Chapter Text
Azul spent the next few days, every second till he could see Idia, wondering if his messages were actually enough.
He’d told himself they were, and Idia was acting like the conversation never happened, but was that really confirmation? Would he have to avoid it all whenever they meet each other? Or should he bring it up? That was how relationships worked. Open communication about their problems was how they stayed together. But Azul hated talking about his weaknesses. If someone brought them up, he’d naturally assume that they were threatening him. If Idia saw it that way…
That train of thought repeated in a thousand different ways over his wait, especially when he was finding a drink for Idia. It all boiled down to him considering his desire to keep Idia versus his desire to know everything.
By the time he determined their drink, he knew which won.
Sunday came along rather quickly after that, and, before he could even rethink his decision, Azul found himself handing the bar over to Jade, glowering at Floyd, and filling his ingredient bag.
Some of the tools he usually had in there hadn’t made it home from the last time, but Azul was sure they got cleaned by someone. Probably Ortho, so Azul would have to be careful, but Ortho wouldn’t poison something he knew would be used for his beloved brother.
Azul grabbed blanco tequila, limes, Cointreau, agave syrup, and hoped that Idia had good salt. He put all that in his bag before snatching small containers of orange juice and non alcoholic tequila. Those he hid in the small pockets of his sleeves, as he had for many of his original meetings with Octavinelle’s previous boss.
It’d been a while since he’d felt the need to do that. Maybe that was why the juice slipped onto the floor. Or maybe… He sighed. No need to be superstitious. He picked the juice back up and replaced it properly. With how attached it was to his sleeve, not even throwing the shirt off could reveal it.
A downside to the perfectly oriented sleeves was that they weren’t on all of his outfits. They were on most, but he needed outfits that didn’t in case he was searched. Most of his more comfortable outfits also lacked the design quality.
That meant that Azul had to wear one of his fancier designs.
He ended up choosing one of the outfits he wore less often. It had been a birthday gift, but, since it didn’t match the color scheme of Octavinelle, Azul had never had many opportunities to wear it. Usually his formal meetings were ‘work’ related, after all.
Plus the design always reminded him of chocolate, and the embroidery felt like overkill. Those wouldn’t be a problem with Idia. He had better things to think of than chocolate.
With that thought, he picked up his bag and slipped his shoes onto his feet. Then he entered his car and drove quite casually to Idia.
Maybe he sped a bit. Hush.
-
Idia opened the door without needing to be prompted. The action surprised Azul, but maybe that meant Idia wasn’t mad at him or uncomfortable at their messages. That was comforting.
After Azul walked through the entryway, he took the opportunity to look at Idia thoroughly.
The man looked happy to see him, but there was an air of shame in his eyes that bothered Azul to no end. His blue hair was tied up in a messy ponytail that exposed where his clothing didn’t cover his neck.
The clothing itself was much like it had been during their last meeting. Idia was wearing a dress shirt, dark blue this time, and black dress pants. The shirt was buttoned wrong again, but this time there was only one mistake. Right at the top, he’d buttoned one below where he was supposed to. The last time he’d just seemed to button wherever and hope for the best.
It felt almost intentional. The only way to fix that was to unbutton and then rebutton everything. Azul grinned and muttered, “your shirt is buttoned wrong again, darling.”
He’d tacked the word on at the end to see how Idia would react. Last time they’d met, it’d made the man almost willing to drink the Bloody Mary without a trade. He’d love to see if it kept its potency.
“Uh- hm- Oh?” Idia blushed furiously as Azul, in another stroke of genius, hovered his hand over the top button, waiting to pull it open, “I, um, you could t- fix it? I mean, if you want. I can- I can probably do it myself.”
Idia looked at Azul’s hovered hands as he spoke, and Azul didn’t wait for the man to try fixing it himself.
Azul’s hands undid the top button with speed. Then he shifted to the next button. He could’ve done it fast, but that wasn’t necessary. Instead, he rested his cold left hand against Idia’s chest, causing a shiver, as he used the other to carefully pull the fabric away from its button. He repeated that, making sure to admire his partner with every touch, until he reached the final button.
At that point, he looked back up at Idia. The man was blushing harder, and, if he hadn’t seen it every time, Azul would’ve thought it was impossible. He quite liked how much of a reaction he could pull from his boyfriend with every touch.
The thought of the word boyfriend froze Azul’s hands before he could go back to his unbuttoning. That was right. Idia was his boyfriend now. He didn’t have to be quite so cautious with his affections.
He moved his body closer to Idia’s and finished unbuttoning the shirt. His boyfriend seemed pleased with the closeness, if a bit overwhelmed. That was good. Azul had just remembered a promise he’d made.
“Darling,” he hummed, looking into Idia’s eyes and seeing the unhidden interest, “I recall making an offer…” he moved his hands up from the button to Idia’s waist, keeping them under the shirt, “during a conversation this week.” Idia wobbled as Azul’s hands reached each other on his back, “I said I’d hug you, didn’t I?”
“Uh,” Idia’s weight was being almost entirely supported by Azul as they sat in their hug, “right. Hug. Yeah. That’s exactly what that interaction was leading to. Mhm. A hug. One hundred percent.” He didn’t move, as though processing his own words, before adding, “Gods your hands are cold.”
Azul snickered and rested his head against his boyfriend’s neck. Idia smelled like candy. It was a bit tempting.
Within a few moments, Azul pushed himself away from Idia. There was a timing system to hugs. If he’d went any longer Idia would probably have an aneurysm.
Considering the man’s frozen expression, Azul wasn’t completely sure he hadn’t already. He waved a hand in front of his face, “Idia? Are you alright?”
“Mhm,” Idia squeaked. His blushed shifted into something more manageable and he grabbed Azul’s hand, “let’s, uh, let’s go to the kitchen. Um, Ortho’s out.”
“I see,” Azul mercifully didn’t comment on Idia slightly sweaty palms as they walked, “is he out with that boy from last time? Or out wi- nevermind. I’ll start making our drinks if you set up the game, okay darling?”
With that, he slipped his hand out of Idia’s grasp and stepped fully into the kitchen. Out on the counter lay his tools from last time. He turned to Idia with a smile.
“Oh! The game,” Idia said, staring down at the hand that had held Azul’s, “right, yeah, the game. I had one of those. Right. Yeah, I’ll- yeah. Game.”
Idia shot Azul two finger guns before walking over to their table. He was extremely flustered. Azul hadn’t expected to have that big of a response.
“It’s about, uh, about the… um…” Idia’s speaking was lost into mumbles as Azul started cutting and juicing the limes he’d brought.
“I’ll find out in a moment,” Azul waved his knife around as he spoke, “you don’t need to explain it to me. Just go set it up so I can beat you.”
“Beat Me!” Idia completely lost his embarrassment to the sudden outrage, “don’t you act like this game is already won just cause you beat me last time! There’s no reason for me to drink your drink till I pass out this time.”
“Oh?” Azul poured the tequila into Idia’s cup, and the non alcoholic tequila into his own, as he spoke, “what makes you think you won’t want to drink my drinks? Are you calling me bad at my job?”
“Well after the last drink,” Idia muttered, and Azul could hear blush returning to his face, “I don’t know if I should trust your job in general.”
“My job is the only reason we met,” or at least one of them was, “do you really dislike it that much,” he poured in the last ingredient of their drinks at record speed as he smirked, “darling~ did you not want us to meet?”
The sound of plastic pieces falling to the ground was the only thing that alerted Azul to Idia’s response to that one. Maybe the way he said darling could help Azul’s cause.
“No!” Idia yelped, shooting up from his table to stare at Azul with his beautiful yellow eyes, “I love that we met. I’m sorry I tried to leave, please don’t leave me.”
Ah. That was the first mention of Idia’s… request. Azul partially wanted to snatch his boyfriend off of the place he sat, bring him to a safe house, and keep him there. That way the man wouldn’t be able to offer such things ever again. A different part of him wanted to make Idia apologize till his voice went hoarse. The most reasonable part of him beat both of them down. Idia was hurt and scared. If anyone should apologize, it’s Azul.
“I won’t,” Azul answered. It was the truest thing he could’ve said. There was no way he would ever leave. Not even if the bluenette ripped his heart from his chest. No, he’d never let him go.
“Mm,” Idia didn’t sound like he fully believed the words. It was a bit bothersome. Still, Azul had not yet found a way to fully control another’s emotions.
“Anyways,” Azul sighed, stepping around the kitchen and over towards Idia, “the drinks are ready.”
Idia looked relieved at Azul’s change in topic. That probably meant he wouldn’t want to discuss anything. A frown flickered over Azul’s face before his smile returned. That would be another thing he’d have to bring up later.
“Um, okay, so this is Battleship,” Idia explained the game as Azul sat down and separated their drinks onto coasters, “it’s actually based on the mythical retelling of the first Mer v. Human war.”
Azul moved his head down to look at each piece as Idia described them, “so there are two sides. One side has different ancient human boats and the other has differently sized sea creatures.”
The side Azul was on had the sea creatures. The largest was a five point lion’s mane jellyfish, followed by a four point blue whale, a three point whale shark, a three point basking shark, and a two point leatherback turtle. The pieces were actually very realistic considering how small they were. The artist did their research, although the sizes weren’t accurate when compared to each other.
The other side was plainer. There were five ships, with holes that matched the quantity of the other pieces. Azul couldn’t really tell how the ships were different.
“To be honest with you, I always thought the mer side was better,” Idia commented, and Azul wasn’t planning on disagreeing, “but I did figure out what the ships were,” his voice changed to a whisper, “after seven years.”
“Elaborate,” Azul said, he was not one to wait forever to get an answer, “and please try your drink before the ice melts. Contrary to what seems to be popular belief, watered down alcohol isn’t better than it is freshly made.”
“Oh, right,” Idia blushed and picked up his drink, taking a sip that turned into a wide eyed gulp, “wow! That’s actually good.”
“Seriously? One of the most classic cocktails to ever exist? Why do I even try?” Azul wanted to smush his hands into his face and scream. Sure those comments were bothering him, but the real problem was how easy it was to trick someone with a drink like that. For a normal person that was fine, and for a properly trained ‘member’ it was also fine, but for a civilian unknowingly associated with Octavinelle, not so much.
It was a good thing that the man didn’t drink out much, or Azul would have to trick him into changing his mind about the drink. And Azul hated ruining his drinks on purpose. Even his Bloody Marys were made perfectly.
“What? I can’t change what I like,” Idia grumbled, taking another sip, “anyways, that’s a First Rate warship,” he pointed to the largest boat and returned the focus to the game, “which just means it’s the biggest and most weaponed.”
“That’s a Frigate,” Idia continued, pointing to the four hole ship, “which is lightly armed, but fast and maneuverable,” then he pointed to the first three hole ship, “that’s a Barquentine, which is defined as having three or more masts and also some other stuff,” Idia waved his hand in the air before moving to the other three ship, “that’s a Xebec, which has three masts and is fast. Technically it’s for trading or pirates, but apparently during the war they were very important,” Idia finally pointed at the last one, “and that’s a Galley, which, fun fact, is the classification that Odysseus’ boat would fall into. They’re low.”
“Huh,” Azul looked down at the boats, but the only ones that looked unique were the Xebec and the Galley. He wasn’t surprised that it took Idia so long to look them up.
“My favorite’s the Galley, actually,” Idia said, and Azul moved his eyes from the pieces back to his partner, “just because of the Odysseus backstory. His boat was a penteconter, due to its fifty oars.”
“That’s interesting,” Azul muttered, though he didn’t really feel that way, “but why don’t we get back to the rules of the game. I wouldn’t want you to be drunk before we even start playing.”
Idia rolled his eyes and explained, “you put your boats or creatures onto the boards vertically or horizontally using the pegs on their bottoms. Then one person starts the game by using their spells, green for sea creatures and red for boats, to attack the other team. Each opening relates to a letter and number line, so, for example, if you’d say B4, then an attack would go here. You mark where you’ve attacked using the section above your own board. If your piece gets hit, then you say so, and when someone gets every section on your piece they’ve sunk it and you move it off the board. Whoever runs out of pieces first is the loser.”
“So it’s a strategy game,” Azul hummed, picking up his pieces and preparing to set them into his board, “get ready to lose. Again.”
“The only one of us losing tonight will be you, Azul,” Idia said, taking another sip of his drink. Azul took a sip of his as well. He really did like the taste of a virgin margarita, though if he were alone his go to would be a club soda over the fake tequila.
Well then, time to start.
Azul placed his lion’s mane jellyfish from I2 to I6. He put his blue whale from A1 to A4. He put his whale shark from B5 to B7. He put his basking shark from C3 to E3, facing Idia of course. Then he finished it all off with his leatherback turtle sitting from H8 to I8.
“Oh! I forgot to mention,” Idia exclaimed, seeming to have placed his ships where he wanted them, “mark when you’ve hit a ship by putting a peg into the top section here, and the darker colored pegs are hits where the lighter colored pegs are misses.”
“Got it,” Azul hummed, tapping his hand against the table and taking another sip of his drink. Idia mirrored the action. His cheeks were already getting flushed and they hadn’t even started playing.
“I guess you can start,” Idia said after a short pause, “since you won last time.”
“Not arguing with that logic,” Azul grinned, “G4.”
“Miss,” Idia grinned. Azul picked up a light green peg and stuck it inside the upper board grouchily as Idia said, “C3.”
Damn it. That was the basking shark. Already the poor thing lost its head. Azul put a dark green peg in it and grumbled out, “hit,” before quickly calling his next location, “J8.”
“Azul…” Idia frowned at him, and Azul knew he’d hit a target even before the words left the other man’s lips, “why couldn’t you let me celebrate my victories?”
“Celebrate what victories?” Azul said as he placed a dark green peg into J8, “you haven’t even sunk a ship yet. Use your next spell.”
“No need to be so bossy,” Idia whined, slipping his foot above Azul’s and stepping on it, “I didn’t know you were in a rush. C4.”
“Miss,” Azul grinned, “and you’ll have to try harder than that to distract me from winning, darling. I8.”
“Hit.” Idia was so bothered by the hit that he didn’t even seem to register the ‘darling,’ but maybe that was just the alcohol sinking in, “you’ve sunk my Galley.”
“Have I now,” Azul knew his voice was probably the poshest it had even been, but he really didn’t care, “what a shame for you.”
“Oh shut up, D3,” Idia snapped. A hit. Wonderful. Azul told him as much and he smiled. With that, the playful banter was over, and the real game began.
Azul: B2, miss
Idia: E3, hit, sunken basking shark
Azul: C8, hit
Idia: H9, miss, drink
Azul: B8, miss, sip
Idia: I2, hit
Azul: C7, hit
Idia: H2, miss
Azul: C6, miss, sip
Idia: I3, hit, laugh
Azul: C9, hit, sunken Barquentine
Idia: I4, hit, cackle
Azul: I2, hit, sip
Idia: I5, hit, drink
Azul: I3, miss, grumble
Idia: I6, hit, sunken jellyfish
Azul: H2, hit, grin
Idia: D8, miss
Azul: G2, hit, sip
Idia: F5, miss, “fuck”
Azul: F2, hit, wink
Idia: “fuck it,” A1, hit
Azul: E2, hit, sunken First Rate
Idia: B1, miss, drink
Azul: F7, miss
Idia: A2, hit, empty drink
Azul: C3, miss
“Would you like a refill,” Azul asked. Idia looked rather confused for a moment, no doubt having been focusing most of his attention on the game, before recognizing what was said. Then he pulled his side of the game towards him and nodded.
“I need your glass,” Azul hummed, and Idia passed it over without hesitation. The ice had melted.
Azul pulled himself up and stretched. Typically he’d be worried about his opponent looking at his game, but Idia was too drunk to remember everything’s positions.
The supplies Azul had brought had only allotted for one non alcoholic drink, but his wasn’t finished anyways, so he worked on Idia’s alone.
He looked back at Idia. The man was half above the table, but instead of looking at Azul’s board, he was staring at Azul’s hands. It almost made Azul fumble.
“Y’re not havin’ anythng?” Idia slurred, moving back to where he’d been seated. Azul shook his head, “mine’s not finished yet, darling.”
As expected, Idia turned an almost neon pink and dropped his entire upper body to the floor. Then Azul took a step towards him, and Idia shot up to recover his side.
“Well then,” Azul said, placing Idia’s glass pack in front of him and smiling, “your turn.”
Idia nodded, and the game was back on.
Idia: A3, hit, somewhat spilled sip
Azul: I6, miss, he almost grabbed Idia’s drink for a gulp
Idia: A4, hit, sunken blue whale
Azul: D5, hit, he cheered
Idia: F10, miss
Azul: E5, hit
Idia: B9, miss
Azul: F5, miss
Idia: B6, hit, drink
Azul: C5, hit
Idia: C6, miss
Azul: B5, hit, sunken Frigate
Idia: B5, hit
Azul: E10, miss
Idia: B7, hit, drink
Azul: H8, hit
Idia: G7, miss, panic
Azul: H7, miss
Idia: J8, miss, drink
Azul: G8, hit, blow a kiss
Idia: E6, miss, sigh
Azul: F8, hit, sunken Xebec
Victory.
What a wonderful day to have a leatherback turtle.
Idia smushed his face into the table, not bothering to look up at Azul. That was why you didn’t challenge the head of Octavinelle to a strategy game. If he weren’t so invested in his opponent, he certainly would’ve won faster.
With a malicious smirk, Azul leaned over their boards and looked down at Idia, “do you admit defeat, darling?”
“You’re usually drunker than this,” Idia grumbled, and Azul flinched, “but sure. I’m defeated. You’ve bested me. Care to best me in anothe-”
“Ahahahah,” Azul interrupted, blushing furiously, “I’m so glad you’ve admitted the loss. Why don’t we sit up and exist in each other's presence for a bit.”
Idia grumbled. He pushed himself up and, once Azul had let down his guard, snatched his boyfriend into his arms and pulled him into a hug on the floor. Azul froze as Idia, mirroring Azul’s own actions from the hallway, nuzzled into his neck and whispered, “your hands are very nice.”
“Uh,” Azul tried to respond. He really needed to get Idia to bed. They were too close for only one of them to be drunk, and Idia was definitely not sober.
But Idia cut his words off before they could start, “srry for being so annoying that night. ‘know I’m annoying. ‘N I don’t deserve to feel all sorry for myself ‘nd stuff. Sorry. Oh, and you don’t have to lie to me. I know I’m ugly. ‘N not funny. ‘N weak.”
Azul blinked, unsure of what to do besides comb his hands through Idia’s hair.
“And Orp-” Idia started to speak again, but he stopped before he could finish his second word. Within an instant he was shoving Azul away from him harshly with a manic look in his eyes.
“Ow,” Azul spoke instinctively, though the damage was minimal, “Idia?” He stood up and reached towards his partner, “did I do something?”
Idia’s hands pushed themselves over his face, his words coming out in a way that reminded Azul far too much of a person deep in psychosis, “why are you here? Where’s my brother? What did I do? get out. Get out. Get Out! GET OUT! LEAVE ME ALONE!”
The words moved into sobs, but Azul still wasn’t sure what to do. He didn’t want to leave. What kind of partner left their lover in such a state? Especially since it was his fault in the first place. But he couldn’t get close. He didn’t want to risk hurting Idia if the man tried to get him off again.
“Why do you care?” Idia’s leg knocked into the table as he dropped onto the couch, “what do I do now? Why would I tell you? No, no, no, no, no, no, no. No. No, it was always Ortho. Never had another brother. No. That never happened. It didn’t. I’m fine. I’ve done fine. I never…”
The sobs took full control of Idia’s sentences. He curled into a ball while Azul still stood frozen. There was a wet spot spreading from where Idia’s eyes were. Azul still couldn’t move his legs.
Gasps and sniffles filled the room. The margaritas lay horizontal against the table, Idia’s alcohol dripping from the wood down to the floor. The ice from Azul’s glass had long since turned to water on the carpet by the time the mer pushed himself towards his lover.
As his hand reached Idia’s shoulder, the sobbing subsided. The man had fallen asleep.
Azul looked towards the table, nothing would be ruined by the alcohol if he left it for just a little bit. Then he could come back and do what he planned. That was the only way he wouldn’t feel the need to do this again. If he didn’t learn anything, he knew himself well enough to know that he’d never be able to drink alcohol with Idia again till he did.
With that plan in mind, he lifted Idia off of the couch and walked him over to his room. Fortunately, the door was unhinged, and he could nudge it open with his foot.
Idia’s blankets were on the floor, so Azul gently placed the man down and pulled the hair tie out of his blue ponytail. Then he picked up the blankets and draped them over his partner’s sleeping form.
“Sorry, Idia,” he whispered, knowing the man couldn’t hear him, “I’m being awfully unfair with this.”
He dropped a kiss onto Idia’s forehead and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. Once he was out in the dark hallway, his expression broke into a manic smile.
Time to ‘look around’ a bit.
After he cleaned.