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Trey Clover was an interesting man, Jade knew that for a fact. Such knowledge had been at the base of his skull since the second week of school.
Embarrassingly, it had taken him just before winter break to truly notice the spring-haired man in any romantic light. Funny, since his own twin was courting Clover's pseudo-brother. The second-year was handsome, by land standards he supposed; tall, ‘fit’, and seemingly overall pleasant.
What had piqued his interest was the second-year's reputation. It was…spotless in a way. There were two responses to his questions about Trey Clover as an individual. He was a hard worker, dependable and generally a good person to turn to. The other was ‘Who's Trey Clover?’. Jade wouldn't have truly wondered, but such a bias of NRC students could make anyone scratch their heads. Even the sunbeam incarnate, Kalim al Asim, wasn't safe from negative views. He was seen as too cheery, too loud, or too invasive by some of the student body.
To be seen in such a positive light was a carefully crafted facade if Jade ever saw one. It was fascinating. He wanted to talk to Trey Clover.
And that was the true start of his observation of Trey Clover. Glances in the halls between classes, secondhand tales from his brother’s excursions into the Heartslabyul dorm. He didn't register it was a crush until he thought he made eye contact with Trey one December afternoon.
It was in the halls, classes had been let out for a few hours so they were mostly empty. He had just left the headmaster's office, a folder clutched in his hands giving approval for his new club come spring. He's sure to find at least one like-minded person this way. Who wouldn't want to hike into the spacious mountains cradling their school?
He had barely turned the corner, still half hidden in the shadows when a muffled explosion caught his ears, a door quickly being slammed open. Color-shifting smoke wafted out of the room heavily and two figures rushed out. One was Rook Hunt, generally unpleasant to be around one-on-one, though easy enough to misdirect his attention to other students. The other was Trey Clover, coughing into his gloved hand and trying to wave the smoke away from his face.
From his distance, he couldn't make out what was being said, though Rook seemed all too eager to go back into the room. Hopefully to not create another potion mishap. Trey tried to pull the other second-year away but quickly lost his grip and into the fog Rook went.
Trey had sighed, shaking his head with a smirk and making no moves to follow after his clubmate. He removed his glasses, pulling out a cloth to wipe away the soot on the lens. Jade felt his body freeze, heart pounding in his chest as Trey lifted his lens in such a way they pointed directly at him.
Was…was Trey looking at him?
The second-year had stood still for a few moments and Jade wasn't sure if he was surveying his glasses or if he had seen him standing in the shadows. He had just barely gathered his wits to step into the light, mouth opening to give a greeting. Only to stop short and shrink back around the corner as Trey lowered his glasses with a smile.
With one more wipe, he turned and placed the frames back on his face. Calling out to Rook as he walked back into the now-cleared room.
…
From that moment Jade found everything about Trey Clover even more fascinating. Truly taking notice of the second-year and every casually calculated move he made. He seemed approachable, friendly, the icon of the facade Jade himself had been perfecting since the start of the school year. Such a persona should have been easy to speak to. All he had to do was walk up to the Heartslabyul student and open his mouth.
But his nerves always failed him. His hands would shake, his mouth would dry. Even once his eyes had suddenly filled with tears and he had to rush away. Even with his kindhearted nature, Jade did not want any NRC student to see him cry. He tried time and time again, each ending in a cowardly failure.
It had gotten so pathetic that Azul and Floyd had no choice but to comment on his situation during winter break. Floyd had been there when it happened; forcibly saying goodbye to his ‘Goldfishie’. He watched as Jade completely shut down in silence the moment Trey so much as glanced in their shared direction, unable to speak when a warm voice called out to wish Riddle a happy new year before walking off to the mirror.
Luckily Floyd had dragged him out of the mirror chamber and waited until they were in Azul's new dorm room to ask ‘What was that’.
Being picked on by his brother and Azul was a rare occurrence, but it was one the other freshmen refused to pass up. Azul had even commented on Jades's crush not being too far off from Floyd's target.
‘Honestly you two. Sticking so close together even in romance; it's concerning…’
But the winter break proved to be mildly fruitful. Azul, as the newly appointed successor of the Octavinelle dorm, was knowledgeable about Trey's schedule since he was Riddle's vice. Floyd had even come through with information on what he knew of the second-year.
‘But, are you sure, Jade? Sea Turtle's kinda boring…’
Jade chuckles, realizing that Floyd had forgotten from their days as fry when a lone sea turtle nearly dragged him away into the depths after biting his tail. Sea turtles were very unassuming creatures, but they could still bite.
Once students returned to school in the new year, Jade had made it a goal to simply speak to this man. He would wait outside the hallway leading to the Heartslabyul mirror, steeling his nerves to catch a glimpse of him. Only to see the top of his hair as he and a number of other Heartslabyul students rushed out of the mirror and almost sprinted to the school.
He truly tried a number of methods to manufacture a meet cute; something that could bear the elusive fruits of a conversation. Only to lose his nerves, be sidetracked by a student Azul had asked him to investigate, or by some kind of cruel divine force his plans would be throttled into dust.
He had given up by the time the frost melted. Jade just accepted the fact he would never talk to Trey Clover directly. Forced to observe and swoon from afar. It was better that way in the end…
So, to lift his spirits and finally compose a map of the surrounding area, Jade went out on his first expedition of the Mountain Lover's Club. Another blow to his already kicked and downed ego, no one had wanted to join his club. But he wasn't offended, there was still the fact that people had simply already picked their clubs and didn't want to switch mid-year. He had the time until next year's club fair to dazzle them with his findings of mystery and beauty the mountains provided.
While he wanted to really climb and trek into the mountains beyond the paths, Crewel had advised against it since the frost had only just melted. Areas of earth were potentially still frozen and there was no telling what he could stumble upon. Not to mention the fact Crewel's order for his custom hiking gear was on backorder. So, for safety, to the trails Jade would stick.
Or so he told himself.
Off in the distance, perched on a hill sat a glittering object. He was from the deep sea, of course shiny things called his attention more than anything. Looking through his binoculars, he couldn't help but smile and squeal at the sight. A Powder Wing Cap *, in plain view! Powder Wing Caps being a very rare find indeed, formed from the leftover dust of nature fairies' wings resting in a singular area repeatedly. And though Jade had yet to see a fairy on the campus (Aside from the fire fairies in the cafeteria, ones that he and Floyd learned were rather hostile, as they did not like being looked at while eating…), he felt a surge of excitement at seeing the results of their presence.
His walk turned into an excited jog, looking up to make sure he was getting closer as he winded through the worn paths. But as he stood at the base of the mushroom's perch, he could only look up at the steep cliff. He could only huff and race around the structure of earth, realizing the cliff wasn't naturally according as there was no incline and only steadily increasing levels of rocks.
Looking at the mushroom, Jade could only feel like it was mocking him. It was perfectly placed at the edge, if he had the prior idea to bring his broom he could grit his teeth and fly up there.
Sighing, his shoulders drooped, “I suppose that I will just… Hm…” Jade tapped his cheek with a single finger, his elbow resting on his other hand, “Maybe…”
A quick glance over the face of the small cliff, Jade took a breath and nodded his head. Rolling his sleeves up Jade walked closer to the rocks. It was awkward, he had to press his body to the rocks a few times feeling his balance shift backward, but he made his way up the cliff at a steady pace.
He reached the mushroom, nearly close enough to bite it (Though he shouldn't. From what he read about them, Powder Wing Caps were surprisingly poisonous). The fungi was a pale pastel yellow, sponge holding a shimmering texture that seemed to give it a halo effect. He climbed a bit higher, one hand grasping onto a protruding root while the other pulled his phone from his jacket pocket. A photo for the memory if he couldn't find this mushroom on his next hike.
Once he had at least forty photos, Jade moved to place his phone back in his pocket. Missing, he turned and moved to reach out for his falling device, only to freeze at seeing just how far the ground was. He barely noticed the sound of his phone hitting the dirt, the once-lit screen cracking and going dark.
He looked down, feeling his stomach roll at just how high he had managed to climb. It didn't feel so high when he was climbing, a few feet at best. But now his vision swam, unable to focus on where his last foothold was to safely climb back down. The mushroom was gorgeous, yes, but he'd have to be alive to marvel at its beauty any longer.
His shimmying didn't help, only making the rocks under his feet looser and the branch in his sweating hands slowly detach from the cliff face. Maybe if he…no, but he didn't have many other options. He took a breath and blindly searched with his foot for a new stephold; since looking down only made his head spin in nausea. With every passing second he only felt loose rocks and open-air under his feet, his hands started to lose their vice grip. He was fighting the tears trying to slip past his lids when he heard shouts in the distance.
Looking over his shoulder, he saw Trey Clover and Rook Hunt rushing toward the cliff, still too far away to see their expressions clearly but he could see they were wearing their science club uniforms. He opened his mouth to ask them to help him down, shyness be damned, he needed assistance. He barely spoke Trey’s name when he heard a snap above him and felt weightless.
The clear sound of Trey’s voice rung out past the air rushing in his ears, “JADE!”
He doesn't remember the fall, the faint echoes of Rook and Trey yelling. He didn't remember falling unconscious on impact. Jade does recall blinking his eyes open, a heavy ringing in his ears as his vision swirled and edged back and forth into darkness. Rook and Trey were knelt beside him, muffled voices and concerned eyes. The last he remembered of that event was Trey removing his jacket, and then his vision fully blacked out.
The next time he woke up, he was caged in by something. Normally, he'd panic and attempt to gut whatever was holding him down. But this weight was familiar, it had slept on him, no matter his annoyance, since they were children.
“Floyd, get off of him; you'll aggravate his wound.”
“Noooo. Jade’s hurt so I gotta protect him! The nurse said he can't even sleep on his back for another day…”
“Which is why you need to stop laying on him. Honestly-”
“Floyd? Azul?” Jade called out softly, eyes blinking open.
“Jade!” Floyd quickly removed himself from Jade’s back, moving to kneel to be at level with his brother's head. His expression was mildly concerned yet clearly annoyed, “Ay, I told you to not do anything stupid. How do you fall off a cliff? I thought you were just walking around in the woods…”
Jade manages a small smile, he had worried his dear brother so much, “Apologies. I had found a rather rare mushroom growing on a cliffside. I had assumed I could reach it safely…sorry…”
Floyd glared at him for a few more moments before sighing, gently patting his brother's head, “Apology accepted. Just don't fall like that again. Mom would kill me if you ended up dying up here…”
Jade laughed, and quickly regretted it as his ribs ached, “Well, at least we'd match. Maybe Father would be so kind as to let us have a joint funeral too.”
“Yeah…”
Azul spoke up, slowly moving to sit on the edge of the infirmary bed, “It was a nasty fall from what I heard. You clipped a rock on the way down and bled a fair amount, the nurse gave you stitches but it should be fully healed by tomorrow…”
“Ah…so that's what the tightness on my back was…nothing too bad then?”
Floyd pouted, reaching a hand to poke at the wrapped stitches only to have Azul grip his arm and stop him, “I hope it scars…”
Jade laughs again, dealing with the ache of his ribs and the awkward position. He finally noticed a bundle of cloth clenched tightly in one of his hands, slowly working his stiff fingers open he released the fabric. A chill ran down his spine at the large smear of dark brown on what he now realized was a jacket; one the science club wears.
“What…Why is-”
“Oh, the jacket?” Azul hummed as he snatched the clothing from Jade’s now limp grasp, “A second-year had carried you back wrapped in it. Apparently, he was using the jacket to stop the bleeding. I would have gotten it cleaned and returned to him by now but you refused to let it go and Floyd wasn't helping…”
The jacket was dirty, both with dirt and blood. Wrinkled beyond belief and clearly sporting the name tag of ‘Trey Clover’.
As Azul and Floyd bickered, he felt his face flush. He had assumed Rook was the one to carry him, the Savanaclaw student seeming more athletic and versed in first-aid. But, no…Trey had carried him, used his own jacket to slow his bleeding wound. Faux kindness didn't cover such an act; it was deliberate. Jade fought the urge to bury his face in the pillow and squeal, no doubt kicking his feet would only worsen his already painful ribs and back.
Jade felt his heart race, closing his eyes with a love-struck smile as his mind created a narrative of a gauntlet knight with soft grass-colored hair saving a defenseless merman from peril. Rushing to his aid and calling out his name-
Jade’s eyes flew open.
Trey…called his name. He may have hit his head in the fall, but he clearly heard Trey Clover call out his name. The second-year…knew him…though Jade had never introduced himself…
It only took a few moments before Jade smiled, calling Azul's attention, “Azul, once you have the jacket cleaned please allow me to return it.”
-
Jade clutched the folded jacket to his chest, standing just out of sight of the opening to the Heartslabyul kitchen. He breathed in, steeling his nerves as firmly as he could before finally taking a step into the brightly lit kitchen, “E-excuse me. I've come to return something of yours.”
Trey had stopped mixing, a soft smile covering his face once he saw who was entering the kitchen.
“We haven't been formally introduced, I'm Jade Leech.” Jade stiffly held out the cleaned and pressed jacket, keeping direct eye contact with honey-coated topaz eyes, “We had your jacket cleaned. Very professional work, free of charge. As a thank you for helping me…”
Trey chuckled, taking the jacket and placing it on the counter, “I know who you are. I'm happy you've finally had a reason to speak to me though.”
“...Ah…you…you know who I am?”
“Well.” Trey adjusted his glasses, smile turning into a small smirk, “Riddle has most of us on the lookout for Floyd. So imagine my surprise when I find a lookalike following me everywhere?”
By the Seven, this was mortifying.
Jade could barely contain his blush, eyes looking to the side as he fought the urge to run, “Ah…yes…I…” he coughs into his fist, “I find you interesting, Trey Clover. I had hoped I could find a way to…speak to you on a more personal level…”
Trey’s smirk eases back into a friendly smile, tilting his head at Jade with a raised eyebrow, “Is that so? Well…just don't fall off any more cliffs, and I'm sure we'll have plenty of opportunities to talk to each other. I'm a rather approachable guy.”
‘You aren't and it's the strangest thing.’
But Jade still nods his head in agreement.
Trey motions for Jade to sit, moving back to continue to mix his batter. The silence was comfortable, just barely. Jade couldn't relax his body and was forced to sit in the wavy (Why was everything in this dorm built with a squiggly line as the guide?) chair at the kitchen’s island.
Only a few more beats of silence pass before Jade clears his throat, “I had…meant to ask; why were you in the woods that day? I wasn't aware that the Science Club did mountain hiking.”
“...” Trey smiles, looking at Jade over his shoulder, “We don't. But, it was a good thing we decided to hike through that day.” He poured his batter into a pre-greased pan, the chocolate filling the tin perfectly.
“...You just-” Jade blinked in confusion as Trey thrust the batter-covered spatula into his hands. He looks at the utensil, staring up at Trey in silent question.
The second-year smiles, turning away to put the pan into the oven, “It's to lick.”
Is this incubus trying to see inside his mouth?
Jade smiled back, nodding his head with the spatula placed over his lips. When Trey turned around he fully unclenched his jaw, allowing the almost manic smile to spread across his cheeks. In his surge of glee, he did…bite down on the spatula, needle-like teeth puncturing the flexible plastic like it was a jellyfish. He jolts, flinching when his teeth uncomfortably scrap the sturdy wooden handle within. Pulling his mouth away, just as Trey turned back around, leaving Jade mouth agape in broad daylight.
He almost ran, but he knew if he did he would never regain the courage to approach Trey Clover again, even if his life depended on it. Instead, Jade slowly closed his mouth, eyes looking to the side as he gave the now-maimed tool a small lick, “Thank you…I've learned I'm rather fond of chocolate…”
Trey was still for a moment, Jade realizing his eyes were trained directly on the area his mouth sat before they flickered upward to meet his eyes properly. He smiled, soft and kind, “That's good to know. If I ever make you something I'll make sure it's nice and chocolaty.”
“Thank you; you're so considerate Clover-san. It's a very rare trait among us Night Raven students…which…is why I'm still wondering why you and Hunt-san were in the woods that day. As far as I know, no other club in NRC has business being our neck of the Bog Mountains…” Exposure was the right move, Jade would have to thank Azul in some way for his suggestion. The longer he sat in Trey's presence, the less his heart pounded.
Sighing, Trey folds his arms and shakes his head lightly, “I see you won't drop this, I even let you lick the spoon.” he holds a hand up, his smile ever so slightly easing into a smirk, “ Crewel was pretty upset your club gear got back-ordered. While he seems to only focus on presentation, he's actually a strong believer of functional over fashionable. Your wear was designed to compliment your aesthetics while also giving you safety measures. Like the tracking chip in your coat lining-.”
“ The what now?”
“-So he was actually thinking of denying your field trip request. But I asked him if I could go to the woods for materials for experiments on that day. You're only a first year and have never been on the mountain paths before; I just wanted to keep an eye out for you.”
By the salt of the seas, this man. Jade was hoping he wasn't blushing, but from the teasing glint of Trey's eyes, he was already failing. Jade had followed Trey Clover for months. Peaked around corners, followed him through the aisles of the library, sat in his blind spot at lunch just so he could openly stare at him.
But the very idea that Trey had overheard Crewel's plan to cancel his first expedition and come to his aid was…it was…lord, Jade hoped he could kiss Trey Clover one day. The mysteries he kept hidden away, the unknown true person that had enraptured his affections. It was all just too thrilling.
Jade covered his mouth, laughing slightly and looking away, hoping to give himself a moment to control the blush on his cheeks, “Well, I think we both managed to succeed in our missions. And all it costs us was a few stitches and a bloody coat.”
Trey shrugged, thumbing the freshly cleaned coat for a moment, “Well…I was going to send my coat out for a professional cleaning during the winter break but I never got around to it. So using it to stop your bleeding was a bit selfish on my part. Two birds and one stone, you know how it is.”
Jade was going to Sam's to buy a diary just to make sure what he heard was recorded. Trey Clover seemingly saved his life on the off chance he could get free dry cleaning. The more he spoke to him, The more Jade was convinced he wanted to speak to Trey more and more, on increasingly personal levels.
“Oh.” Trey turned away, moving to the messenger bag that Jade had only just noticed. It was well worn, a dull yet quality leather that was clearly a hand-me-down. Opening the bag, Trey pulled out a clear container holding the Powder Wing Cap from the cliff.
The second-year placed it into a stunned Jade’s hands, smiling as he tilted his head, “This is what you wanted right?”
“...” Jade looked from the dimly glowing mushroom, locking his mismatched eyes into equally shining topaz. He smiled, wide and broad, showing his rows of perfectly white needle-like teeth. He felt a surge of glee, empowerment, as Trey finally showed an ounce of flustered nature at his smile, “Yes. It’s exactly what I want.”