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“Jade! Floyd! Ahhh, you’ve finally come back to me. Would you believe thanks to these FOOLS, I’ve lost all my contracts? Which is why I’m going to need your powers now. Come on, give them to me!”
That’s what Azul said before his overblot. Some other stuff Jade can’t remember right now. All he remembers is seeing Azul in his mer-form, covered with barnacles and other assortments. The smell of blot was putrid enough to kill bugs of all shapes and sizes.
Jade got hit by his tentacles a couple of times, and so did Floyd, but by the Sevens did they hurt way more this way. It was like the blot seeped down to his tentacles and dripped into every attack Azul put out. It felt disgusting.
Oh god, is he drowning? Did he get struck again and pass out?
“Jade? Are you okay?”
Is he dying? Is that the voice at the end of the cavern?
“Jade! Jade, don’t just hide! Wake up!”
That voice. It was honey. Soothing like a calming tea. But stern like a hard scone.
Jade felt a light jolt on his shoulders. Some red came into view. Everything was so blurry to look at. Did he pass out? All he could see was that it was early in the morning. His chest felt heavy.
“Jade? Are you awake? You looked like you were having a nightmare. I went to get water, and then I came back to you tossing and turning. You were hiding under the pillow and almost tore it in half!” Trey explained while he poured half a cup of water and gave it to Jade.
Through heavy-ish breathing, Jade just shook his head. What a bad guest he was, worrying the host like that. Jade sat up and looked around. This was not his dorm at all. This was Trey’s room. He did have trouble sleeping in his own bed after all. Floyd got sick of it, he thinks.
He’s not entirely sure anyways. So he asked Trey to stay the night. All Jade had to do was obey Heartslabyul rules and help make breakfast in the morning. It was even a weekend, so Jade had time to forget about it and move on. He even had the time to visit Azul and call him boring for overblotting over something like that.
“I am fine. It will pass.” Jade breathlessly replied. So much for moving on past this.
“Do you…want to talk about it?” Trey asked hesitantly.
“No. Not now.” Jade replied instantly.
Trey nodded and held him tight. The two of them sat in silence for the most part. All you could hear was Jade’s heavy-ish breathing starting to slow down and Trey’s muttering about his glasses fogging up. Trey even had his arms wrapped around Jade. Oddly enough, it did create a sense of safety. Like a magic barrier being cast just to protect the two of them.
“Trey-san…how did you get over Riddle-san’s Overblot?” Jade asked while he turned around to stare at him in the eyes.
Trey returned the stare with a hand on his cheek, brushing any hairs away beside his face beforehand. It was like he was inspecting Jade for any more pain. “I never did. It’s still fresh in my mind what happened that day. I still have the scars. Wanna see?”
Scars? Trey-san had scars? He could get them? Before he could ponder more about the notion, Trey’s shirt was completely off and folded up on his pillow. There were multiple scars littered about, some even reaching his hips. Some looked like burn scars, others looked like magic sickness. Jade has never been so grateful for their school uniform until now.
“When we were fighting, Riddle had these blot arrows that could reform themselves.” Trey began, staring down at the floor. “Bits of the blot got stuck on my clothes, burning onto my skin. It was…sevens, did it hurt. And I used my magic so much that I made new problems for myself. The nurses at the infirmary said I would be fine, but I covered them up for weeks on end.”
As Jade listened, he couldn’t help but wonder how the scar felt. He brushed his hand against them, feeling so rough against his hand. The scars were still so vibrant with color, contrasting Trey’s skin dramatically. While inspecting further, Trey had birth marks on his back that Jade didn’t know about. It’s literally a whole different side of Trey-san!
“If I let you kiss them, will you let me see yours?” Trey asked with a smirk on his face.
“How cheeky, Trey-san. You never have to ask me for that. Allow me to make this easier for you.” Jade said as he took off his shirt as well.
Jade’s bare torso was enough to get Trey all flustered. He covered his eyes with his hand while Jade let out a chuckle at Trey’s face becoming more and more red. He gave a quick peck on the cheek and turned around to give his back on display. There were large bruises of what looked like suctions on his back, following up with a welt creeping to his neck as well. Trey had a pained expression on his face. Without thinking, he kissed each scar like it was going to disappear.
“There’s no need to do that.” Jade sighed, scratching at one of the scars on his side. “I hope when I have the opportunity to go home during the summer, these will fade. I do not wish to be bombarded with questions from my family about these.”
“Ah, same here. Except I have to leave for winter break soon.” Trey said in between kisses.
“Oya? A chance to meet Trey-san’s family? I must see if I have to work during the break.”
“Hey, don’t change the topic now. Tell me how you got these scars. Of course, if you want to. I won’t judge.”
Jade let out a sigh as Trey’s touch was now a missing feeling. Trey sat up to show he was listening. The two of them, both shirtless and being open with feelings. This was all new to Jade. Maybe Trey is experiencing the same feeling as well.
“Azul’s mer form is an octopus, as you may know.” Jade began to speak, staring at the wall. “While he was stealing magic and whatnot, he was thrashing around his tentacles to grab anyone like a small minnow to eat. The suctions on octopus tentacles are rather strong, so it left a few marks here and there.” Jade paused for a moment, trying to find the welt on his back to point at it. “I had my back turned. The rest are from childhood debacles.”
Trey had his shoulders slumped with the information he was given. Jade was putting back on his shirt at the silent response. The room was silent for a while. It almost felt awkward.
“Does it hurt to lay down?” Trey asked as he stood up and took out a medical kit.
“Quite a bit.” Jade replied as he looked curiously at the medical kit. “It’s a burning feeling. Similar to what I believe would be rubber contacting the sun.”
“Ah. That’s no good. Stay still for a bit.” Trey said while he opened a bottle of alcohol.
Tending the scar hurts even more than getting the scar itself. Jade had to bite back a wince or any sounds of pain just for a few minutes. He finally took a small breather after going through what felt like a volcanic eruption on his skin. Trey wrapped Jade’s back while chuckling to himself, to which Jade’s response was a playful glare at him and huffing dramatically.
After Trey was done with his backside, Jade felt much better. He could lie down with almost no problems and sleep comfortably this way. He could even hold Trey’s waist from his angle, quickly pecking the peeking scars on his hips and stealing a bit more kisses trailing up his body. Trey did say earlier he could kiss the scars.
Trey paid no mind to it. In light of the recent conversation, Trey trapped Jade into his arms and kissed his neck repeatedly, creating tears in Jade’s eyes from stifled laughter. It was at that moment he had found out his dear eel was ticklish. To exploit this further, Trey peppered his cheek with kisses until Jade covered his mouth after a loud laugh escaped his mouth. The two of them smiled and wrapped around each other. Trey cupped Jade’s cheek while he rubbed circles into it.
“Maybe during the next break…you can meet my parents? I know my siblings would kill me if I didn’t at least bring you once.” Trey asked while he took off his glasses.
“You must meet my parents when they come onto land then. I would love to take you back home with me, but I’m afraid drowning isn’t an ideal for humans.” Jade replied with a small smile.
Trey huffed as he gave Jade one more kiss on the cheek. He was already being a greedy man after all, so what’s the harm in one more? Trey began to whisper before he drifted off to sleep. “It’s the weekend. We can sleep in until noon. Goodnight Jade.”
“Goodnight Trey-san.” Jade whispered back. He then waited until he heard the familiar snoring after 20 minutes of just closing his eyes. All to whisper back “Thank you…for loving me the same. Trey-san.”
Jade did not get a reply back, nor did he expect one. Instead, they both lay in each other’s arms and slept comfortably at last. No nightmare to report tonight.