since tiktok might probably get banned on the 19th, im gonna use this acc to promote (infodump) all my oc stuff here—starting with the very first oc x canon oneshot that i was actually able to finish without deleting it halfway through 🎉
(i’ll make some posts actually introducing my ocs so you’ll get to know them properly… if i get around to it)
anyways onto the actual fic itself:
fandom: twisted wonderland
pairing: sadie arachned (oc) x azul ashengrotto
synopsis: in spite of her extreme aversion to the winter season (and the holiday it’s associated with), sadie goes out into the snow for the very first time with azul, equally unexperienced with this kind of weather
Snow fell from the clouds, covering the world outside in nothing but pure white. Each flake spun and twirled through the air as they descended. The grass was a thick blanket of snow, the bushes and trees were dusted in white, and the ground was starting to frost over. It was something straight out of a Christmas movie.
Which was exactly why Sadie kept all the curtains in her room shut tight.
She didn’t need to be reminded of what time of the year it was now. She didn’t need to be reminded that October was over, Halloween was over, and everyone had moved on again like it was nothing. And she especially didn’t need to be reminded of which holiday was now at the front and center of everyone else’s minds since November 1st. She couldn’t go anywhere now without being bombarded by decorative candy canes, cartoonish snowmen with stick smiles, excessively decorated trees, and that glorified old geyser with his stupid red-and-white outfit. It was only mid-December, but she was already at her limit.
At least in her room, she didn’t have to be reminded of all those things. Little spider-shaped string lights hung around her room, each spider glowing green or purple in an alternating pattern. On both nightstands sat a pumpkin-shaped lamp, their faces molded in a malicious smile. A large black spiderweb hung above her bed on the wall, and several posters of her favorite horror movies occupied the other walls in her room. There wasn’t really any reason for Sadie to put this much effort into decorating her dorm room—considering she was only attending Night Raven College for a year—but how else was she going to keep her sanity intact?
“So what are we gonna do today?” Roulette asked, snapping Sadie out of her thoughts. The feline, all curled up and cozy in her lap, looked up at her with expectant orange eyes.
The boogeyman smiled and stroked her midnight fur. “Well, I’m gonna stay inside and maybe binge some horror movies on TwistFlix, and you’re”—she poked the cat’s nose—“probably gonna do the same with me.”
“Sounds good,” Roulette purred delightedly, stretching her limbs and flexing her claws. “Is Zaila gonna join us?”
“Nah, she went out to go gift shopping in the town square. And enjoy the snow, too, I guess.”
Sadie laughed. She gently scratched behind Roulette’s ears, earning another joyful purr from the cat, when a sudden ding from her phone caught her attention. Grabbing it with her free hand, she read the notification on her lock screen—a text from Azul:
Are you by any chance free today?
Her eyes lit up like jack-o-lanterns, and not just because of the screen. Feeling a smile tugging at the corners of her lips, she unlocked her phone and quickly opened up her messages to reply:
yeah, i was just gonna stay inside and watch some twstflix. why?
I was wondering if you’d want to spend the day together. The Mostro Lounge is fairly slow today due to all the snow outside, so I can take some time off now to come see you. ❤️
Another giggle escaped her lips.
Roulette grinned. “Are you talking to Dad again?”
Sadie glared, her cheeks flushing. “Shut up.”
“What? It’s not like he can even understand what I’m saying,” she pointed out. “He has no idea how many times I already called him my dad.”
Sadie shushed her again, face growing warmer by the minute. She turned her attention back to the conversation on her phone and continued typing:
sure, if ur feeling brave enough to watch some scary movies with me 😈
I’m afraid I may never be brave enough to even handle one. 😞
Besides, I actually had something different in mind…
Yes. Now, I already know what your opinion is on the subject, but please hear me out first.
Sadie raised an eyebrow as the three dots appeared, blinking in and out as Azul typed out his response on the other end. Anticipation gnawed at her like a spider feasting on other bugs.
I was wondering if you’d be interested, even remotely, in spending the day out in the snow?
Look, I know you heavily detest snow and anything associated with the holiday that shall not be named for your sake, but I figured we could try something new. Humans are always so fascinated with this stuff, we might as well find out why.
so u can find a way to start capitalizing off of it?
Of course not! How could you ever accuse me of such a thing, angelfish? 😔
u want the list in alphabetical or chronological order?
ikr, im a comedy genius 💚
but why do YOU even wanna go out in the snow? u never gave a shit about it before 🤨
I know, but this is only our second time experiencing snow. If you’re interested, then it wouldn’t hurt to try getting accustomed to it, would it?
Sadie let out a sigh, reading his text over and over again.
“Azul’s asking if I wanna go out in the snow with him.”
“Ew, why?” Roulette asked, her lip curling.
Sadie shrugged. “Apparently he thinks we should try ‘getting accustomed’ to it or something.”
She pressed her lips into a thin line and looked back at her phone screen.
We don’t have to if you don’t want to, of course. I can come over to Ramshackle instead and we can watch as many horror movies as your heart desires. ❤️
Sadie stared for a moment. Her fingers hovered over the keyboard. Then she began typing:
Really? You don’t have to force yourself to do anything you won’t enjoy. As long as we can spend time with each other, that’s all that matters.
exactly, so lets go out and see why everyone is so obsessed with this shit
Alright then! I’ll meet you at your dorm, and then we can spend some time out in the snow nearby. That way if you change your mind, we can immediately retreat inside and stay there however long you wish.
sounds good. ill be waiting, my lil octopookie 💚
Oh God, you still have that as my contact name?
it was either that or ‘babygirl’
Sadie laughed before shutting her phone off and dropping it down on the bed beside her. “Change of plans, Rou,” she announced. “I’m going outside.”
Genuine shock flashed in the feline’s eyes. “What? Why?”
Sadie gently took Roulette off of her lap, getting up from the bed to find some warm enough clothes for the weather. “So I can be a good girlfriend for Azul.”
“You already do that just by existing,” Roulette said.
Sadie chuckled, stroking the top of her daughter’s head. “Thanks, Rou-Rou.” She walked over to her closet and started rummaging through all the hoodies and sweaters hanging in there. She eventually settled on a thick black jacket with bright green spider-web patterning. She put it on, zipped it up all the way, and pulled the hood over her head, smiling as it enveloped her in its cozy warmth. Then she grabbed a pair of socks from her ebony dresser and pulled them on before turning to Roulette, still lounging on the bed where Sadie had placed her. “You gonna be okay here on your own?”
“Obviously,” she answered, lazily grooming her fur. “You’re acting like you don’t already leave me here on my own while you and Zaila go to class.”
“And I’m gonna continue acting like that since you’re basically my child,” the boogeyman retorted playfully, crossing her arms over her chest. “This is what parents do with their children, Roulette. You should know this by now.”
“And this is how children react when their parents do that, Mama,” the cat countered easily. “You should also know this by now.”
They both burst into giggles. Sadie reached over and ruffled the fur in between Roulette’s ears, earning another affectionate purr in response.
Then she glanced up at one of the windows in her room, completely covered by pitch black curtains. She slowly approached it and pulled back the curtains just an inch. When she peeked through the window, she was met with an almost blinding sea of white. She grimaced and immediately drew the curtains shut again.
Well, at least she wouldn’t be suffering alone today.
The snow crunched under their feet as Sadie and Azul walked hand-in-hand around the front yard of Ramshackle. The snow had slowed down a while ago, only a few flakes coming down from the pale sky at a time, accompanied by a faint, chilly breeze in the air. Every breath they took came out as cold, misty puffs in front of their faces. At one point, Sadie stopped to take a quick sip from the bottle of Dr. Pepper she had taken from the fridge.
“It’s already freezing out here and you brought a cold drink with you?” Azul chuckled and brushed some stray snowflakes off the stitches on her face.
“Do you really think the weather’s gonna stop me from having my Dr. Pepper?” she scoffed, raising an eyebrow at him.
“Of course not,” he sighed fondly, a soft wisp of air blowing from his lips, “but perhaps you should finish it before we begin our activities.”
“Fine.” She took another, larger sip. “What are we gonna do out here?”
“Well, one of the most common activities that humans like to do in the snow is making snow angels.”
“Making snow angels is when humans lie down onto the snow and start spreading their limbs back and forth as if they’re performing jumping jacks.” His voice dripped with confusion and slight judgment. “Apparently by doing so, they’re forming the silhouette of an angel.”
“Oh,” she said. “Can we make snow devils instead?”
“Snow devils?” Azul raised an eyebrow at her. “How would we do that?”
Sadie shrugged and took another sip of her soda, finishing it all in one gulp. “Just add horns to the snow angels.”
He chuckled. “Alright, darling, if you insist.”
After Sadie had thrown away the empty bottle, they walked around for some time until they found a spacious area of snow with plenty of room to lie down and spread their limbs. Azul went first, turning around and carefully lowering himself until his whole backside was flush against the snow. His face immediately scrunched up in discomfort. “Great Seven, this is much colder than I thought it’d be. I can already feel the snow melting into my clothing! How are the humans able to do this so easily?”
“Probably because they’re weird as fuck,” Sadie snickered.
A smirk crept onto Azul’s handsome face. “Don’t be mean, angelfish. We shouldn’t be so quick to judge their absurd— I mean, eccentric festivities.”
The boogeyman cackled and went to lie down beside him, but that laughter quickly died out as soon as she felt the cold, wet snow underneath her. Her muscles tensed at the repulsive sensation. Her face contorted in disgust, lips pulled back in a snarl. Ew, ew, ew, ew, EW—
Suddenly, the feeling vanished. The snow underneath her started to feel less mushy and more… soft, almost like an actual blanket. Her muscles slowly-but-surely began to relax again and her face softened.
“This… isn’t actually that bad,” she quietly admitted. At least, not anymore. It definitely took some time to get used to, but she had to admit it could’ve been much worse like she had expected.
Next to her, Azul turned his head. “Really?”
A moment. Quiet as Sadie’s words hung in the frosty winter air.
Then he smiled at her, his eyes so warm they could melt the snow with a single glance. “I’m glad to hear that.”
Sadie smiled back at him, suddenly feeling much warmer despite the icy weather.
“I wish I could share the sentiment, though,” he suddenly sighed, looking dejected. “I’ve yet to grow used to this feeling, lying down on the snow. Seriously, why do humans find this so enjoyable?”
Her grin turned devious. “Wow. Such a hater.”
“Yeah,” she double-downed. “You’re just filled with nothing but pure resentment for this time of the year.”
“Sounds like someone is projecting,” he teased in a singsong voice.
“Shut up,” she chuckled. Then she began to spread her arms up and down and her legs back and forth, slowly and with as much grace as she could (care to) muster. Azul quickly followed suit, moving his own limbs in the same way but with a grimace on his face.
“Ugh, it’s almost like having to do jumping jacks in P.E. class.”
“Yeah. At least Coach Vargas isn’t here screaming at us to correct our forms or to start eating hard-boiled eggs for every meal.”
The two young mages looked at each other and burst into a fit of giggles. Their limbs moved on autopilot, up and down and back and forth, as they continued poking fun at their teachers, their classmates, and even each other. Their laughter filled the air around them, thawing away the chill and bringing warmth to their numb faces.
After their limbs began to grow sore from all the movement, Sadie and Azul stood up and turned around to see the products of their work. Lo and behold, molded in the snow were two large angel-shaped silhouettes. They honestly looked more like butterflies in Sadie’s opinion.
Both Sadie and Azul crouched down and dug their fingers into the snow to draw some additional features to their respective snow angels. Sadie drew two piercing horns on top of its head and added a menacing, razor-toothed smile on its face. She took some time drawing each fang, making sure her snowy demon looked as wicked as possible, before standing back up to admire her work. “That’s more like it. Now it’s a snow devil.”
Azul had already finished before her. Sadie glanced over at his snow angel and saw that, unlike her, he had doubled-down on the ‘angel’ part: above its head he had drawn a halo, and on its face he had drawn a serene, close-eyed smile with glasses. He turned to Sadie and smiled flirtatiously. “And now it has an angelic partner.”
“I wouldn’t call it ‘angelic,’” she scoffed playfully. “I’d say ‘conniving’ is more accurate.”
A dramatic gasp. “How cruel, Sadie.”
“But ‘conniving’ is such a harsh word, darling,” he lamented. “If not ‘angelic,’ then I think ‘compassionate’ is a better substitute.”
Sadie grinned and patted his cheek. “Whatever helps you and your conniving snow angel sleep at night.”
He narrowed his eyes, playfully glaring at her, but slowly his lips grew into a mischievous smirk. “Oh, I’ll show you ‘conniving…’”
It was Sadie’s turn to dramatically gasp. “Oh no, what are you gonna do? Make me sign a contract? Try to rope me into another dumbass pyramid sch—”
She was cut off by a snowball in her face.
She blinked, genuinely caught off guard. She looked down at the remnants of snow that had crumbled upon impact and fallen to the ground. What the—
A villainous laugh broke her out of her confusion. She looked up to see Azul with the largest grin on his face, trying (and failing) to hide his laughter behind the back of his gloved hand. His glasses had fogged up from the cold, but soon enough they cleared up and revealed the smug gleam in his eyes.
“What the fuck was that, Azul?”
He smirked. “That was an example of another common activity humans like to do this time of the year: snowball fights.”
Sadie narrowed her eyes. A low, rattling growl sounded in the back of her throat. She glanced down at the snow devil she had created. It stared back at her, its smile suddenly looking a lot sharper than before. She felt a vengeful grin of her own slowly creep onto her lips.
“You know what?” Suddenly, she scooped up a handful of snow from the ground and shaped it into a sphere. “Sounds fun! Catch.”
Before Azul could react, she chucked her snowball right at him. Her smile widened at the flash of fear she saw in his eyes right before it collided into him. He stumbled, just as taken aback as she had been earlier. A petty cackle spilled from her lips, one that she didn’t bother hiding behind her hand. She laughed openly and unashamedly as Azul glared at her.
“I think I’m starting to get the appeal,” she taunted.
“Oh, you’re going to pay for that,” he challenged, beginning to gather up more snowballs with his magic.
Sadie grinned. “Game on, bitch.”
It was a fatal mistake for Azul to challenge Sadie.
Many snowballs had been flung at each other. Some had been easily dodged, others not so much. Sadie, ever the lucky girl, managed to dodge the larger ratio of snowballs than her opponent.
Because she used fire magic to melt them away before they could hit her.
“That’s cheating!” Azul cried indignantly, barely avoiding another snowball his way.
“You never said anything against using fire magic,” she countered with a cheeky smirk.
“Because no one has ever used fire magic in a snowball fight before! That would be insane!”
“It may be insane, but it’s technically not cheating,” she taunted in a singsong voice, blasting away another snowball with fire for emphasis. “And it helps to keep me warm, too.”
Azul sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I should’ve just agreed to watch horror movies with you.”
Sadie chuckled. “It’s too late to back down now, hon.”
Another snowball flew her way. She grinned and raised her pen, already prepared to fire (pun intended).
But as soon as she melted away the snowball with another gust of red-hot flames, she was hit in the face again, this time with a stream of water. She stumbled back and spat out some stray droplets, glaring daggers at Azul. “You asshole.”
“What?” he asked, feigning innocence. “I also never said anything against using water magic.”
Sadie didn’t respond. She just started running at him.
He yelped and began running as fast as he could. It was a struggle for both of them with the thick snow and freezing weather. A few times they almost tripped over themselves, struggling to balance themselves and keep running away from or after each other. Their breathing soon turned heavy and ragged, a sign of their quickly-dwindling stamina.
Unfortunately for Azul, Sadie had just a little more than him.
With the last bit of speed she had, she lunged forward and managed to tackle him to the ground. He shrieked as they fell onto the snow with a soft thud. Thankfully there was enough to cushion the fall and prevent any serious injuries.
Sadie grinned maniacally. “Gotcha.”
“I can’t prove it, but I know you cheated again somehow,” Azul teased with a lighthearted glare.
“Hey, it’s not my fault you don’t have any stamina.”
“Please, you barely have any yourself.”
“It’s still more than you.”
“Don’t bring math into this, you nerd.”
They both laughed, breaking the tension and bringing warmth into the atmosphere once again. Their laughter faded into comfortable silence as they laid there in the snow, neither one making any move to get up. Sadie let her mind wander like a pair of dice rolling across the floor. To think that an hour or two ago, or any time earlier than that, she would’ve been sulking in the darkness of her room, pretending it was still October. Now here she was, lying in the snow in the middle of December, making snow devils and having snowball fights with Azul.
She smiled softly at him. “I’m really glad we did this today.”
His eyes glimmered with unbridled affection, making her heart flutter like a moth. “I couldn’t agree more.”
They closed the space between their lips, sharing a slow, tender kiss with each other. Azul cupped the side of her face with one hand, caressing her stitches with his thumb. His other hand held her waist, keeping her close to him. Sadie rested her fingers in his silver hair, idly playing with the silky strands. Warmth flooded through their veins, spreading throughout their chests with every heartbeat. None of the wintry world mattered at that moment. Not the snow, not the icy wind, not even the risk of hypothermia.
Okay, maybe that last part did matter a little.
Eventually, Sadie and Azul went inside the dorm to avoid contracting hypothermia. They spent the rest of the day indoors, wrapped up in blankets, drinking hot chocolate (and more Dr. Pepper in Sadie’s case), watching some horror movies, and then watching some lighthearted movies afterward to un-traumatize Azul—much to his visible relief.
They cuddled together in the cozy darkness of her room, Sadie resting her head on Azul’s shoulder, Azul resting his head atop of hers, and Roulette inviting herself to rest across both their laps. Azul chuckled and stroked her fur, earning an appreciative purr from the feline. Sadie felt her heart swell at the sight.
“Are you gonna head back to Octavinelle anytime soon?” she asked after a while.
“I don’t plan to,” he answered. “Like I said, business was quite slow at the Lounge today, so I decided to take the day off to be with you. I wouldn’t be surprised if Jade and Floyd have taken the day off as well by the time I return. Speaking of which, I’ll probably have to head back soon to make sure the Lounge is still in order.”
“But in the meantime… I’d rather stay here with you and Roulette.”
“Dad of the year,” Roulette quipped. Sadie quickly shushed her.
Azul raised an eyebrow. “What did she say?”
Sadie responded a little too quickly. “Nothing.”
“He doesn’t even know what I’m saying, Mama.”
He glanced between her and Roulette for a moment before letting out a sigh and shaking his head. “Knowing you two, it’s probably better if I don’t know.”
She lightly smacked him on the arm. “Hey, I still taught Roulette to have some basic decency.”
“I’m joking, Sadie,” he chuckled, eyes glinting mischievously. “I would never question your… unique parenting methods.”
She rolled her eyes, snuggling in closer under the blankets. “How compassionate of you.”
Azul let out a genuine laugh and wrapped his arms around her, softly running his fingers through her hair. She smiled and closed her eyes. They had turned off TwistFlix a while ago, having had enough of their movie marathon. Now the only sounds Sadie could hear were their steady breathing, Roulette’s quiet purring, and the rhythm of Azul’s heartbeat in sync with hers.
A perfect end to a perfect snow day.
don’t let this fluffy oneshot fool you, these two losers hated each other in the beginning of the school year
god looking back on this fic i wanna rewrite it so badly but if i actually tried to, then it would never get published 💔 (i’ll probably post an updated/rewrited version some time in the future, just not anytime soon)
anyways i hope you enjoyed it, and i hope you like oc x canon bc arachengrotto (sadie x azul) is basically my muse and thus the main ship i write about. i hope i made it obvious enough that sadie is based off of oogie boogie from the nightmare before christmas, but i promise i’ll (try to) make an actual post about sadie and her lore (this goes for my other ocs, too)
k this author’s note is already super long so i’m gonna end it here. see ya!
