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“Oof!” Ace let himself slump on the chair he just placed.
He was feeling so tired as he spent all of today setting up the Halloween party with the other students, Jack was here too and made everything so much more bearable and less boring – not that Ace would ever say that to his face – he would literally die of embarrassment. He’d rather face Riddle’s wrath. Watching Jack install the very last chair under the neatly decorated table full of food and appetizers, he sighed. They were finally done! They could actually spend the rest of the evening dancing and stuffing their faces full of sweets.
Once he returned to his dorm, he hit the pillow headfirst, letting out his biggest sigh yet.
He groaned, despite all the sweetness he had earlier, he still felt a bitter aftertaste. He was envious of those who’d been chosen to attend the social at Fleur City. He could still remember Deuce’s surprised look when the Headmage called his name, that’s SO not fair! He should have been the one to go, he knew how to dance and had better grades – not particularly good per se, but still better than Deuce’s! – yet he was the one who had to stay put here and decorate the entire school. He felt a bit... left out.
“I’m gonna give Deuce a piece of my mind when he comes back...” he grumbled the nearly unintelligible words to himself, face buried into his pillow. He let out a yawn and just like that, fell into a deep slumber.
He woke up thanks to something gently touching his cheeks.
“Mmm..?” His eyes fluttered open with difficulty, his vision slowly focusing on a familiar face – one that wasn’t messy from sleep like his – that revealed itself to be his roommate. Huh, look who showed up to rub his victory in his face.
“Oh hey Deuce, when’d you come back from the trip? And why'd you wake me up so early, dude... I was just catching up on my beauty sleep, too,” he sat up on his bed, glaring at his partner in crime. A satisfied smirk graced the raven-haired teen’s lips, “Just thought I’d get some payback after all the stunts you pulled on me while I was sleeping.” It was known in the whole Heartslabyul dorm that Ace didn’t need to do much to egg on Deuce to follow him into trouble.
Ace let out a loud sigh, making a light gesture with his hand, rubbing the sleep off his eyes with his other hand, “You’re still on about that? That was a long time ago—”
“It was literally last week, idiot!” Deuce glared right at him, clenching something in his hands that produced a crinkling sound. But Ace was too sleepy to care.
“Meh. Whatever,” the redhead yawned, stretching his arms above his head and arching his back oblivious to the peacock-colored eyes following the movement, “So how was the social? Had fun?”
Deuce lowered his gaze, “It was... taxing, to say the least, I’ll tell you all about it later, I actually just came to give you this,” he dug his hand into his pocket, revealing a small package tightly wrapped with customized suit patterns.
“Here,” he said handing the present to Ace, “I found those while I was at Fleur City’s market with Epel and Azul, I thought you’d enjoy them.”
“Aww, and here I thought silly Deucey had forgotten about me, his best friend—” Ace held the package next to his heart, feigning a pained expression.
“Alright, I’m takin’ it back,” an exasperated Deuce went to take back the gift, “Clearly this was a bad idea... What did I even expect from you? Not even a—”
“Thanks.” A quiet murmur followed Deuce’s sudden harsh tone.
“Yeah, not even a thank— Wait. What did you just say?” His jaw dropped, hard. He had never heard Ace pronounce or even express any gratitude toward anyone.
“Say it again,” he paused, before continuing bashfully. “Please.”
Oh. Ace realized; was this the first time he’d ever thanked Deuce for anything? Perhaps.
“Dude, I just thanked you, are your ears not working properly? Maybe you’re the one that needs sleep right now.” No, he didn’t feel the least embarrassed right now. Absolutely not.
He decided to ignore Deuce’s piercing stare and analyzed the package that sat snuggled in his hands, in a hold, that was almost protective against Deuce’s previous attempt to get it back. No way, this was his now. And he couldn’t deny the warm feeling bubbling in his chest at the raven’s gesture of kindness. No, he wasn’t getting soft, what an idea. Not dwelling on these thoughts any further, he began unwrapping the present.
“Wait! Are those... caramels? Like, actual salted butter flavor caramels!? Dude, are you serious?” They didn’t have those in the Queendom of Roses so he’s never had one of those before, he couldn’t wait to dig in despite all the candy he ingested last evening.
“...Yeah. Are you...” Deuce looked up with hesitation swirling into his peacock green eyes, “Do you like it?”
Ace giggled and Deuce tensed up at the surprisingly fond sound, “You’re so dumb, of course I like it. Actually, I’m surprised you even got me something,” he looked back at his friend with a teasing glint. “Who would’ve known ex-delinquent Deuce Spade was such a sweetheart?”
Deuce felt his face warm up at these words. “Shut up, I just thought it would look bad not coming back with anything for my dormmates, that’s all,” he avoided Ace’s piercing red stare, hence not noticing the shuffle of bedsheets and bare feet stepping closer until he felt it.
Here it was, the touch of soft lips on Deuce's cheek that triggered a full-body shiver, all the thoughts that were running through his mind at the time: gone. His head felt empty, his brain incapable of processing what just happened even though it was pretty obvious. Obvious, yes, but still difficult to comprehend for his simple-minded self who’s only ever known his mother’s warm hugs and kisses. He wonders for a moment if his heart has stopped beating.
He doesn’t know how long he just stood there, but the sound of the bathroom door opening broke him out of his trance. Ace was now in his school uniform, and, taking hurried steps towards the door of their shared room without sparing a glance to the other, Deuce noticed a little bit of red tinting his cheeks. At least, he wasn’t the only one affected by their shared little moment. After the door closed, he slowly turned to his room, headed for his bed without changing, and fell face-first onto the soft covers. Tired but strangely satisfied, he let out a deep sigh. He just had an emotional rollercoaster to deal with, on top of Fleur City’s eventful social from yesterday. Damn you, Ace!