Deuce Spade: Seabreeze Cinderella
The new summer birthday boy color scheme makes me hungry… I think of 🍋 lemons 🍋 and 🫐 blueberries 🫐 🤤
I apologize if this one seems a little rushed; I wrote this while hurriedly preparing for another trip + I’m still dealing with recent events.
Like a single white rose in a field of red ones, Deuce stuck out like a sore thumb in that sewing room. Rifling through racks of jackets and boxes of jewelry, face affixed in awe. He’s stumbled into a forest where the leaves are unknown fabrics and the fruits are pearlescent spheres on strings. A boy lost, like a newborn chick stumbling through life, unsure of which way was what.
You sighed, and decided you give him a nudge, peeling articles of clothing off the racks and handing them to Deuce. A periwinkle dress shirt, a white vest and slacks, pearls, a sheer lace blazer…
“It’s like a magic spell,” you told him. “Cast it, and you can transform into an entirely new person. Delinquent to honors student. Worn-out soles to sparkling slippers.”
The Deuce standing before the full-length mirror barely recognized himself. Eyes swollen with wide with surprise, he nervously fiddled with his lapels and adjusted his corsage—a piece styled to resemble jelly. Every bit as awkward and as earnest as he had been the first day you’d met.
“I’m not sure if this suits me,” he sighed then. “I’m more comfortable with a pair of sneakers than dressy shoes.”
You thought of a girl in glass heels, groggily flitting to you like the dregs of a dream otherwise long forgotten. Did she, too, stumble in them upon her first steps?
“It might take you a while to break the new shoes in. How about we take a walk along the beach so you can get used to them?”
He brightened instantly. “Let's! The sand puts up good resistance to shoes. It'd be great for power training."
And so he had been set loose on the world. Shading your eyes and casting them along the shoreline, you followed Deuce kicking up clouds of sand on his new soles. Wind blasting his face, his determined battle cry carrying across the sea.
The exercise seemed to energize him--by the time he sat down for dessert, his face was alight. So wild, so free. Unconfined.
He sparkles like those slippers from your dreams. Partly from sweat, partly from excitement. (You had helped him fix his hair—which he had slicked up for the occasion—post-workout.
"Phew!” Deuce huffs, retrieving a silver spoon laid out before him. “Running always make me hungry. I can’t wait to dig in.”
His brandy glass is bisected by a stripe of milk pudding, blue jelly cubes and sliced fruits swimming in a sea of soda. It looks like someone bottled the sea.
In goes the head of his spoon, scooping up a generous amount. Deuce inhales the whole bite, the ends of his mouth curling into a grin. He produces a muffled sound of satisfaction.
“Mmmm! This is super refreshing. It hits the spot on a hot day.”
“I’m glad you like it so much.”
Deuce jolts in his seat, like it has suddenly occurred to him that he has made a faux pas. “Gah, sorry! That was impolite, wasn’t it? I… I should’ve waited for you to taste it first instead of charging ahead.”
“I don’t mind. I wasn’t the one sprinting on the beach. You need to replenish your energy,” you reply, shrugging. “Don’t worry about it.”
“You say that, but… Aren’t you going to try your cider jelly? I feel bad eating by myself.”
“I’m getting to it.” You casually stir your dessert, the fruit and gelatinous cubes sloshing together along the inside of your glass. “I was just thinking...
“Those clothes—” Your eyes flick up and down. “—they suit you well. Very well, actually."
“D-Do they?” He sits up straighter, and it reminds you of a golden retriever. Bright-eyed and eager to please. If Deuce had a tail, he would most certainly be wagging it. "Do you really think so?!"
“Yeah. Took some time to get used to it, but you grew into them.” You incline your head. “You’re very handsome.”
“H—?!” Deuce makes a noise like all the air has been forcibly sucked out of his lungs. “Wh-What do you mean by that?!”
“I mean exactly what I said,” you say simply, as easily as one might go about telling someone else about your daily chores. “But that’s enough of that. You’re hungry after your run, right? We’d better pack away at the free all-you-can-eat dessert.”
“H-Hey, you can’t just drop something like that and then move on from it!” Deuce rises and slams both hands on the table. “You can trust me with it! Honors student’s… uh, honor!”
“Maybe when you’ve matured a little more and the thought’s had more time to marinate.”
His brows turn down, the peacock blue of his irises darkening, turning serious. Deuce collides a fist into an open palm. “Gotcha! Watch me, then. I’ll mature so fast, you won’t even know what hit you! Then you’ll have to tell me.”
You laugh softly. “Alright, it’s a promise.”
Happy birthday, Deuce. Whether you’re in worn soles or brand-new glass ones… You’re always shining.
stormborns
germansingergirl
