#idifawn

[yuuniee]

💀 It’s Warmer Here 🦪

▶ Synopsis: In which Fawn and Idia realize who they actually love this entire time; the only person who was there for her other than their usual friends...

A/N: Random inspiration struck, and lemme say, I think I was kinda cooking with this.. 🤭 Also Idifawn/Deadly Mermaid might possibly share the same place with Split Rose...

(not entirely because I like Cater and Idia, but the ocs I ship with them are one of the few I took longer time creating (⁠つ⁠≧⁠▽⁠≦⁠)⁠つ)

W/C: 15.562 w/ bonus :)) (NEW HIGH SCORE! 🎵)

Taglist: @twst-the-night-away @twstinginthewind @cyn-write @unity-obj @thehollowwriter @ice-cweam-sod4 @boopshoops

Mentioned characters: Outcast Group (Hayes, Viktor, Oliver, Fawn, Aurum, Miriam), Auburn, Iris (mentioned), Faith (mentioned), Renée, Idia, Ortho, Vil (mentioned), Leona (mentioned), Azul, Jade, Floyd.

⚠️ Content warnings: Angst to comfort, mentions of death, abusive relationship and toxicity.

▷ Now Playing: Yoh Kamiyama – Color Perfume

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It’s been a long time since they did their weekly game nights. Due to Fawn being in a relationship with a guy from Idia's class named Avalon for about eight months, she had started to come less and less, and eventually never.

But this time was different.

After almost a month and a half since the current school year started, she had come back to school with a completely different look. Her usually braided hair was down and messy, part of her bangs covering her left eye for some reason, she had ditched all the pink things she wore (including her contacts and the cardigan) and started wearing the uniform like the usual black jacket, white shirt, grey vest combo. She was no longer wearing makeup except for some chapstick, and her eye bags were visible which Vil had immediately reprimanded her for.

In contrast to how she presented herself last year, outgoing, cheerful and polite, this year she was more resigned, covering her mouth when she laughed, apologizing profusely when she made a tiny mistake, avoiding everyone except certain people like Renée, Auburn and Faith. And she looked like she’d lost the usual glow only he saw.

Idia was somewhat relieved to see her finally showing her real self bit by bit. Throughout the first week she came back, he and Ortho kept an eye on her. She was talking less with others, often slipping out of the crowds ever skillfully, never accepting any compliment and trying to water it down. Moreover, as she was walking around the school, people were whispering about her. He knew something was wrong, and the dread at the pit of his stomach never seemed to go away. And the tension quickly turned into anger as he heard the whispers about her.

“Hey, isn’t it the toxic ex-girlfriend Avalon was talking about?!” “Yeah, it’s really her…”

“Heard she was actually a psycho in disguise…” “So, is all this ‘nice girl’ act a lie? Talk about being a huge faker.”

Sometimes he saw how she reacted to these, staying quiet and pretending she didn’t hear them. But when they threw trash at her head and laughed after, he made up his mind and decided to ask her directly about it. However, each time he tried to find her, she didn’t seem to be in school. He wanted to ask her a lot of things, like why she came back after a long time, why people were calling her names, or why she decided to act more like her own self this year. Questions formed in his head, but he could only hold his tongue whenever he couldn’t reach her.

Needless to say, he was surprised when he eventually got a message from Fawn herself asking if they could continue their game nights again. To him, that meant his favorite player two was coming back to the fray. He let out a deep sigh, dreading the worst possible outcome; that she would want to end their friendship for good this time. But then, why would she ask him if they could continue the game nights?..

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Days passed quicker than he expected, sometimes in his room, sometimes outside much to his dismay. But he got to see her a few more times. Once during the Alchemy class where Crewel paired the two up for a project, where she kept stirring the potion and following the instructions the teacher gave them.

“...You’re quiet today.” He tried to break the silence.

“I’m just.. lost in my thoughts, that’s all.” She said, never breaking off her gaze from the cauldron. For a person who’s ‘lost in thoughts’, her voice sounded hoarse, forced, unusually serious even. Then she turned her head at him for a second before looking down again.

“Y-yeah?”

“Could you.. add the next ingredient please?” She said, rubbing her eyes for a moment.

He nodded, then added the dried up plant into the pot. But then he looked at her face again while they stirred the potion together. Her eyes were lowered, gaze too focused, and although she tried so hard to keep her expression neutral, he could see that she occasionally bit her lips. As far as he knew, usually she was the one to break the silence and ask how things were going for him. But this time, that question never came.

“Fawn.” He hesitated before continuing. “Do you-- I-I mean, are you.. alright?”

She stopped stirring for a moment, didn’t respond, but averted her eyes from his. Then she gave him a small nod before continuing. This made him worry even more, because she was usually more talkative with him. He looked at her for a moment while the little skull robot stirred the pot for him. He noticed that despite looking focused, her face seemed blank. She wasn’t even blinking and seemed a little stiff even.

“...I’m alright, Idia.” She finally responded to him, but her tone was dry as if she was holding back her tears or trying to hide something. He desperately wanted to know what made her so depressive, but as soon as he saw the teacher coming to their direction with the corner of his eye, he decided to talk to her later.

By the time they were done with the potion and Crewel had praised them, she would usually say at least a quick ‘thank you’, but this time she shook her head and said, “I.. we… just followed your instructions, sir.” with a voice lower than usual, so obviously it reached no one’s ear. But he was so sure he almost heard her say it. If he could prove it, he definitely would, that something definitely feels off about her this year. But he had nothing in his hand yet, and he just sighed in defeat before walking off to his next face-to-face class that he dreaded after the bell rang.

The second encounter was in an empty classroom, where he heard her talking to someone longer than usual. He knew she didn’t like being eavesdropped, but he couldn’t help when she sounded so pained.

“...Yes, I’m aware.” She huffed, “But you know, this is for the best. …Yes, I know Auburn is going to pick it up today. …No, I gave him all the info needed.”

‘What’s she talking about?’

He leaned in a little to see her better. She was sitting hunched over against the desk with an unrecognizable expression, one hand on her forehead while the other was on the desk, and her phone was on the desk near her hand. She was speaking in her earbuds, those that he saw her carry almost everywhere.

“...Yes Iris. I’m sure he’d like it, and I know I owe you a favor in return… I’ll have to be quick before the club hours start. Okay-- I know, I know! …See you too.”

‘Iris.’ He sighed and thought to himself, ‘Wasn’t she the girl that’s hanging out with Leona the other day?’

Regardless, he noticed her getting up from the desk with a shaky sigh and scrambled to get out of there before she saw him. But as soon as he turned his back, he heard a familiar voice behind him.

“Idy~”

He felt her arms wrap around his waist from behind. Although he couldn’t see her expression from the way her head was on his shoulder, he could feel her hold getting tighter. Then she leaned into his ear and slowly whispered.

“How much did you hear?”

“No! N-nothing! Nothing at all!!”

His hair flared up like wild flames, causing her to jerk back, but then she walked right in front of him with that familiar grin.

“No need to get so jumpy, it’s fine if you heard a few things or two... but you know it’s rude to eavesdrop...”

“I-I.. know.. but...”

He couldn’t contain his own heart literally thumping against his ribcage as if it’s trying to get out. The girl standing in front of him walked close and hesitated before putting her hands on his shoulders.

“...I’ll let it slide this time, but please don’t do it again...” She mumbled, gave him a little pat on the head like how she used to do back then, and left as if the conversation never happened. But his heart—oh, his heart was going crazy with each beat so fast, he had to sit down leaning against the wall. The way she looked at him wasn’t normal, in fact that familiar spark from before felt like it was coming back for a second. It took him a while to calm down, sure, but when he checked the time through his tablet, he realized he was thirty minutes late and Board Game Club’s activities had started a few minutes ago. He immediately got up and ran as fast as he could to not be any later.

The third was the very next day, in Mystery Shop where he was buying some energy drinks because he was nearly running out of them. Then he saw her looking at her phone, and at that exact moment he saw a message notification from Magicord pop up on his tablet. The familiar profile picture of a chibified version of her favorite character from one of the games they play and also the character she usually played with popped up with the notification.

oyster's pearl lol: [Sticker: Cuddly Sheep — Tackle Hug!]

oyster’s pearl lol: Hey idy it’s me 👋

Without wasting any more seconds, he walked somewhere else where he wouldn’t block other people in the shop and tapped on it to see the text.

oyster's pearl lol: Just wanted to ask if you’d be ok with continuing our game nights

He saw her pause for a moment as the messages came to a halt, but then he noticed the three dot icon appearing on the screen again as she looked at the screen while anxiously biting her lips and furrowing her eyebrows.

oyster’s pearl lol: I get if you don't wanna, but the truth issss

oyster's pearl lol: I missed you 👉 👈

oyster's pearl lol: *PLAYING WITH YOU I MEAN*

oyster's pearl lol: Yes playing video games with you 🫵😉

He snickered at her reaction before replying.

gloomurai🔥🔥🔥: sure wwwwwww

Then he quietly watched her reaction. First her eyes widened, then she teared up a little bit while the corners of her mouth formed a slight smile. Subconsciously, this made him smile as well.

oyster's pearl lol: Okay thanx Idy you're the best 🫂

oyster's pearl lol: See you tmrrowww ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶

Then she left with her bags with an excited smile. That bright smile he saw somehow had lifted the worries in his heart a little bit, and became the source of his temporary joy. Without thinking much, he replied back.

gloomurai🔥🔥🔥: yw

gloomurai🔥🔥🔥: and make sure to bring some snacks with u

As he clutched his tablet like a lifeline, he felt a light tap on his shoulder.

“Oh, if it isn’t Idia!” said a familiar voice he knew all too well. He opened his mouth to shriek in response, knowing it’s one of the extroverts he avoided like the plague, but no sound came out.

“It’s so rare to see you outside, would you like to hang out with me?” Cater continued, cheerful as always.

He shook his head and typed something on his tablet.

“I can’t, my throat feels sore again and I need something to ease it.” The robotic voice came from his tablet after a while.

“That’s unfortunate..” He twirled a lock of hair with his fingers. “Well, see you s-- Oh, he’s already gone?!”

The gamer had indeed slipped out before he got the chance to respond.

The fourth was on the same day in the afternoon where he noticed her sitting at Moonmon Cafe. But this time, she wasn’t alone. She was talking to Hayes, Viktor, Aurum, Oliver, and a new face he didn’t notice around her before, but he knew he definitely saw it somewhere on the internet. Meanwhile, he was just there to pick up his order of soda pop cake in person because the app he usually ordered on was giving him so many error messages that he started to get frustrated. With his hood pulled up all the way to hide his face and the black facemask he was wearing, he was almost unrecognizable. As he waited in line, he glanced at the group again and unintentionally overheard their chat.

“...So, about the concert tickets--” Hayes started.

“I have them in my pocket, so no need to worry. I have it handled.” Fawn replied.

“Two for the front row too… Must’ve cost you a fortune, Eli.” He mumbled that last part.

“It wasn’t much of a problem for me, I just wanted to make up for the lost time..” She admitted sheepishly. “Though.. what I want to see right now would be his reaction to them. My guess is that he would accept them, but go with someone else…”

“If he tries, I’ll let that dolt know how much you worked for them.” Oliver joined the convo, “Taking so many animation commissions, working part time at the Mystery Shop, and while you were already working at Mostro Lounge too.. Didn’t it wear you out? Oh, I’d never survive this much work if it were me..! Wait, you told us you took emergency commissions online for the tickets, right?”

She replied with a single nod and smiled.

“Y-yeah, I did. Prince’s vet bills and the tickets cost more than I expected.. but it’s alright. As long as my precious chubby kitty and my favorite player two are happy, I will be too…”

“...I think he would love these.” Aurum said while eating the caramel cake in front of her.

“Oh right, you could see the future...” She replied, her smile growing wider. “C-could you, perhaps, tell me--”

“Yes, I can. And unfortunately, I’m not in the mood of giving any spoilers today~” The brunette mused with a lock of her hair twirling between her fingers.

“Ack-! How cruel, Ruru!!” Hayes joked with a grin. “Come on, not even a few seconds for us?”

“Nope, not happening.” She replied while taking a forkful of cake to her mouth. “And gosh this cake is super delicious.. I’ll have you guys try it out next time.”

“Caramel is.. not my thing, I’ll pass.” Said the unfamiliar lady with her sunglasses perched on her head and her own mask under her chin. “I dislike overly sugary things.”

“...I’ll pass too.” Viktor mumbled.

“How unfortunate…” Aurum sighed and continued with a small wink, “Oh well, can’t force it down your throats now, can I?”

The lady laughed quietly in return and shook her head.

“Judging by how it looks, the cake itself looks like it’s a mound of sugar. And you’re drinking bubble tea too… Aurum dear, I worry you might get cavities with how much sugar you eat these days.”

“Don’t worry, I exercise a lot. And also our vice leader is.. let’s say, very attentive when it comes to dental health.” Aurum said, rolling her eyes. “But I need my sweets too, you know? Like french toast, popping candy, macaroon, lollipops, and--”

“Ruru, stop, you’re gonna make Miriam grill you again~” Fawn chimed in with a small grin. In return, Miriam took a single sip from her herbal tea.

“You both know I do this because I care about your health, right?” She glared at the two.

Idia’s eyes widened.

‘Wait, Miriam?! Miriam Vandenberg?!’ He thought to himself again. ‘The one who’s gonna play as Enchantress Medeia in Hexborne?! That Miriam Vandenberg?!’ He thought to himself while listening to their talk, his hair blazing brightly beneath the hood.

“Of course.” Aurum replied while licking the cream off of the corners of her mouth.

“If you didn’t, we would probably eat ourselves to death.” Fawn replied sarcastically. In response, Hayes lightly elbowed her and Miriam pinched her cheek.

“Wahh--”

“Let me remind you that it was my idea to drag you here, honey.” She started, “If it weren’t for us, you would probably still shed those tears for someone who doesn’t even care about your well-being.”

Idia felt himself getting tense again. ‘What’s she talking about?’ He thought, and decided to listen to them a little more.

“He was the one that tried to hurt you, but got frustrated when you defended yourself.” She continued, “Judging by what you told us, he was rather violent, possessive, and possibly egoistic. He couldn’t bear to see you with someone else from the opposite gender. So much so that he tried to sabotage you.”

Idia’s eyes widened.

‘Violent?!’ He thought. ‘Avalon was being violent to her?!’

He scowled before turning his head back, but he could still somewhat hear them talking.

“I-it was nothing serious, I swear--” Fawn tried to change the subject, but was quickly cut off by Aurum who was sitting right next to her.

“...According to the vision I just saw from the past, he tried to control you. But you didn’t let him do as he pleased, so he tried to harm you in other ways. He even threatened to break up with you if you kept going to Ignihyde.”

“Speaking of, why were you even going there?” Hayes asked with a hand under his chin.

“...To visit a friend.” She admitted quietly. “He accused me of cheating on him with Idia and even had sent him a few messages through my phone that I apparently couldn’t come, then immediately faked having something urgent right before I went.”

“Idiot.” Viktor broke his silence as he raised his head. “If it were me, I’d beat his ass without a second thought.”

Idia was livid, and it was evident from the way the tips of his hair were turning orange. Just as he was about to open his mouth and join the conversation, he heard someone shout from behind him, causing him to literally shriek and jump.

“Oi, hoodie guy! Stop standing like a damn brick wall and move already!!”

He moved, but not before locking eyes with Aurum for a few seconds. Her face was neutral if not smirking at him, sure, but he felt his knees go weak and ended up tripping over, fell to the ground and bumped on the old lady in front of him.

“Tsk, young people these days have no respect.” She hissed and moved forward since it was her turn. His eyes darted in between the faces that were staring at him, some with neutral looks, some with concern, some not even looking at his direction but nobody was helping him.

Except for one person.

“...Are you alright, Idy?” Fawn, who immediately jumped off of her seat and ran to him, asked with pure worry as she offered her hand to him and helped him stand up. Then she slowly dusted his hoodie, fixed it and held his shoulders. For a moment, words seemed to be lost on him and he could only look at her face and her casual attire which he found stunning. She was even wearing the Precipice Moirai bracelet he gave her last year on her left wrist.

“‘m fine.” He muttered quickly, then continued while hiding his face. “...N... no... need to worry... ab-about me...”

“Are you sure? You could come to our table if you want.” The silverette offered politely. He looked over his shoulder to see Hayes waving his hand in his direction. Then he saw the others and visibly shriveled in his spot.

“N-no no no... I’m okay this way.” He objected, which she nodded in response and gave him a small kiss on the cheek, causing him to jerk back with a yelp and get more eyes in his direction.

“See you soon--”

Before she could finish, he bolted out of the cafe but not before bumping his head into the exit door with a loud thud. Fawn looked back with pure concern and slowly exhaled the breath she didn’t realize she was holding.

“Guys, may I?”

“Go ahead.” Aurum grinned while stirring her bubble tea with the straw. “Chase your fireball.”

She rolled her eyes at her and ran after him, but to her horror, he wasn’t anywhere in sight. She sulked a little before slapping her cheeks to get a hold of herself and went back to the table pretending she was fine.

But little did she know, Idia was hiding just behind the alley between the cafe and the mini market with his hood pulled all the way up to his hair so it doesn’t expose where he really was. He looked around to check if she was gone, then he rubbed his throbbing head and sighed.

“...Just a few more hours. Hope she’ll come tonight.” He mumbled to himself as he shook his head a little, then he took a deep breath.

“Those… IGNORANT JERKS!!!” He yelled, “Do they really think every person is like them?! Why can’t you just wait for a few more seconds?! Did you choose to have a temper tantrum instead of some fricking common sense?! Is it really that hard to say ‘Hey, excuse me. I think you should move.’?! Do you have a sack of potatoes instead of brains?! ARGHHHHHH!!!!!”

He panted a little and leaned against the wall.

“...And that Avalon… Oh, that hacker NPC…” He sneered, his hair blazing wildly in full orange, the flames engulfing the air like a wildfire. “Pretending to be the good guy while making other people suffer just because she huwt youw fwagile widdle ego~? You’re nothing more than a drop in the ocean, my guy. You should feel lucky she didn’t hit back or anything, or else she’d give you a REAL reason to whine and cry like the little, thumb sucking baby you are!!”

He exhaled and slowly slid with his back down from the wall and hugged his knees.

“...But… how did I not see it..? The signs.. the excuses.. everything…”

He saw everything, how she slowly became withdrawn after she started dating that bastard, how she flinched when he raised his voice too high, how she texted him over Magicord less and less, and how she had always told him something came up more and more frequently over time. But instead of doing anything, he had stayed silent, not because he wanted to, but seeing her happy with someone else had hurt him deeply. Although he refused to admit before, now it was clear as day; he liked her ever since they were first years. How she laughed at his jokes, how she always brought his favorite snacks, or how he usually found her resting with her head on the desk after he had another long game... But he was too embarrassed to admit it because he didn’t think he deserved to be with someone so “UR tier” like her.

By the time he raised his head again, tears were rolling down his face, he was still hugging his knees, and it was getting dark. He slowly got up with a groan, dusted himself off, and went to the market to buy some snacks instead.

While Idia had a hard time, Fawn would be lying if she said things were easier on her end too. The amount of things she endured ‘for the sake of love’, while in reality it was a group of her former friends along with Avalon convincing her to stay with him until she couldn’t anymore. In the end, she completely left that group of friends and went back to her own. She was now glad she’s able to do whatever she wants without being judged for it. And she felt somewhat proud of herself for standing up to him whenever he dared to raise a hand or said anything hurtful, but it doesn’t mean the things he said to her didn’t upset her.

“Look at you, crying like a baby.”

“Pathetic. Is this the honor roll you’re supposed to be?!”

“Why can’t you be tougher, huh?!?”

He didn’t kiss her, compliment her, or even say something good to her after a few weeks of dating. Especially after she made the mistake of revealing her biggest secret to him; that she was one of the top five strongest mages in Twisted Wonderland, Queen of Abyssal Sea. Everything between them went downhill as well. One day he was being cold to her as per usual, the next he declared a war to her kingdom and destroyed everything. He had used his Unique Magic to impale her and then drag her to ‘where she belongs’ as he had said. But then she got revived by her caretaker who was there for hundreds of generations, Alfina, only to be killed in front of her by the bastard’s allies. Seeing her own people in so much pain, losing the only person from her family who didn’t see her as danger and the amount of things she went through had sparked something inside her; the type that shouldn’t have happened in the first place—an overblot, which took a lot from her and ended up causing all her siblings to leave her alone for becoming too dangerous. That was the actual reason she had that scar on her chest in the first place, that she had to spend the rest of her summer break in the recovery pod until she was completely fine, and that she decided to be herself more and more with the encouragement of her new friend group.

And right now, she had only one objective in mind; catching up with her childhood friend whom she liked dearly.

But of course, she couldn’t have told all this to Idia. She didn’t want anyone to worry or learn about what happened to her, especially him. But she knew that she’d have to tell him sooner or later, she just didn’t want it to be too soon.

She shook her head, wiped the tears that were about to fall and took a deep breath, then gently knocked on the door three times with a small backpack and a paper bag on hand, waiting for a response. After a small pause, she heard a small shuffling sound and the door opened.

“Come in.” He said, “I-I prepared something special.. for you.”

She came in with a smile and greeted him with a nod, then she took out a small cube from her bag, placed it near his chair and pressed the little button on top of it. While the cube transformed into a floating gaming chair, which was something she’d made on her own with just a bit of help from some students from Ignihyde, she went to the restroom to change into something more comfortable. After she came out, everything was set. Almost. She glanced at him, who had a bowl full of those limited edition candies she liked and her favorite lychee soda that’s chilly next to it on his desk, and gathered the courage to ask him.

“Are these.. for me?” She asked with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

“Mhm.” He nodded, “...I wanted to do something special because you were coming, and.. I-I didn’t wanna play Cloverfield Days, Titan’s Arena or Arcane Odyssey.. I mean I only logged in and grinded some stuff for events for you, but that’s about it.”

Fawn tilted her head curiously.

“Why? I thought these games weren’t as important as the other ones you play..”

“...It didn’t feel the same without you.” He quietly admitted. “You.. weren’t really there, so I barely played them.”

Then he looked at her with a light smile.

“C-can we, maybe.. play together again..?”

Her eyes widened, then softened and she gave him a small nod while sitting down on her chair next to him. As Idia loaded the first game, a screen popped up that said “Uh-oh, it seems like the garden needs a quick change! Let’s fix that!” which meant there was an update in the game.

“Oh yeah, there was a collab with the cafe you were in that started today, so I ordered the soda pop cake but.. you see how it went.”

“Then it’s great that I brought it with me.” She grinned.

“Really?!”

She simply nodded and snapped her fingers. After a few seconds, the paper bag sitting on her bag started floating towards her hands. And after it came, she quietly gave it to him with a smile.

“The man in the cash register kept shouting ‘Soda pop cake for Idia Shroud!’ or something like that, so I bought it and took it for you.”

He shriveled.

“...People have no common sense, I swear to all the gods above…” He mumbled in between his hands.

“I know that, unfortunately.” She leaned in and took a candy in her mouth and continued while chewing. “...Some people can’t think of doing anything reasonable these days…”

Then she glanced at the screen and let out a small sigh.

“...Two hours and twenty eight minutes left, huh? What a shame...” She mumbled with a blank face.

“We can play something else while CD updates, y’know.” Idia replied, “How about Titan’s Arena?”

Her face visibly brightened up.

“...That’d be great, but I might be a little rusty since I didn’t get to play Grinder’s Arena much.” She sighed, then put a hand over her forehead and dramatically leaned back on her chair, “My precious Seralei must’ve missed me a lot…”

“Yeah, Mordecai missed seeing his wife too, you know..” He mumbled under his breath.

She turned her head for a second.

“Oh, n-nothing! Nevermind!” He sputtered before shoving a fistful of worm candy into his mouth.

After they set up the secondary screen and the keyboard together, Fawn logged in her account to see a huge amount of gold and gem essence saved up. She covered her mouth in surprise and bit her lips to not cry from happiness.

“Fuhee--” She heard him chuckle next to her and he teased her lightly, “What’s wrong? You look so touched~”

“I am touched..!” She muttered, then leaned forward to prop her chin up with her arms. “...D-did you actually grind this much for me, or did you choose to whale?”

He sighed and shook his head with a grin.

“Let’s say I did a bit of both. They’ve been giving us so much SeraMorde content lately, and I know she’s your fave and main, so.. I did what I had to do.”

“Idia, you..!”

She slouched over and buried her face in her hands, sobbing with an overwhelming joy after everything.

“F-Fawn, seriously! What’s wrong?!” He asked, full panic in his voice as his smirk dropped. But instead of replying with words, she hugged him a bit tighter than usual.

“Idiaaaaa.........” She tried to sound well, but unfortunately her voice shook as she kept holding Idia until she was done crying. Not knowing how to even react, he just stayed still and awkwardly patted her back while she let it all out. She cried and cried, and eventually her choked sobs reduced to little whimpers. After she was done, she quietly backed off and wiped her eyes with the sleeve of that purple cardigan she wore. Then she leaned back with a blank face as the guy next to her was stunned. He slowly turned back to his computer and went to the normal matches as she did the same right after while both of them tried to act like nothing happened. But then she sighed and broke the few seconds of silence between them.

“Nngh.. Wh-why... Why did I choose to leave you alone?!” Fawn mumbled and covered her face.

“...I’m used to being alone...” Idia replied, looking away.

“Idia, please.” She looked at him with tears in her eyes and a small pout on her lips, then suddenly blurted out. “It’s.. it’s warmer here!”

“W-warmer?” He stammered, confused.

Realizing what she said, she looked away as well. The only thing that’s warm wasn’t just the room, but her cheeks as well... She slowly turned her face away, placed her hands on it and let out a long sigh.

“Yes...” She muttered and looked down, avoiding his gaze. “Your room is warmer than any other place, I can truly just.. be myself here.”

He just looked at her in disbelief.

“You can’t be serious..! I-I mean, my room is so messy, everything literally scattered everywhere, it’s a chaos zone!! A-and I.. I don’t really know how you can just say that-- I-I--”

She sighed and looked at him for a moment.

“...You’re the only one who makes it warm then.” She whispered, trying to muster a smile despite her rolling tears. Then she turned her gaze to the candy bowl, ate one and looked down.

After a silence that stretched for far too long and felt like eternity, Idia hesitantly reached out, but then he stopped himself. ‘What if she pushes me away..?’ He thought to himself for a moment and sighed as he turned back to his front. Then he heard it, the way she took a shaky yet deep breath as if she’s about to say something big.

“...You’re a ‘warm’ person too, Idia..” Fawn continued. “You’re brutally honest sometimes, but you hardly judge me. You don’t make me feel smaller, insignificant or worthless... Even when I’m with others, I feel the need to put on a face to please them. But with you, I can be completely honest, and act like myself.”

Then she pursed her lips into a thin line and leaned back on her chair before talking again.

“…Now that I think of it, our game nights just might be the only thing that kept my head straight too... Wh-what I’m trying to say here is that... that your room, despite being a ‘chaos zone’ as you call it, can be a relaxing place to somebody else.”

Then she gave him a little smile and reached out to his pale face, and held it in her hands with a smile.

“And you.. make me very happy. The times we spend together is the best thing to me. I don’t have to smile until my cheeks hurt, or tell people what they want to hear all day... You may not see it, Idia Shroud, but the way you accept the ‘true Fawn’ here is the reason she’s able to actually meet others this year.”

By the time she was done, there were tears at the corners of her eyes and rolling down her cheeks. ‘Yes.’ She thought to herself. ‘I remember everything clearly now. How he remembered what I liked, how he made sure I could be comfortable too, or how much fun we had while playing together..’

‘How she managed to get me to go out a little more…’

‘How he made me laugh with those game related puns sometimes…’

She closed her eyes for a moment.

‘Yes... I’ve actually fallen for this guy in the first place. He made me feel truly special, gave me a reason to go on without realizing it, and it was only natural that I returned the kindness he gave me...’

He slowly leaned in her touch and closed his eyes, basking in the warmth of her hand and how that warmth is spreading through his chest. She finally opened her eyes and looked at him, really looked at him, and caressed his cheek a little.

‘I wish this moment could go on longer...’ Both of them thought, and the moment Idia opened his eyes again and met Fawn’s, there was a little tingle he felt on his chest that made him feel.. alive. Like the heavens finally blessed him with the warmth he secretly craved for so long, and the look in her eyes held that exact warmth. He felt his heart start to beat faster as he realized that they were too close to each other, and his hair started turning in a soft pink which made her chuckle.

“Idia...”

“Fawn..?”

“I...”

Another moment of silence, then she breathed out a small sigh as she let go of his face.

“...I think we should probably start playing it... Titan’s Arena, I mean.”

He blinked a few times like a deer in headlights.

“Huh? ...Oh yeah.. r-right...”

Then he turned back and went to prepare a match with her, as she did the same, she couldn’t help but wonder why she hadn’t realized those feelings yet. Then she leaned back as she gathered her thoughts. He was really there for her when nobody was, believed in her, and encouraged her in his own, awkward way.

‘Y-you’re a lot like Hespera, you know..? When the hunters attacked her, she didn’t even flinch and.. and you’re so strong like her.. I-I like it. Yeah.’

‘Umm.. well.. some people think of some character with lower stats and say that she’s not meta.. but the character turns out to be OP in disguise.. I th-think.. you’re.. like that kind of character, you get me?’

As she remembered the amount of things he’s told her in such ways, kept playing games with her even if he himself was upset that she was in a bad mood, and yet she seemed better after playing games with him, he didn’t realize that it somehow took away at least some of her stress, and she didn’t realize that being with her made him a little bit more open. And she glanced at his face and noticed him smiling a little, and it wasn’t the one people found creepy. It was that rare, soft smile he had which always made her smile too. And when they finally found a room for their first match together, chose their mains and started the match, she reached out to his hand but stopped midway and turned back to play the game.

After they were done with their matches, with ten wins in a row together, Idia checked if Cloverfield Days’ update was complete. But much to his and Fawn’s dismay, it was at %68 with the assets still loading. He let out a deep sigh.

“Idy..” She turned to him. “If that’s okay, can we play AO together instead?”

He looked at her face, which had that beautiful smile he always liked to see and lifted him up for a second. But then he frowned, which made the girl next to him worry a little.

“...Before we play, can I ask you something?”

He felt his chest tighten up because he knew the answer to it would wreck him. But despite this, he took a deep breath and exhaled.

“...Sure, of course.” He heard her say in a somewhat curious tone.

“What happened between you and Avalon..? I-I mean, you slowly became this.. empty shell of yourself.. and I was kinda worried something happened.. b-but I didn’t know what to do about it. Did he hurt you?”

Fawn paused mid chew on her next piece of candy and looked at him. She hesitated a bit, and seeing this, he grew even more anxious. Then his eyes caught it; a scar on her chest, definitely a sign of something more than just hurt. His hands shook in anxiety and he turned to hold her shaking shoulders.

“Fawn, i-it’s okay.” It wasn’t, but he tried to sound good. “You can tell me..!”

She looked him in the eye, and he noticed that she was about to cry again. Her eyes were blank yet tears pooling around the corners, her bottom lip was trembling, her entire body was shaking so bad he worried she was gonna pass out. But instead of giving a simple response, she threw her arms around the anxious dorm leader’s neck, pulled him close and sobbed out like a child which was something she hadn’t done ever since her parents were gone. Idia felt like he was about to cry as well.

‘Did I ask the wrong question?!’ He thought to himself. ‘Sh-she’s gonna hate me now, she’s seriously gonna want to end our friendship because of me--’

But he felt her holding him tighter as she cried, and he could somewhat hear her calling his name and telling intelligible things between her sobs. So, he stopped worrying only for a moment. He let her cry until she couldn’t anymore.

Outside, the storm raged wildly as he saw from the weather app from his phone. And he knew that this storm on the Sage’s Island was because of her mood right now. He saw how cruelly she’s been treated by other students, and yet he couldn’t stop them because he had been hesitating. He knew there would always be someone else who would help her every time he tried, and he’d given up for that reason. But now... hardly anyone was there to help her, and he’s been kicking that chance away for a while.

So, he finally made up his mind and decided to do it himself.

He slowly wrapped his arms around her and held her hesitantly, her tear stained cheek now wetting his shoulder. Then gradually held her tight as he quietly cried with her as well.

“I’m sorry Fawn... for not helping you... f-for not being good enough..!” He muttered behind his tears and leaned closer. “I’m sorry for.. everything...”

But as soon as she heard what he said, she raised her head a little with a pout and pulled away. Idia’s eyes widened in shock, his thoughts racing, terrible ones clouding his mind. But instead of slapping him across the face or leaving like he expected, she grabbed his cheeks and pulled them a little harshly.

“...I’m crying because of Avalon, not because you weren’t helping me!” She started as more tears rolled down her cheeks, some turning to pearls and pooling on her lap. “He was the one who hurt me behind closed doors, constantly berated me and even attempted to hit me every time I did something he didn’t approve of, but I twisted his arm behind him, pinned him down, and even yelled at him when it was necessary. He expected me to take his beatings every day for not being a good enough girlfriend, he made me feel smaller. That’s why I broke up with him during the summer break.”

She sniffled as she wiped her eyes and held his face in her hands with teary eyes.

“...And you think you’re not being helpful?!” She continued, her voice trembling but still going, “You’ve comforted me in your own way. Every time I was upset with my brother Redd, you offered to play games of my choosing during our game night sessions, chatted with me and.. and you called me your OP character just because I’m a strong mage! Even now, you’ve actually remembered which stuff I like, and it’s just... perfect.”

He couldn’t respond, not when she was in front of him calling out every secret small thing he did for her without even realizing.

“Th-they don’t count..!” He protested. “I just did.. what a friend would do. Y-yeah...”

She closed her eyes and leaned toward him again, more tears burning down her throat.

“...Then you must cherish your friends a lot, huh?” She lightly teased him with a small smile, but he didn’t respond this time. “Speaking of...”

‘And what am I supposed to say, ‘It’s because I love you, Fawn’? That wouldn’t be right, because you probably don’t wanna hear it right now. A-also, a shut-in like me doesn’t deserve to date the SSR heroine! All my stats are low. Defense? Absolutely ZERO! A-and I’m not even someone special, I’m just some guy..!’

He thought of saying this to her, but considering how she just said she broke up with Avalon the hacker NPC, he swallowed his words and just stared at her as she kept talking.

‘...I won’t say I’m in love with you...’

Without him realizing, his arms made their move to her torso again and he just held her which earned a quiet but surprised chuckle from her. She stopped talking for a moment—well, it’s not like he could focus on what she was saying anyway. Not with that burden on his heart and spending the week worrying about her and not being able to do anything. He let her rest on his shoulder until he snapped out of the daze and...

“...ARGH-- I-I-I DIDN’T MEAN-- I mean I kinda did bUT–” He immediately looked away and hid his face in his hands, then let out a strangled groan. Fawn softly smiled at him and kept her head on his shoulder.

“You’re still so...”

‘PATHETIC?! CRAZY?! WEIRD?! COME ON FAWN I’M READY FOR ANYTHING YOU’RE GONNA THROW ME!’ He thought, visibly shaking a little.

“...cute.” She continued while smiling. “And your hair is doing the thing again...”

His brain short circuited.

“Cute? M-me..?!” Idia tried to respond. “And-- And what thing?!”

She pointed at his hair.

“This thing.”

When he took his hands off his face, he noticed that his hair had become fully pink and bright. His face burned up with embarrassment and he covered his face again and pulled his hoodie on his head so she couldn’t see it anymore. Fawn laughed in amusement and backed off.

“Y-you’re evil, Fawn.” He retorted, “Boss level for sure, but you can’t just stop attacking me with your OP stats...”

She leaned back on her chair and let out a dramatic sigh.

“Fine then, I’m not attacking you anymore.”

He looked at her between his pale fingers, then he turned back to the computer that was on sleep mode and unlocked it again. Seeing this, Fawn glanced at the computer screen and saw that he was logging in to play Arcane Odyssey. Without missing a second, she logged in as well and noticed something different.

“...Idy.” She smiled. “Let me guess, grinding and whaling here too?”

He slowly nodded and looked at her screen.

“I-I also got that fit with the roses for you.” He smiled at her, and his mood seemed to lift up because she was happy too. She checked the “Appearance” category, and it was there in its full glory. The “Roses & Shadows” exclusive suit for the reaper class; the black rose scythe that swished with petals when attacking, the shadow cloak that hid her character’s form like a glove, the detailed dress in colors of vermillion, sapphire blue, white and black and covered in thorns... It was the suit she’s been waiting for. It was simply perfect. She smiled back at Idia who was quietly observing her reaction. She leaned in again and gave him a tight hug which startled the poor guy at first, but he slowly gave in, his hair secretly turning pink at the tips again.

After they were both logged in, they started grinding bosses for materials as per usual, but he could literally feel the happiness radiating off of her which made him happier. He occasionally glanced at her face, saw her smile, then went back to playing like nothing happened. And after that, they decided to visit the guild they both were in.

“Back to the fray, baby!! Did anybody miss me?” She said excitedly through the voice chat.

“Oh, welcome back Vindicator!” said the familiar, deep voice.

“Sir Crimson Muscle!” She chirped, “Didn’t expect you to be online tonight, how are you doing?”

“All’s fine, but how about Gloomurai?” He missed as he went to the said player’s character.

“Same here.” He said, trying to keep his own excitement at bay.

“You haven’t been talking around here much. Sick, I take it?” The berserker asked the reaper.

“Pretty much, but I’ve bounced back better than before.” She replied and continued, “Let’s go now, we have a boss to reap, do we not~?”

The other two cheered and they made their way to the weekly guild boss together to grind even more.

“BOOM BADA BOOM BOOM BOOM! HA!!!” Idia yelled in excitement as the guild boss crumbled with a final roar, scattering loot across the glowing arena. Fawn laughed a little bit behind her hand, and gave him a small smile.

“Oh, I missed hearing this so much..” She muttered with bright pink cheeks in real life. In game, her scythe gleamed crimson in the moonlight, and she gave a triumphant laugh.

“Easy sweep! You boys keeping up back there?” She teased, her character dramatically tossing her cloak as the drop window popped.

Idia shifted in his chair, pretending to be absorbed in his own screen.

“Y-you were the one stealing all the DPS checks, don’t blame us mere mortals.”

Her laugh came light, effortless. Too much so. It made his stomach do that annoying flip thing again, like his insides had caught fire.

Then the loot roll finalized, and her avatar glittered with a rare drop. She gasped so suddenly that Idia actually jumped.

“No way... Idy! Look at this!” She leaned toward him, practically pressing against his side to shove her screen into view.

*Promise Ring of the Abyssal Rose.*

Idia froze. He read the description—‘binds two souls as one beneath the eternal moon’—and felt his throat go bone-dry.

“I-it’s just RNG luck...” His voice cracked, heat crawling up his neck. “Don’t... Don’t get the wrong idea.”

But she didn’t stop smiling.

“Maybe it’s a sign~” Her voice dipped teasingly, her gaze lingering a second too long on his reaction before she looked back to her character. “Guess I’ll save it for.. someone worth it.”

His hair flared neon pink at the ends, and he hunched in his chair like it could hide him. He couldn’t even focus on the game anymore, only the thundering in his chest and the way her words stuck in his head like a curse.

——

After their guildmates took their loot as well, the two of them lingered, their characters side by side by the digital lake. Petals floated across the water’s surface. Fawn’s voice softened, no longer teasing.

“You know… I like it here.” Her eyes stayed on the glowing screen, but her body leaned against him ever so slightly. “It feels like… we can just be us. Without masks. Without people whispering.”

Idia swallowed hard. “...Yeah. N-no expectations. Just... this.”

For a long moment, neither moved. Her head was so close he could smell her faint perfume. His palms sweated against his controller, but he couldn’t bring himself to shift away.

“Idy.” She whispered, still watching their avatars. “If this place was real… do you think you’d still meet me here?”

He stared at her, pulse hammering so hard he thought she’d hear it. His mouth opened, but all that came out was a weak, “...Y-yeah.”

..

......

...............

“Fawn, wake up. Cloverfield Days’s update is done. We can play now.”

“Mm... Mmmmn... Alright...”

She slowly raised her head from the desk and looked at the screen, then at the fire haired male sitting down next to her. And it hit her; she’d accidentally dozed off during the third grind.

“...Vindi’s not feeling it today, huh? She’s AFK.” Crimson Muscle sighed as he delivered the killing blow to the warrior king.

“Welp, she’s kinda asleep... I guess.” The necromancer replied indifferently, though he knew that the girl beside him was indeed asleep. He made his character use a skill on her so one of the minions could throw the selected ally to a designated zone—or in this case, a safer zone.

He quietly got off and brought her a blanket and typed a few commands, then the skull robot took the blanket and placed it on her as she rested her head between her arms.

“...‘m sorry...” She murmured and rubbed her eye and sat up straight.

“Don’t be, because sir Crimson Muscle and I took care of it.” He quietly whispered, but Fawn’s head couldn’t register it much due to having just woken up, so she didn’t ask him to repeat what he just said. She wrapped the blanket around her and looked at the screen again, but her head fell down again which earned a teasing chuckle from him.

“Guess you can’t keep up after all, what a shame~ Fuheehee!”

But she just glanced at him and sighed.

“Just give me a second...” She pouted and snapped her fingers to bring herself another soda with magic. After taking a few sips, she sat up straight, slapped her cheeks and was already looking very awake. “...I’m all done.”

“Okay then, CD it is.”

She nodded and watched as he logged in into his own account and she did the same right after. They helped out the villagers, bought supplies and harvested their earnings.

“We will not go hungry this winter...” Idia said with a deeper voice and his usual smirk, and earned a little giggle from her.

“Indeed, we will not.” She responded with her usual tone of voice.

“...Uhh, hey. I kinda need a bit of wheat to make flour. Could I?”

“Yeah, go ahead. I think I have plenty of them by this point.”

Then she suddenly had a realization and gasped.

“Idia, the soda pop cake--”

“Already ate it, sorry.”

Fawn tilted her head lightly, then lifted her head at him.

“How was it?”

“...Good, but it was kinda sour.”

“How so?”

He scowled.

“The blackberry cream and the rice crispies were there and all, but the sour candy in it really killed the whole flavor. Also the popping candy was too much, my mouth kinda hurts. Don’t eat, don’t even buy it. Like 0/10 wouldn’t recommend. F tier cake.”

She sighed and held his face.

“Then let me heal you...”

“H-huh?!? Wa-wait.. Fawn, you’re too close?!?!?”

She used her powers to heal all the possible wounds on his mouth, then backed off like nothing happened.

“...Better?”

“Mhm.”

“Then we can keep growing our fields together, right?”

“...Actually, can we continue this later? I.. I kinda feel drowsy.”

Fawn gave him a small nod as she took off her purple cardigan and gave it to him.

“Of course, we have all the time in the world after all~”

She winked at him and gave him a small smile.

“...You take the bed, I’ll be fine here.”

“You sure, Idy?”

He gave her a nod in return. “Mhm.”

She hesitated for a moment, but then she sat on his bed while looking at him to see if he’s gonna stop her. But to her surprise, he didn’t.

“Go ahead.” He smiled a bit. “Lay down.”

“But... this is your bed, Idia...”

“I don’t mind if you lay down.”

She rolled her eyes and did as she’s told, and laid down on her back while looking at him.

“Yeah?”

“...It looks uncomfortable sleeping on that chair.”

“So? What’re you suggesting?” He yawned. “...Besides this?”

Fawn grinned at him for a millisecond before using her magic again to lift him up and lay him down beside her. He was suddenly very awake...

“WH-- WAIT WAIT WAIT--” He stammered as he sat up straight and glared at the girl laying down next to him. “YOU CAN’T DO THIS TO ME FAWN WHAT IF--”

“I want you to sleep in a comfortable place, and the chair looks kind of.. cramped.” She said with a smile. “If not, it’s also fine.”

Idia’s mind short-circuited yet again, and he immediately scrambled to get on his feet and got back on the chair again.

“I-I’ll be fine here!” He stammered as he sat back on his gaming chair. The girl looking at him smiled and nodded politely despite not approving his choice.

“Then... good night, Idia.”

“Night...”

.

.

.

(💤)

.

.

.

His phone’s alarm woke him up the next day.

“M-mmm..” He stirred in his sleep a bit before shifting to get up. “Mm?”

He slowly opened his eyes, brushed off some of the messy locks in front of his face and turned off the alarm, then noticed himself staring at the ceiling and... Wait, wasn’t he supposed to be sitting on his gaming chair?! He immediately sat up straight to look at his surroundings. And the realization suddenly hit him; he was indeed laying down on his bed. Well, technically he wasn’t sleeping there before but now he apparently did... But still, he was laying down. His eyes searched for the other person in his room, but as always, she had gone back to her room before he woke up. He slowly got up with a groan and his eyes caught the unfamiliar sight of a sticky note with an envelope underneath.

“Hmm?”

He checked the handwriting and recognized it to be Fawn’s.

“Sorry for leaving early, Azul called me to check where I was. And yes you’ll find yourself in your own bed because I couldn’t see you getting uncomfy because of me. In the meantime, have one of my compensation gifts to make up for our lost time. (p.s: Your bed was really comfy, you should try sleeping on it sometimes ♡(^w^ ))

— Fawn”

And he remembered what she was talking about with others before, that she worked hard for this. He wondered what it could be, and carefully opened the envelope. What he saw inside shocked him to the core, because there were a pair of Precipice Moirai concert tickets for that day inside. And then out of the corner of his eye, he saw a cyan/green glow of something else. A guiding spirit? Perhaps, or not. Regardless, it stood still as if asking him to follow it, and it led him to the front of the door of his room. And when he opened it, he was greeted with another surprise. A literal one at that. After all, it was the surprise giftbox that Precipice Moirai had released as a limited edition merchandise a few weeks ago. He excitedly took it in and shut the door immediately to take a look at the stuff inside; the hoodie, the wristband, the ring set, the bandana and even more stuff… Idia wondered if these were also Fawn’s doing, and when he reached for his phone, which was fully charged thanks to her plugging it in while he was asleep, he saw the text in Magicord from her.

oyster's pearl lol: If you’re wondering how I got all these, I spent some money trying to get them all for you

oyster's pearl lol: If you’re wondering why, because I want to make up for the times I couldn’t visit you

oyster's pearl lol: And if you want, I can go to the concert tonight with you 😉

oyster's pearl lol: Cause I dun have anything better to do today (TwT)

His smile widened as he excitedly typed.

gloomurai🔥🔥🔥: MDJDJSNXNXNJDKDJDKDJXJZNNXMFNDKAKSMXNNFMDKSMFMZKZNCNNSMZMCNDJZMAMXKCNNFNZMAMXKCMXNNSBXNXNXNZNSNXNCNNZNXNCNXNZNZMZKCNFNCNNSKAIEIGJDKSKSNDJZKAKFNFNNSJS

gloomurai🔥🔥🔥: SIFJJZJAKSMFKFKSKSJCJDJSKXJFJDIOWLEGJJDNSNWJXKGOGMRMWKSOFJRNJSJDNFNDMSKFKCNSKEJFNDKGKRKSJFJSKXISKMSJFJFKENFNFNSMXKFNNSNSMFKFJRNEKSKXKDJ

gloomurai🔥🔥🔥: FJGKHKFKSJDBKDKSMDNCKSKSKFKDKDKDHYSKSISKCJRKWKSOJFJRJSJENFKSKAKFKNGJDISKFNTKWOSJBTTKOEJFOAJBTODJWJGOBTJEKAFHKRLWKDMFJSKDNJDJDNMD

gloomurai🔥🔥🔥: OKAY PAUSE PAUSE PAUSE PAUSE

gloomurai🔥🔥🔥: FAWN WTF

gloomurai🔥🔥🔥: I NEVER THOUGHT U COULD GET ME LEGENDARY LOOT 10Q?????

He was practically jumping in place, and before he saw her response, he went to try this new ‘loot’ and was simply amazed at how all of this was his now. Everything simply fit on him like a glove except for the hoodie which was a bit oversized, but he didn’t mind the rest. And these were especially good because it was his crush who got these for him. Then he heard the notification sound.

(Ping!)

oyster's pearl lol: Pfffft you’re welcome Idy 😭

oyster's pearl lol: That’s what friends do right? 😉

He wanted to type back, but he stopped and just sent her a sticker instead.

gloomurai🔥🔥🔥: [Sticker: HellDog — Me Likey]

And as he got hyped about the remaining things to try them on, Idia stared at the sticker he sent, then at her messages again, and his hair flared pink before he buried his face into the new hoodie’s oversized hood. “‘Friends’, huh? Y-yeah, sure. Totally normal. Just friends. No problem. Normal people give their ‘friends’ limited-edition loot that was basically impossible to snag. N-no biggie...’

The rest of the morning blurred by in a rush of excitement as he unboxed every single item from the surprise merch box. Each piece felt unreal in his hands; legendary drops that normally lived only in his wishlist tabs. The wristband glowed faintly in the dim lighting of his room, and he turned it over in his hands with a stupid grin.

By the time he’d tried everything on, his phone buzzed again.

oyster’s pearl lol: Sooo should I dress up too? Or am I gonna be third-wheeling you and your hoodie? 👀

oyster’s pearl lol: ...Actually wait do you even want me to go with you?? It’s fine if you’d rather go solo Idy ✌️

Idia’s eyes widened, and his fingers flew across the keyboard.

gloomurai🔥🔥🔥: WHOA WHOA WHOA HOLD UP

gloomurai🔥🔥🔥: THIS IS NOT EVEN A QUESTION

gloomurai🔥🔥🔥: if u dont go whats even the point of having tix??

gloomurai🔥🔥🔥: (also i literally wouldnt survive in that crowd without u buffering me so like pls dont ditch lol)

There was a pause before her typing bubbles appeared.

oyster’s pearl lol: Buffering huh?? 😂 Fine fine I’ll protect you from the moshpit monsters 💪✨

oyster’s pearl lol: Meet me in Mostro Lounge before we go then. Azul said he’d give us early dinner on the house so we don’t starve at the concert... 👀

Idia froze. Dinner. With her. Before the concert. In public. His stomach twisted in both terror and thrill. But when he looked down at the hoodie she’d chosen for him, oversized and soft, something warm settled in his chest. He could almost hear her voice teasing him: “Your bed was really comfy, you should try sleeping on it sometimes ♡.”

He sighed, tugging the hood up over his head to hide the inevitable blush.

“...Guess I’ll try stepping out of spawn camp today.”

The cyan guiding spirit still lingered faintly near his door, almost as if it was waiting to lead him again. Idia glanced at it nervously, then at the concert tickets in his hand.

“Yeah, yeah, I get it.” He muttered, putting the tickets into his pocket and shoving the envelope carefully into his desk drawer. “She went through all this trouble… The least I can do is not be a total NPC or screw everything up.”

And so, for once, he started getting ready, took his bag for the merch, and wore his best jeans while not even bothering to wash the hoodie he was wearing. Not just for a concert, but for an entire night that could potentially change everything between them.

By the time Idia dragged himself to Mostro Lounge, hoodie hood firmly over his head, his nerves were practically pixelated static. The guiding spirit had vanished as soon as he entered the glimmering establishment, leaving him alone to shuffle toward the glow of Fawn’s laughter.

She was already there, perched elegantly at a booth by the window, her hair catching the dim blue lights. Her black t-shirt, the one he had given her before, looked incredible on her. Especially when the lyric on it was one of his favorites; “The Thread You Cling To Glimmers...”. The shirt was tucked under a black skirt that reached her knees, and underneath them were those night sky printed stockings that he called ‘cringe’ before, and a pair of white sneakers under it. And to top everything off, she was wearing a choker and a bracelet on her right wrist that resembled a silver thread, earrings that looked like small roses. She didn’t look very vibrant as others would expect, but it was perfect for him. So much so that he just stood there trying to process the event unfolding. Suddenly, even these stockings weren’t that cringe.

Azul stood nearby smugly while Jade hovered with his polite smile, and Floyd lounged against the booth with an all-too-curious glint in his eyes.

“Ohhh~! You actually came, Firefly Squid~!” Floyd sing-songed, springing up to lean right into poor Idia’s personal space. “Heehee, didn’t think I’d ever see you in the Lounge out of your little cave~”

Idia flinched.

“Hiiee!! I-I’m not here for you..!” He stammered, practically trying to melt into his hoodie.

“Idia~!” Fawn waved him over, her smile bright. “Over here!”

The word hit him like a critical strike. He shuffled forward awkwardly, slipping into the seat across from her. Azul, ever the observant one, slid menus across the table.

“I must say, I didn’t expect you two to reserve a table tonight.” Azul said smoothly, his glasses flashing. “But of course, Mostro Lounge is always delighted to accommodate special guests.”

“T-this isn’t a date!” Idia blurted instantly, his hair flickering pink at the tips.

Fawn tilted her head, smirking ever so slightly as she picked up her menu. “Who said it was?”

When he was done, Azul leaned into her ear and whispered, “Consider this a payment for a favor you have done for me, Miss Fawn.”

She gave him a small, knowing smile as the octomer returned to the twins’ side. They exchanged a look. Jade’s smile sharpened. Floyd’s grin widened. Azul chuckled softly under his breath.

Idia buried his face in the menu. ‘Why did I even come here? Why did I even come here?! This is literal aggro bait..!’

Fawn leaned forward across the table, resting her chin on her hand. “So... what do you think of the hoodie and other stuff?”

His eyes peeked over the top of the menu, startled. “I-it’s... awesome. Legendary loot drop level. Like, S-tier.”

“Good.” She said softly. “Because it looks perfect on you.”

His hair blazed pink so fast that even Floyd let out a loud laugh. “Whoa, firework show!”

“Sh-shut up!” Idia muttered, ducking back down into his menu again. But despite his protests, the corner of his lips twitched upward.

The evening passed in a strange mix of embarrassment and warmth. Fawn and Idia ended up sharing plates, and every time their hands brushed, his pulse spiked like he’d been crit-hit.

Finally, as the sun dipped outside and the first notes of the city nightlife rose, Fawn pushed back her chair. “Ready to go? We don’t want to miss the opening song.”

Idia nodded mutely, shoving his hands into the hoodie’s sleeves.

Azul called after them smoothly as they walked away, “Enjoy the concert, and do come again. Mostro Lounge adores hosting.. couples.”

Fawn laughed, waving a hand dismissively. Idia tripped over his own feet. “C-c-c-c-couples?!?!”

Out in the cool evening air, she glanced at him with a teasing smile. “You don’t mind if they tease, do you? Or...” She stepped closer, her eyes glinting under the lamplight, “...do you?”

His mouth went dry. “I-I mean, i-it’s not like I... uh...”

“Good.” She looped her arm through his before he could finish, tugging him toward the glow of the concert hall. “Because I don’t.”

Idia’s brain completely blue-screened, but his hair stayed pink the entire way there.

The buzzing crowd outside the venue was electric, neon lights painting the night in pulses several bright colors like pink, cyan, and purple. Fawn tugged lightly at Idia’s sleeve as they found their seats among the ocean of fans. He kept his hood up, fingers tugging at the hem nervously, eyes darting around like he was checking for respawns.

“Don’t tell me you’re already regretting this, Idy...” She teased, her voice soft so only he could hear.

“I-it’s not like that..!” He whispered back, clutching the hem of his oversized hoodie. “I just.. y’know, it’s, uh-- A raid-level mob event out here. My HP bar can’t handle too much social aggro...”

She smiled, sliding a small glowstick into his hand. “Then let me tank for you.”

His hair flickered faintly pink at the tips, but he didn’t say anything and just held the glowstick tighter.

The concert began with a blinding flash, bass reverberating through the floor. The roar of the crowd shook him to his core, but then her hand brushed his; steady, grounding. She was swaying with the rhythm, eyes shining under the lights, and he realized she wasn’t just here for the music. She was here for him.

Halfway through, a song started that Fawn clearly knew by heart. She cheered, waving her glowstick like she was born to be in the pit.

The threads of fate intertwine,

Weaving light and shadow as one.

We are part of the same tapestry,

Singing upon the eternal loom..!

Then she leaned toward him with a grin.

“Come on, sing with me..!”

Idia blinked rapidly. “E-EH?! No way, my vocal stat’s like... NPC tier!”

But she didn’t let go of his hand, squeezing it as she mouthed the lyrics, eyes gleaming. And for the first time, the crowd noise dimmed for him. It was just her voice, her laughter. His lips moved without him realizing, echoing the chant under his breath.

By the time the chorus hit, she leaned into his shoulder, laughing as she pointed her glowstick upward. “There you go, see? You’re doing it.”

His hood slipped back a little, hair glowing brighter under the neon stage lights. “...I-it’s only ‘cause you’re, like, buffing my stats or something...” He muttered, but the corners of his mouth betrayed him, lifting in the smallest, truest smile.

And when the band dropped into their closing song, Fawn grabbed his hand outright, pulling his arm up so their glowsticks matched the crowd. His heart nearly stopped, but instead of pulling away, he let her hold on. For once, the noise didn’t feel suffocating. It felt freeing.

She glanced up at him, eyes searching. “You’re smiling.”

He froze. His hand twitched like he wanted to hide it, but then he didn’t. He just met her gaze for a second, cheeks blazing. “...Only ‘cause you are.”

The lights flared for hyping all the fans, and Idia found himself shouting—not words, not lyrics, just raw sound with the rest of the crowd. It startled him when it slipped out, but Fawn only laughed and threw her free hand up too, as if she’d been waiting for this side of him all along.

When the encore ended and the lights dimmed, Idia collapsed back into his seat, face flushed, chest heaving. “I-I.. I can’t believe I just did that..!”

Fawn leaned close, resting her head against his shoulder. “I can. Because you’re stronger than you think.”

His heart hammered so loudly he thought she’d hear it, but for once, he didn’t run. He just sat there, letting her lean on him, the glowstick still tangled in their joined hands.

But when the next song came, one that he knew by heart, he.. didn’t sing it or cheer like every other person there did. Instead, his eyes were settled on the girl next to him instead as she quietly hummed the rhythm despite not knowing the lyrics. For a moment, it felt to him that it was just the two of them and the music was coming from the computer instead. Her smile could completely melt his heart, and she was always so respectful of his boundaries if not for her dragging him out of his room often to ‘take a breather’ while both of them knew she just wanted to hang out with him for a while. And it didn’t help the fact that Fawn was also in Board Game Club, the same club as him and her dorm leader, meaning he could actually see her after school for a while. Also they had their weekly game nights, and it was the reason why he wanted the weekend to come in the first place; that he could see her and spend time with her in the safety of his room or ‘their secret base’ as he calls it. He found himself staring far longer than he should’ve. Every time the lightshow flared across the crowd, her hair shimmered like strands of silver fire, and her blue eyes reflected every bit of it. Alive, bright, unguarded... For someone like him, whose world was mostly screens, shadows, and the flicker of neon, she was a dangerous kind of light.

He didn’t even notice he was smiling until she turned to him.

“What?” She giggled. “Do I have something on my face?”

“Wha-- No, no! Nothing!” His voice cracked, and he immediately looked away, ears going red. “Just, uh.. m-monitor lag! Brain lag! I mean--”

She laughed, not unkindly, and bumped his shoulder with hers. “You’re cute when you glitch, you know that?”

That definitely didn’t help. He could practically hear the cooling fans in his brain wheezing.

“Tch..! Y-you can’t just drop that like a rare loot item!” He muttered under his breath.

The next song started, slower this time. The band’s holographic projection bathed the crowd in a soft blue glow yet again, and she swayed with the beat, her hand brushing against his.

Idia froze. The rational part of him screamed to move, to step back, to do anything, but another part, smaller, braver, maybe even selfish part of him, wanted to stay just like that.

Fawn’s fingers curled around his for only a moment, but it was enough to make his heart skip like a bugged rhythm counter.

“Hey, Idy?” She murmured.

“Y-yeah?”

“I know this isn’t... really your scene. But thank you for letting me come with you to the concert...”

Her voice was soft enough that it almost drowned beneath the music, but he heard every word.

“...You don’t need to thank me.” He said finally. “Just.. being here with you kinda makes it... less scary.”

Her expression softened, that small smile returning. “Then I’m glad I’m here too.”

And when the lights brightened again and the crowd roared for the encore, Idia realized that this; her laughter, the warmth of her hand, the way she looked up at him through the glow, was the first time he’d ever felt alive outside the screen.

After the concert, the fans were talking loudly about the concert. It had been loud, dazzling, and absolutely chaotic in the best way possible. Fawn had cheered so much that her voice came out a little hoarse, while Idia’s usually soft and hesitant demeanor had melted into something bright, vibrant even. He wasn’t screaming like the others, but the smile on his face, that wide genuine grin, was worth more than all the noise in the world.

When the final encore faded and the crowd began to disperse, they both lingered for a while longer, standing in front of the now-dim stage lights. Fawn glanced over at him, her cheeks glowing from the after-concert adrenaline and the faint warmth of the lights above.

“That was amazing..!” She said breathlessly, brushing her hair away from her face. “I haven’t had this much fun in ages.”

He nodded, still clutching the limited-edition wristband she’d given him earlier.

“Y-yeah... it was... unreal. Like, legendary-tier experience unlocked kind of thing...” He rubbed the back of his neck, looking away with a small laugh. “Can’t believe I actually... went outside for something like this...”

Fawn chuckled softly and nudged him with her shoulder. “See? Told you it’d be worth it. You even smiled.”

“D-did I?” He stammered, voice cracking slightly.

“You did.” She said, smiling warmly. “A real one, not the nervous one you do when someone talks to you.”

His hair tips flickered to pink again, and he immediately looked away, pretending to scroll through his phone. “Y-you’re imagining things!”

She didn’t push him on it. Instead, she reached out and adjusted his bandana that had gotten slightly crooked during the concert. “There. Perfect.”

The gesture made him freeze, his heart skipping a beat so hard he thought his internal processor was glitching. “Uhh.. t-thanks.” He murmured, his voice softer now.

They started walking together through the cool night air, the city lights reflected on the damp pavement. For a while, neither spoke, they just walked side by side, listening to the faint hum of the world around them.

Then Fawn broke the silence.

“You know…” She said gently, “I’m really glad I got to share this with you, Idia.”

He turned to look at her, blue eyes glowing faintly under the streetlights. “I.. me too.”

She smiled and then laughed lightly. “You look like you’re still processing everything.”

“I-I mean, yeah..” He admitted, rubbing his temples. “Usually I’d just.. watch the livestream or something. Being there in person? Feeling all that energy? Seeing you smiling like that?” He stopped himself before he said too much, but his voice softened as he looked down. “It’s... kinda burned into my memory now.”

Fawn’s breath caught a little. “That’s a sweet thing to say.”

“It’s not like I-- I mean, I didn’t mean it like--” He fumbled, cheeks reddening furiously.

But before he could spiral into another apology, Fawn leaned in slightly, her voice lowering just enough for him to hear over the city noise. “I know what you meant, Idia.”

That made him quiet again. The kind of quiet that was comfortable, warm, like the lull after a good song. They walked a little farther until they made their way to the transportation portals, went through together and reached the dorm gates at last.

When they stopped, she turned to him. “Thank you for coming with me tonight.”

He hesitated, then smiled shyly. “Thank you for dragging me out, I guess.”

Fawn tilted her head and grinned playfully. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

“It’s terrifying.” He said flatly, but the amused curl on his lips betrayed his tone.

She laughed again, then softly poked his chest. “You did great tonight, Idia. Really.”

For a moment, he didn’t respond. Then, almost too quietly for her to hear, he murmured, “It’s easier when it’s with you.”

Her expression softened. “...You’re going to make me emotional if you keep saying things like that.”

“Eh?!” His eyes widened in panic, hair flashing between blue and deeper shades of pink. “N-no! I didn’t mean--”

“Relax.” She giggled, waving her hand. “You’re cute when you panic.”

He blinked at her, completely red now, and looked away.

“Y-you can’t just say that..!”

“But I just did~”

Silence followed for a few seconds, then a quiet laugh slipped out from him, surprising even himself. She joined in, and before either of them realized it, the tension that had always hung between them was replaced with something lighter. Something that felt almost like the start of something new.

“Good night, Idia.” She said finally, turning to head toward her dorm.

“G-g-good night, Fawn..!” He managed, voice soft, and she walked away to her dorm.

But then she turned around, and their eyes met as she looked like she was contemplating something. The fire haired boy looked back at her in confusion and tilted his head to the side a bit. And then she turned around and started walking towards him.

“...Yeah?” He tried to break the silence. But he didn’t get a reply.

“Uhh.. Fawn? Did you forget something?” He asked again just as she stopped in front of him, looking at him in the eye for a moment before she leaned in.

And then it happened.

Her lips made contact with his cheek, and her hands held his shoulders with a light grip.

“FA-FA-FAWN?!” He tried to stay quiet, but with the way his heart kept hammering against his chest especially while she was pulling away, it was nearly impossible for him. Then she gave him a bright smile and a hug before heading back to Octavinelle.

When she was gone, he stood there for a long moment, staring at the night sky and touching the wristband she’d given him. His lips curved into a small, genuine smile.

“…Best night ever!..” He whispered.

. . .

Idia stayed there for a good few minutes, frozen, hand still hovering where her lips had brushed his cheek. His hair tips glowed faint pink against the dark corridor light. He knew he should move, but his brain was still buffering.

‘Did that just happen? That ACTUALLY happened?! She-- she kissed me?!’

He flopped back into his room, shutting the door behind him in a daze. Ortho turned his head toward him from his charging dock.

“Big Brother, you’re back! How was-- Oh! Your heartbeats are so fast and your face is red! What’s the matter, Big Brother?”

“G-G-G-GOOD NIGHT ORTHO OKAY BYE!” Idia half-yelled, half-laughed, diving face-first into his pillow. His muffled scream sounded somewhere between delight and disbelief.

‘I can’t. I can’t. I CAN’T PROCESS THIS!!! She literally-- She-- FAWN WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY CPU?!’

He eventually sat up, hugging his pillow, still glowing pink and grinning like a fool. “Best. Night. Ever.”

Meanwhile, down the halls of Octavinelle…

Fawn leaned against her door, exhaling deeply. Her cheeks were bright pink, and her heartbeat refused to calm down.

“I really did that. I actually kissed him.” She muttered, covering her face with her hands. “Oh Almighty Sea, I’m gonna pass out...”

She peeked at the small plush gift he’d given her before, sitting on her desk; a tiny keychain of her favorite Arcane Odyssey character.

“You’re so unfair, Idia…” She whispered softly, smiling. “You make it too easy to fall for you.”

And as she crawled into her bed, she couldn’t stop grinning either. For a moment, her eyes landed on her phone sitting on the nightstand, and she thought about sending him a message over Magicord. But then she hesitated, ‘What if he’s sleeping?’ she thought to herself as she walked over, grabbed the keychain and just held it in her hand.

Suddenly, he heard someone knocking on the door.

“Your Highness, it’s me. May I come in please?” Auburn said with his usual, calmer tone.

“Oh, of course!” She said as she placed the keychain next to her phone and sat up straight as the red head came in politely.

“...Well, I don’t mean to intrude on you of course... But just know that I’m a bit concerned.” Auburn’s tone was calm, but his sharp eyes scanned her face like he was searching for something.

“Concerned?” She tilted her head, trying to act casual. “Why is that?”

“You’ve been... different lately.” He said carefully, stepping closer but keeping a respectful distance. “Distracted. Happier, yes, but also.. more reckless. I can tell you’re thinking about someone, Fawn.”

Her cheeks warmed up again, and she quickly looked away, fiddling with the hem of her blanket.

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She tried to laugh it off, but her voice cracked halfway through.

“Let me guess, is it that fire-haired guy who shrieks like a banshee every time I approach him?” He mused. “Idia Shroud, if I’m not mistaken?”

Fawn pressed her lips into a thin line and looked to the side. “...Maybe?”

Auburn sighed softly, shaking his head with a faint smile. “You know I’m not here to pry. I just.. hope you’re not getting yourself hurt again. You remember what happened last time, don’t you?”

That made her expression falter. Her fingers froze. “I do.”

There was a quiet pause between them before he continued, gentler this time.

“You’re strong, Fawn. But your heart...”—He tapped his chest lightly—“...is fragile. If he truly makes you happy, then that’s wonderful. Just.. be careful. Don’t lose yourself trying to guard your heart again. If he makes you smile like that, then perhaps.. he’s worth the risk.”

Fawn blinked, her chest tightening a little. “...You really think so?”

“I do.” Auburn straightened, heading for the door. “Though, if he ever hurts you, I reserve the right to turn his console collection into scrap metal.”

Fawn laughed softly at that. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“Try me.” He smiled, giving her one last knowing look. Then he nodded once, clearly not fully convinced, but willing to trust her. “Good night, Fawn.”

“Good night.”

When the door clicked shut, she sighed and fell back into her bed again, covering her face with a pillow.

“Ugh, why did he have to say it like that?!” She mumbled. “NowIcantstopthinkingabouthimevenmore..!”

Then she quietly lowered the pillow and looked down.

“But now.. I wonder if I was being too much on him. He doesn’t like handsy people as far as I know, and the way I acted yesterday and today..” She turned away in her bed. “...But if he really disliked it, wouldn’t he at least try to push me away or something?”

She then sat up straight, typed a quick message to a certain someone and then plugged her phone to the charger as it had low battery. And after that, she went in to take a shower before sleeping.

Meanwhile, back in Ignihyde—

Ortho peeked around the corner, watching his brother still pacing back and forth, muttering to himself.

“Should I message her? No, no, too soon. Wait-- But what if she messages first?! No, no, no, just.. act normal. H-how do you act normal?!”

“Big Brother?”

“GAH-- ORTHO!!” Idia jumped, clutching his chest.

“You’re still awake.”

“Define awake.” Idia mumbled, sitting cross-legged on his bed. His hair flickered pink again as he looked at his phone for the hundredth time.

Ortho floated closer, smiling softly. “You really like Big Sister, don’t you?”

Idia’s mouth opened. Then closed. Then opened again.

“...Yeah.” He whispered, barely audible. “I really do.”

Ortho’s smile softened even more, the dim light from Idia’s monitors reflecting off his lenses. “You should tell her, then.”

Idia flopped backward onto his bed with a groan, face half-buried in his pillow. “Y-you make it sound so easy! It’s Fawn we’re talking about! The same girl who takes it upon herself to comfort everyone, get treated like garbage, and still look like she walked out of a gacha banner! I-I can’t just tell her I like her like it’s a daily quest!”

Ortho floated above him, tilting his head.

“But you already act like you like her. You smile when she messages you, you get flustered when she talks to you, and you sometimes call her your ‘OP char’ instead of ‘Fawn’ That’s big progress for you, Big Brother.”

“Th-that’s not the same thing!” Idia sputtered, sitting up again, hair now a full-on pink blaze. “That’s just-- uhh-- friendly interaction! Normal guildmate vibes!”

“Guildmates don’t look at each other like you look at her though, right~?” The younger Shroud teased.

Idia froze. He blinked, then groaned again, burying his face in his hands. “Ortho, you’re too good at analyzing human emotions. There should be a limit to how accurately you can read people...”

Ortho only chuckled, then sat beside him on the edge of the bed. “You’re scared she won’t feel the same way, right?”

“...Yeah.” Idia’s voice was small. “She’s.. she’s so bright. She could have anyone. Someone normal. Not... a shut-in who lives off energy drinks and gacha pulls.”

“Maybe.” Ortho replied, smiling gently. “But she doesn’t seem to want anyone else, does she? She spends most of her free time with you. She goes out of her way to bring you gifts, she worries when you don’t eat, and she calls you Idy.”

Idia paused. The pink in his hair dimmed slightly as a shy smile tugged at his lips. “She.. does call me that, huh?”

“Mhm!” Ortho chirped. “I think she already knows how you feel. She’s just waiting for you to say it out loud.”

“Out loud...” Idia muttered, staring up at the ceiling like it was a final boss. “Like, actually say it. You realize the chance of me dying from embarrassment is statistically higher than the chance of getting three 5-stars in a ten pull on a limited banner, right?”

Ortho grinned. “Then I guess you better start saving your courage instead of rolls.”

Idia gave a weak laugh. “You’ve been hanging around her too much. You’re getting sassy.”

“I learn from the best.” Ortho replied innocently.

Silence lingered for a moment, warm, quiet, but thoughtful. Then Idia looked down at his phone again.

He stared at it for a long moment. And for once, he didn’t overthink it. Because even if his heart was racing, a part of him, small but real, wanted her to know.

Suddenly his phone buzzed twice, indicating a message was sent.

oyster's pearl lol: Sweet dreams Idy 🤗

Idia melted into his pillow with a muffled squeal, kicking his feet like he’s fallen in love again.

“Best. Night. Ever. Again.”

+ BONUS:

“Big sis..!” Renée chimed in and hugged the taller female from behind with a huge smile.

Fawn felt it, the way her hands always curled up on her stomach and the way she held her waist tight, showing her how much she missed her.

“...I’m here at last. Did you miss me while I was gone?” She asked while floating the shorter girl in front of her.

She scratched her cheek a little and tilted her head up a bit while smiling. “Obviously! I was so worried when you didn’t return my calls and thought something bad happened to you during the summer break...”

The silverette bit in her cheek and then patted her head.

“But I’m okay, Rennie. I’m still alive and kicking, as some would say.”

Then she winked at her and returned the hug.

“...And one more thing.” The shorter female started.

“Yes?”

She held Fawn a little tighter and leaned on her chest.

“I feel more confident thanks to you, so.. thank you, from the bottom of my heart.” She smiled, revealing that she was no longer wearing foundation to cover her freckles while a part of her hair kept itself wrapped around Fawn’s waist. Her breath caught in her throat, but she didn’t respond to her for a few minutes. Then she smiled, with the tears welling up at the corner of her eyes.

“...You’re always welcome, Rennie.”

Watching from a distance, Idia smiled at them with a somewhat renewed confidence.

“At least she’s smiling again...” He breathed out while hiding himself from the crowd of students.

He stayed hidden for a moment longer, his fingers nervously gripping the corner of his jacket. Her laughter, that genuine, soft one he hadn’t heard in weeks, echoed faintly through the hallway. It almost didn’t sound real.

“...She really came back...” He whispered to himself, voice catching slightly. “No fake smiles... no ‘saying what they wanna hear’... just... her.”

Renée eventually let go of Fawn and waved to her before heading off toward her next class, her excited footsteps echoing down the corridor. Once she disappeared around the corner, Fawn exhaled softly and adjusted her jacket. That was when she felt it; that familiar, faint flicker of blue flame nearby. She smiled knowingly.

“...You can come out now, Idia.”

The man in question froze behind the column like a guilty cat caught mid-sneak. The tips of his blue hair turned slightly pink.

“Wh- how.. how did you even--”

“Your flames aren’t exactly subtle.” She teased, folding her arms with a grin.

Caught red-handed, Idia slowly stepped out, scratching the back of his neck. “S-so, uh... you’re.. back. Which is, uhh.. good! Great! Totally poggers-- I mean--” He shut his mouth before he embarrassed himself further.

Her laughter filled the air again, lighter this time, as she stepped closer. “Thank you, Idia.”

He blinked. “...For what?”

“For watching over me. For caring enough to make sure I was still smiling.”

Her words hit him like a critical strike to the heart. He quickly turned away to hide the faint pink creeping up the tips of his hair.

“I-I mean, it’s not like I was watching you or anything. I was just.. calibrating my drone surveillance range, that’s all--”

She giggled again and gently tugged on his sleeve, making him look at her. “You don’t have to hide it, you know? I appreciate it, really.”

Her voice was so calm. Soft, even. It made his stomach twist pleasantly, his usual awkwardness melting into a shy warmth.

Idia finally exhaled. “...You scared me, you know that? When I didn’t see you on the server for weeks, I thought.. I thought something happened again.”

Her expression softened at that, a faint pang of guilt in her eyes. “...I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you worry.”

He shook his head quickly. “No, don’t-- don’t apologize. I’m just... glad you’re okay.”

They stood in silence for a while, the ambient hum of the hall filling the air. Fawn tilted her head and smiled faintly.

“Hey, Idia?”

“Hm?”

“Wanna grab lunch together later? My treat.”

He blinked rapidly. “L-lunch? Like... in public?”

She grinned. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure we sit somewhere quiet. Promise.”

His hair flared slightly pink again. “O-oh. Then... I-I guess I’ll go. For the food. Not because I want to.. uh-- spend time with you or anything--”

“Of course not.” She said teasingly, eyes twinkling.

As she walked ahead toward the courtyard, she called over her shoulder, “You coming, Idy?”

He flinched at the nickname, cheeks burning, heart doing a full critical hit combo, before mumbling, “Y-yeah, yeah, I’m coming...” and jogging after her, hoodie rustling as he followed.

And for the first time in weeks, the halls of NRC didn’t feel quite as heavy anymore...

[yuuniee]

11. Do they have nicknames for each other? Do they say them around other people or only in private? Where did the nicknames originate? What do they mean?

Fooorrrrrr Idia & Fawn and also Cater & Renee :3c

A/N: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA--

[OC x Canon Ship Questions]

◢◣◥◤◢◣◥◤◢◣◥◤◢◣◥◤◢◣◥◤◢◣◥◤

💀 Nicknames Idia uses:

“OP char”

▶ He jokingly calls her that strictly in private, because she’s a powerful mage. He calls her that in private all the time, even when she chuckles it off.

“Pearl”

▶ Basically, he said “If she calls me a gem name, then so can I!” and gave her the nickname. He starts calling her that after they start dating.

She giggles every time he calls her pearl~ 🤭

“Fawnie”

▶ Same case as pearl, but he mainly uses it to tease her back after he gets more comfortable with the fact that he’s dating her!

She either blushes or snickers in response 🤭

“Your Highness”

▶ Now, he doesn’t call her that often because he knows she dislikes being addressed as royalty even if the person knows who she really is... Still, he uses it whenever he teases her even before they start to date!

At first she was pouting, but now she simply rolls her eyes and proceeds to think of a way to fluster her poor boyfriend /hj

“Player Two”

▶ He likes playing with her, that’s why she’s his player two! Though, he’d never admit this but he’s called her that in his mind before they started dating, but actually calls her that after they start dating!

He gets a quick peck on the cheek every time he calls her that, and thus gets flustered and partially unable to focus :>

🦪 Nicknames Fawn uses:

“Idy”

◉ She calls him that ever since they were little, and to this day it’s kinda stuck in her head.. QwQ" She calls him that mostly in private, and also when they’re sitting next to each other in public. (Yes, I know Idia’s mom also calls him that, she picked it up from her in the first place!) (Idia’s usual reaction to being called that is his heart going miles /hj)

At first, when they were kids, he liked hearing her call him Idy, but now he’s pretty neutral about it unless she does it in public.. then he gets flustered. 😔

Him, internally:

“My blue topaz”

◉ She calls him that after they start dating, because the gemstone itself looks like a vast ocean, and ocean feels comforting to Fawn. (She literally listens to the sounds of waves if she can’t fall asleep.)

At first he was shocked to hear her call him blue topaz, protesting that he isn’t like any valuable gemstone, but after learning about what it really meant to her, he doesn’t protest as much as before.. though he gets flustered whenever she calls him that in a whisper.

How he looks on the outside v.s how he feels inside:

“Gloomurai”

◉ His game handle! She calls him that solely to tease the heck out of him, and accidentally makes the poor otaku malfunction.... 🫢

“H-hey, that’s my game handle! You can’t call me that in public, you know? Th-th-that’s cringe..!” —Him, probably

“Blueberry”

◉ Simple, she calls him that because he’s blue! His hair, around his eyes, and also lips! Also because she sometimes thinks his hair looks like blueberry soda-- She calls him that right before they start to date, and mainly uses it in public whenever she teases him! >:D

Live Idia reaction when he finds out the real reasons she calls him blueberry: (/hj)

((inhale sfx)) “Darling”, “Handsome”, “Precious”, “Cute” (etc.)

◉ Fawn is a BIG sucker for pet names, so of course she uses them on him! (He gets flustered whenever she calls him ANY of these...)

Live He Reaction™ (again)

◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇

♦️ Nicknames Cater uses:

“Rennie”

❖ Ah yes, the OG ‘Rennie’ nicknamer!! He’s been calling her that often ever since they first met, and it’s now spread out to her close friends as well-- Renée doesn’t mind being called that either!! She even likes it more when he calls her Rennie--

“Cutiepie”, “Babe”, “Sweet cheeks”

❖ He starts calling her these after they start dating, because he finds her so cute, so adorable, he just wants to show how much he loves her!!

“My spicy nuggie”

❖ ...Because she’s short and can get red faced when angry or flustered too much--

He calls her that after a few days of dating 🤭

“Sunshine”

❖ This is because of her Unique Magic that makes her hair glow, and because she’s become brighter than when she first came. He starts calling her that at the beginning of their relationship!!

🕊️ Nicknames Renée uses:

“Magicam carrot”

❥ She started using it when she first met him, because she was a bit annoyed by the way he was always cheerful, especially around her. But gradually, that annoyance became affection and she started to be a bit more.. pouty? If that’s what I can call?? The tone gradually shifted from “that damn Magicam carrot 💢💢” to “that Magicam carrot... 🫣” in a few months--

At first, he was baffled because being called a carrot was.. unusual. But now? He’s thriving and also teasing her~

“Pumpkin”

❥ She uses that because, like Magicam carrot, his hair is orange. But in this case, it’s also because he’s as sweet as one!

“Wildcard”

❥ This one, she starts using it after a few days of dating him. Because, well, he’s a wildcard! He can be sweet and kind, but he can also be cool and serious at times, and that’s one of the things she loves about him...

“Beau salaud” (Handsome bastard)

❥ She called him that a couple of times in her head, never out loud, when she was completely in denial that she loved him. She stopped doing it after she finally stopped denying her feelings... 🤭

Cater if he were to find that out about her: (/hj)

“Cater-pie”/“Cater-tot”

❥ This is when she wants to call him cute, but also doesn’t want to. Also finds him sweet as pie! Starts calling him that after a few weeks of dating. While it baffled him the first time, he got used to it eventually.

“My Diamond”

❥ She began calling him that after they were dating for a couple of months... It’s a pun of his last name, but also the gemstone itself. She thinks he’s shining brightly under a beautiful light whenever he smiles.

Just imagine this; her hugging him tight as they cuddle together, and just as she’s about to go to sleep, she says, “Good night, my Diamond~”

Needless to say, he was frozen in place at first and didn’t know how to respond, so he just quietly held her in his arms while she slept. Doesn’t mean he dislikes the nickname though! On the contrary, he absolutely loves it and even gives her kisses whenever she does that!!

[yuuniee]

🦪 How To Reach The Stars... 💀

∆ ⇒ Synopsis: In which Fawn decides to surprise the birthday boy of the day, Idia, with some gifts...

A/N: ARRGGHHHH.... It’s been a while since I wrote up something for my oc x canon ships... Can I get a happy birthday for Idia please? :3

It was a cold winter day. As usual, a bustling crowd of students chattering away accompanied by the sounds of footsteps and laughter. Some gossiping around the latest events, some talking about exams and quizzes, some just chatting together on random topics…

Then there was Idia who sat in a corner with his hood up, headphones connected to the tablet, listening to his favorite character’s voice line for his birthday. The only reason he was looking forward to today was to hear them wish a happy birthday. His taller figure shrunk more into the corner and a sharp smile tugged his lips.

“Fuheehee~ Th-this is the best..! I just got her from the limited banner for my birthday and she’s so strong and beautiful!.. Those other NPC are nothing compared to her..!” He mumbled while his eyes were glued to the screen as he listened to her line about the player’s birthday.

Hespera: …Oh my, I didn’t realize it was the anniversary of your birth. Happy birthday, my dear lily… Well then, what would you like to do today? Eating something to fill up your stomach, or perhaps resting on my lap a little before your next mission? Or perhaps.. would you like to have a chat with me? Either way, I’m more than delighted to be of your assistance. (kiss) …I do hope you feel the same way~

By the time she was done speaking, he felt something on his shoulder. He immediately flinched in response, causing the thing to move a little. When he looked at it while taking off his headphones, he noticed that the person was none other than Fawn, rubbing her head with a small frown.

“I didn’t think you’d be that immersed in the game to not notice me being here for the past thirty minutes… I’m sorry for startling you, Idy.” She sighed and looked away.

Unable to form words, he pulled his hood down to hide his face.

“I-I’m.. sorry too, Fawn…” He averted his gaze from her. “...I was busy…”

“Listening to the voice lines as usual? I already know, that’s why I didn’t want to bother you in the first place. I.. also have a gift, but I came here to ask for something…”

“Hmm?”

He slowly looked at her.

“May I come to your room tonight?”

“WH- H-HUH?!”

His heart nearly jumped out of his chest.

“I.. wanted to give something special to you in a better place, away from others’ gaze, only you and I. I-is it okay with you..?”

He hesitated to answer at first, averting his gaze from hers while inaudibly stuttering and trying to find the right words. After a while, he took a deep breath to calm down and looked at her.

“...Alright.”

….

…….

…………

……………

The two were now sitting in Idia’s room in complete silence after his birthday party, one playing a game while the other quietly watched him.

“So..” Fawn spoke up, breaking the silence. “About my gifts…”

“Hm?”

‘Wait… GiftS? With a capital S?!’ He thought to himself while the text VICTORY flashed on the screen. His face, and hair to an extent, turned bright red while looking at her with wide eyes, causing the mermaid to flinch a little.

“Uhm…”

“Fawn… Y-you didn’t get me anything expensive, right? I mean.. y-you.. I.. Uhh… I don’t mind if it’s cheap or not but.. you…”

She sighed and nodded.

“I.. wouldn’t call them expensive, but I did spend a small fortune on them.”

“What did you do?!”

She gestured to the boxes that she brought along and smiled at him.

“I.. got these all for you, my dear… W-won’t you open them up for me..?”

There were two large boxes in the back and ten small boxes in the front sitting on his bed. All of them were neatly wrapped with various ribbons, and on the top of them were handwritten notes that said things like ‘Open me!’ and ‘Happy birthday, Idy~’.

“Fawn… You can’t be serious..! I…”

“All of them are for you, my sweet Idia.” She replied with a gentle smile, her gaze set on his with a warm glint. He felt his cheeks burn a little, and it didn’t help the fact that his hair was slowly turning pink as well. He got up from his chair and eagerly opened the gifts.

Seven of them were limited edition Precipice Moirai merch, especially the shirts, three badges and the keychain which he was looking forward to get but couldn’t find any of them anywhere. The last one was specifically made for couples. Yet he couldn’t see its other half. He searched around the box thoroughly to see if it somehow got lost in the wrappings in the box, but he was unsuccessful. It was at that time she slowly took her own keys out of her pocket and dangled it in front of his eyes, showing that the other half was with her.

“...You always say we complete each other, right?” She pursed her lips. “S-so.. I thought it would be a good idea to take the other part of it for myself… But I do understand if you want to have it, really!”

He sighed and smiled.

“...I don’t mind, y-you.. can keep it… Yeah…”

As for the rest of the gifts; two of them were the merch from the games he plays, a nendoroid and a figurine of his favorite character, one of them was a redeem code for a generous amount of the game currency for him to use, one of them was a body pillow of his favorite character, and the last one was a figurine of his favorite character, Hespera, in the otome game she showed him before which got him hooked up after some time.

“F-Fawn.. you.. you did this all… for me..?”

She nodded again and held his hand.

“Yes.. b-because I love your smile, and I wanted to make you happy for once.”

He looked away, his face turning fully pink along with his hair, giving the room a soft, beautiful hue. He then hugged her closer and rested his chin on her shoulder.

“I dunno what did I do to deserve all this… You’re killing me…”

He heard her chuckle, and she kissed his head.

“I’m just showing how much I love and cherish you, blueberry…” She then ran her hand through his hair. “...And I love every side of you.”

“...I don’t deserve you…” He whispered, to which she responded by grabbing his chin.

“Now listen here, mister. You’ve been supporting me indirectly and this is my way of showing my gratitude. If that lovely heart of yours can love a sea monster like me, then I can only do whatever I can to preserve that love…”—She kissed the tip of his nose.—“And I believe you fully deserve to be by my side.”

As soon as she let go, he slowly buried his head on her neck and shut his eyes tightly.

“You…”

“Me?”

He felt the sweat run down from his brow.

“You’re unfair… H-how am I supposed to counter this boss level approach?! A-all these things, just for me… You’re spoiling me a lot!”

“Well, maybe you can stop being so fricking cute..?”

“Huh?! Literally how am I supposed to do that when you call me that all the time?!”

She let out a hearty laugh and gently squeezed him for a bit before grabbing his face.

“You don’t need to do anything… After all…”

She gently ran her thumbs on his cheeks and kissed his head over and over again, making him turn pink even more.

“I still love you whether you’re cute or not~”

“...I’m saying this again, you’re killing me…”

She winked at him and let out a small giggle before looking at his amber eyes lovingly.

“I can’t help it, sorry~”

Not being able to take it anymore, he quickly gathered himself and looked at his PC.

“Uhm… a-anyway… Wanna play together? I-I can lend you a controller if you want.”

“I’d be delighted to~” She clasped her hands and smiled at him.

He got up and dusted his pajamas off a little as he went back to his chair with her. Then he closed off the game since his teammates had already left and looked at her.

“Which one do you wanna play?”

She shrugged.

“Mm, you pick.”

His cursor made its way to the fighting game they usually play together.

“...Alright, let’s play this one then.”

“Understood~”

“You better not choose that one character though.”

“Pfft, which one? I know you like almost all of them but--”

“Don’t play dumb, you know which one I’m talking about!”

A mischievous smirk tugged at the corner of her lips.

“...I do~”

.

.

.

.

.

“Big Brotheeeer~ Big Siiiiiis~ It’s morning~!”

The younger Shroud chimed in with a positive aura around him.

“Hmm, strange.. normally Big Sis would be awake at this hour. I wonder what’s wrong…”

He sighed and opened the door without a word, and the sight that greeted him was nothing like he expected.

It was one of those rare moments where his brother slept in his bed, albeit messy sometimes, but he was resting either way. The mess in his room was almost gone, the things were put back neatly, and most importantly, he and Fawn were sleeping soundly together. His head on her chest, her warm hand on his head, touching his hair a bit. The lengthened flames flickered around her wrists, but they weren’t causing any pain to anyone. Although he wanted to let them sleep longer, there were classes both of them had to attend. So he let out a small sigh and automatically set a timer on his tablet to thirty minutes to wake both of them up.

.

.

(BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP!!!)

“Mmm.. wha…”

“Nngh…”

He slowly opened his eyes and looked around to spot his girlfriend’s sleepy face as she rubbed off the remnants of her drowsiness.

“So.. i-it wasn’t a dream…”

“...What wasn’t..?”

“Y-you.. your gifts… the games…”

A small smile appeared on his face, and he heard her let out a small giggle.

“Dreams do come true, darling..”

“...You’re the best thing that happened to me…” He muttered into her hair while he checked the time.

“Mmh.. What time is it?” She slowly asked.

“8:31 a.m. Why?”

“...My classes… Shoot, they start at 8 o’clock..! I better get ready!!”

“M-m-me too… I…”

And they rushed to get ready for school immediately after getting up, and as soon as they were done, they got out and started rushing towards their respective classes.

“O-oh, Idia! Before I forget..!”

“Yeah?”

She walked closer to him and kissed him on the cheek.

“...Happy birthday, my lovely Gloomurai~”

“A-ah.. uhm… You too--”

He mentally facepalmed himself while he looked down, and watched her walk away to her own class until she turned around the corner.

‘...I need to get her something… and I still have time until March. That’s good to know. But what should I get, especially when she chose to hit me in the most critical spots..? Hmmm…’ He thought to himself while browsing stuff on his tablet, and his eyes caught something.

‘Hah, this will do!’

And he added that to his list and hit the purchase button.

‘Yeah… This will surely make her happy too..!’

He smiled to himself as the tips of his hair turned bright pink.

“After all, she isn’t really picky.. and she likes these… So she’ll definitely like my gift...”

[yuuniee]

— 💓 Surprise!!

I feel like writing drabbles for my ships so... Send a voice line from a card of a character I ship with my ocs, and I’ll write a small thing, because until now, I had like one or two fics written for my other ships and I want to expand on them too... :(

Characters I ship with my ocs: Cater, Ruggie, Jack, Floyd, Jamil, Epel, Rook, Idia, Silver, Rollo

[yuuniee]

‼️ — Tiny Updates!!

I found a better ship name for Idifawn, and it’s... 🥁 🥁 🥁 Digital Abyss! Meaning, from now on, I will be tagging Idifawn as “#idifawn” and/or “#digital abyss” (like this post!) But the Deadly Mermaid tag will stay as an old memory in this blog ;3

Also, I’m remaking the oc x canon ship post because now I have an oc shipped with all the twst cast minus Ortho and the staff!! (Yes, guest characters included!) I will be including how I came up with their ship names, how they fell in love with each other and a link to the confession fics I’ve written even though I only have Split Rose’s confession fic.

For the ocs that aren’t posted here yet, I actually have their profiles ready to send, but unfortunately I lack the time to draw the full body sprites for them so.. they’ll have Picrew/Neka/Gacha Life 2 images as placeholders...

I also have a fandorm for @/hourglassstationacademy in progress, it’s based on the game Path To Nowhere and its name is Noxaris! OCs like Miriam, Tethys and Cyrelle will be there!! ...However, you may ask me, “Cyn, I see you also have characters based on Serpent and Yao named Faith and Helia. What about them? Aren’t you going to add them to Noxaris too?” And the answer is... No, I won’t. Because I want to keep things fair for everyone and see others’ interpretations as well. (I got this question on Discord a lot, so I felt like I needed to clarify this here too :() (However, to give a little spoiler, the two will go there for a psychological evaluation and health check!)