…book 6 got me fucked up. It was so long and at time annoying as hell to get through… but Grim… Grimie… my babeh… I cried real life tears whenever he cried… i started out with this game being his #1 hater… the character interactions were great… Idia and Ortho’d story broke mah heart…. I hate rook less now, but he’s still at the bottom of my list… and now I’m absolutely terrified for book 7. Also I now know the exact moment where Estelle and Jamil have their first kiss so yippe—
Fr tho— great writing… took too daym long. Almost lost interest but I got through the tedious part today and experienced the true heartbreak. Again, I’m not excited for book 7 as I have already been told multiple times that the pacing there is even WORSE… pray for my lil adhd ass plsss
May I request Idia with another socially anxious person. Like clings to his sleeve or jacket if hes in person or holds onto his tablet if he is using his tablet. Like "if I have to suffer though social interactions so do you."
You can add anyone else if you want to:>
Yes of course!! I hope you like it! I was lwk sleep deprived when I wrote this tho lmao and I don’t wanna edit it anymore.
Where Do You Think You’re Going?
Featured character: Idia Shroud
Tags: romantic relationship implied, uhhhhhh sorta abrupt ending, rly short and I’m sorry
🔥 ————————————————— 🔥
There were some days when simply existing around other people felt like a boss battle with no save point.
You understood that better than almost anyone.
Crowded hallways made your shoulders tense before you even stepped into them. Cafeterias were too loud, conversations too fast, eyes that probably weren't even looking at you somehow felt like they were. You hated raising your hand in class, hated ordering food, hated introducing yourself, hated every tiny interaction that seemed so effortless for everyone else. It wasn't that you disliked people. You just... never knew what to do with them.
Which was probably why you and Idia fit together so strangely well.
Neither of you expected the other to suddenly become outgoing. There were no dramatic speeches about "facing your fears." No attempts to drag each other into parties or force confidence where there wasn't any.
Instead, you simply... existed beside one another.
Comfortably.
Quietly.
Like two cats occupying the same sunny patch of floor.
It started entirely by accident.
The two of you had been forced—against both of your wills—to attend an inter-house meeting in person because Crowley had decided attendance was "absolutely mandatory." Idia had spent the entire walk there muttering under his breath about how this was the worst event flag imaginable, while you had been silently trying to convince yourself not to turn around and hide in Ramshackle until tomorrow.
Halfway through the crowded hallway, another group of students rounded the corner.
Neither of you spoke.
Neither of you needed to.
Almost instinctively, your fingers reached out and pinched the loose sleeve of Idia's hoodie.
Not tightly.
Not enough to stop him.
Just... enough.
Enough to tell yourself that someone familiar was still there.
Enough to keep yourself grounded.
You realized what you'd done about three seconds later.
Your entire body froze.
"S-sorry," you mumbled, already beginning to let go.
But before your hand could slip away...
Idia awkwardly shifted his arm.
Not away from you.
Closer.
"N-no," he muttered, face turning bright pink beneath the glow of his hair. "I-it's... uh..." He stared determinedly at the floor. "...It's... okay."
Neither of you acknowledged it afterward.
The next time it happened was during lunch.
The cafeteria was louder than usual, packed shoulder-to-shoulder with students laughing, shouting, trays clattering against tables. It felt suffocating.
Idia had only agreed to eat there because Ortho had insisted he couldn't survive on energy drinks forever, and you had reluctantly accompanied him because eating alone somehow felt even worse.
You made it exactly four minutes.
Someone accidentally bumped into your shoulder, another student laughed nearby, a chair scraped loudly against the floor, and everything became too much all at once.
Without consciously deciding to, your hand found the edge of Idia's jacket beneath the table.
Just a tiny fistful of fabric.
Grounding yourself.
Idia looked down.
Then at you.
Then immediately looked away again, cheeks glowing brighter than his hair.
"...Mhm."
That was all he said.
He didn't move.
Didn't tease you.
Didn't ask questions.
He simply let you stay there until your breathing settled enough that the cafeteria stopped feeling like it was closing in around you.
It became almost normal.
If the hallways got crowded, your fingers found his sleeve. If someone unexpectedly tried talking to you, your hand drifted toward the back of his hoodie while you struggled through the interaction. If you were walking together through campus and too many students passed by…
Sleeve.
Always the sleeve.
It wasn't something you thought about anymore. Your body simply did it before your brain caught up.
Idia, for his part, pretended he didn't notice. Except he always slowed down whenever you grabbed him. Always matched his pace to yours. Always shifted just enough to make sure you didn't have to reach very far.
The funniest part was that eventually you realized he had started doing something suspiciously similar.
Whenever someone approached the two of you unexpectedly, his sleeve somehow ended up brushing against your arm. When walking through crowded areas, he unconsciously drifted until your shoulders were touching. If you let go of his jacket for too long, he somehow ended up standing just close enough that you could grab it again whenever you wanted.
He never acknowledged any of it.
Neither did you.
It simply happened.
…
After enduring what felt like an entire raid worth of social encounters, the two of you managed to escape into one of the quieter corridors outside the classrooms. The silence settled over you both like a favorite blanket, interrupted only by the distant echo of chatter behind the closed doors. Your hand was still around his sleeve. Neither of you had noticed. Or maybe you both had and simply hadn't wanted to acknowledge it. You exhaled the longest breath of the evening, shoulders finally relaxing, and felt his own tense posture soften at almost the exact same moment. It was strange, really. Most people would probably find being physically tethered to another person restrictive. Yet somehow, with him, it felt like freedom. Freedom from pretending to be braver than you were. Freedom from having to navigate the world completely alone.
Idia glanced at your hand one last time before letting out a tiny, defeated sigh that carried none of his usual misery. If anything, it sounded fond. His lips curled into the faintest smile as he adjusted his sleeve—not to free himself, but to make sure your grip was more comfortable. "Guess..." he mumbled, voice barely louder than the hum of the hallway lights, "...guess we're one of those co-op builds now." His ears burned immediately after saying it, clearly mortified by how sentimental it had accidentally sounded, but before he could spiral into apologizing, your fingers tightened ever so slightly around the fabric.
Where did he think he was going, anyway?
Certainly not anywhere without you.
And if the terrifying world insisted on throwing impossible social encounters at either of you, then the least it could do was let you face them exactly like this—your hand curled around his sleeve, his pace unconsciously matching yours, two anxious hearts quietly carrying each other through every battle neither of you could win alone.
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