heart seized when they reached his bedroom door and his doorknob wasn’t spelled either.

They’d done it!

Epel whirled around and vaulted himself onto his tippy-toes to kiss Deuce on the cheek. “Thank you for the great night. Let’s do this again, alright?”

Deuce made a choking noise. 

In the dim light filtering through the front windows, Epel caught Deuce’s stunned expression and reached up to run his hand through his gelled hair with a grin, riding the high of a successful date and evasion of consequences. “Next time, it’ll be on the lips,”

Well, evasion of consequences until Vil grilled them alive tomorrow morning. Still, Epel mused to himself as he got ready for bed, that night with Deuce would be worth it.