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A normal day can be a rare occurrence at Night Raven Collage especially this year so when it’s given the students will take it.
A normal day in NRC where students walk in the halls chatting, stopping by the cafeteria for snacks and running off to who knows where.
A normal day at NRC is exactly what Jamil needs right now unfortunately fate has never been to kind to him.
It started off as a normal sort of day, taking care of Kalim, packing their bags, making sure Kalim didn’t leave anything behind, getting to school and separating for class. The usual.
What wasn’t quite so usual was how often Azul glanced at him and how much quieter he was the entire day. There was hardly more than a small good morning out of him when Jamil had walked in other than that, silence.
Of course that would have been like a blessing but with how many side glances Azul shot him and how frequently he turned his head to the side if he felt he would get caught, it was clearly something that would simply end up being bothersome.
Class had gone on as smoothly as it could have, even without the occasional sound of a pretty voice to point things out to him or chatter him into annoyance..
In any case, the lesson was over now so he ought to start getting ready for Potionology, which he had after lunch. The classroom was lacking in people when Jamil saw a white envelope being placed in front of him, looking up to see a fleeing Azul he glanced back at the envelope.
He could throw it away, easily at that but his paranoia of it being about Kalim got the better of him in the moment so he took the envelope and walked out, holding it rather discreetly to avoid unwanted eyes.
He really only opened the letter at lunch, a decision made entirely because of how much Azul was avoiding him and how his paranoia was scratching at him.
Finding an empty table while waiting for Kalim was the perfect time to open the envelope in his hands. His hands started itching the more he held the envelope up but he opened it nonetheless and took out the page inside.
The page was nothing short of a romantic confession letter tied with a pretty red bow and a question at the end, ‘Be my Valentine?’. In that moment, if it wasn’t for Kalim approaching the table, Jamil would have sat there frozen in shock for the rest of lunch.
He shoved the letter into his pocket as he took deep breaths, lest Kalim questions the red beginning to form on his face. He wants nothing more than to bury his head into his hoodie and forget what he just read but it practically burned itself a place in his memory. ‘Be my Valentine?’
The words ran laps around his mind no matter how calm and collected he looked on the outside, only a quarter or two of his brain was truly focused on anything from that point.
On the other side of the spectrum, Azul was sat at the cafeteria table furtherest to Jamil in hopes of somehow calming himself down.
He’d slammed the note onto Jamil’s desk and stormed out without truly thinking it through. Then again, it was all the twins’ fault that he panicked so!
During the days in which Azul was writing that letter they tormented him endlessly with their ‘suggestions’ and ‘ideas’ oh and that horrid thing where Floyd would take the paper and read it while it was still in progress.
Azul had gone through half a paper rim in just those three days, some of the paper because of mistakes in his pencil, his paper crinkling, spelling errors and just anything that tarnished the page. The other papers because of the mistakes he made because of Floyd and Jade’s insistent teasing! And now he doesn’t know what to do!
He only found the confidence to ask for a Valentine because Floyd and Jade were insistent on it! Especially Floyd who made it a point to brag constantly to the two of them about how Riddle and Kalim were his Valentines this year.
What if he ended up giving Jamil the wrong letter? What if he ended up being coldly rejected? What if Jamil didn’t even acknowledge the letter and threw it away?
The stress is almost too much for a cecealia to bear! It was a wonder that he had even made it to lunch!
In the midst of his panic and overthinking he felt a tall figure looming at the side of him. “Gå væk Floyd. jeg har ikke tid til dit sludder lige nu.” He waved his hand dismissively at Floyd, not taking his eyes off the table in front of him.
“Azul~ søslangen har stirret i denne retning i et stykke tid nu.. gav du ham sedlen?” Floyd looked between Azul and Jamil, slightly catching the view of Azul almost slamming his head into the table before focusing on Jade approaching.
“Azul, I’d appreciate if you’d eat,” Jade said passing Azul a tray of carefully picked foods “it won’t be good for business or for your health if you don’t.”
Azul raised his gaze to the tray, his stomach was moving and scrunching so much it made the food feel slightly unappetizing by appearance.
Floyd began repeatedly poking at Azul’s shoulder to gain his attention. “Hej Azul, hvis det bekymrer dig så meget, vil jeg bede søslangen om hans svar.”
“You will do no such!” Azul almost jumped out of his chair at the idea.
He, with new found fervor and energy, grabbed Floyd’s wrist, squeezing it tightly. “Must you try so hard to sabotage me?”
Before Floyd could reply a clap from Jade slightly signaled their attention to him, “now now Azul, you know Floyd simply wants the best for you. Now how about you use the same strength you’re using to squeeze Floyd’s wrist and instead use it to eat your lunch?”
With pure luck and Azul’s panicked mood mixed together, Azul slowly let go of Floyd’s wrist which Floyd rubbed gently as his face dropped into one of those ‘Azul is being mean and boring’ faces that he held on work days.
Azul finally managed to grab his fork to start eating his food, it lacked taste because of his swirling thoughts and emotions but he ate it all in the end.
—————————| < ——— > |—————————
Lunch ended in an utter blur for the both of them. What else could be expected? Tensions were high, especially because they both were paired together for Potionology.
In this case, they could ask professor Crewel to switch partners but since they always pair up it will cause confusion and if they’re questioned no doubt none of them would know what to reply with, even Azul with his cunning would be speechless for a reason.
They were silent for the entire potion making aside for the quiet asking of potion Ingredients, during the handing of said potion ingredients it seemed like their hands lingered on each other longer having the both of them quickly break contact.
They ended the class together, walking out of the classroom together. It almost wasn’t possible for Azul’s face to get any redder and it almost wasn’t possible for Jamil to want to hide in his face in his hood any more but they continued walking.
It felt everyone in the halls was looking at them, not entirely false but it was only a few Heartslabyul students looking for a gossip scoop. They continued walking, unsure of their own destination until they reached the door to an empty classroom.
At the door of this classroom they stood in silence before Jamil opened the door, silently gesturing Azul into the classroom. Inside the quiet classroom, the silence and tension grew heavier and far more awkward. Why were they even together alone like this?
“You know Jamil, if you wished to reject me you could just say such-“ “I’ll be your Valentine..” “I would- what?”
Azul had prepared to smooth talk his way out of a rejection but to be faced with the idea that Jamil might have actually wanted to be his Valentine left him speechless.
“Pardon?” Azul asked again, just to make sure he wasn’t hearing wrong. Maybe there was water in his ears? “I don’t quite think I caught that..” His face is already a burst of red, he can’t let himself go any redder than he already is.
“I’m sure you heard me fine. I’ll be your Valentine.” Jamil responded with his normal sort of poker face, deeply suppressing the deep red that wishes to stain his cheeks too.
“Ahah…ahem.. well..” Who would have thought concocting an appropriate response would be so hard! Azul is usually three steps ahead when it comes to such but for one he’s almost entirely head empty. “I’m glad to hear you’ve accepted my small declaration..”
‘Small declaration’ is understatement. That letter could have left Jamil in shambles and hiding in his hood it was going to be labeled a ‘small declaration’. What a way to seem humble.
“Mhm.” Jamil simply hummed through the silence before rushing out of the classroom leaving a flushed Azul covering his face. As he rushed through the halls he pulled the strings of his hood, concealing the red blush on his face.