#trinerdshipping

[waywardstraysau]

Idk, I was half asleep when I came up with this lol

Hunter be the only one with common sense in a throuple who’s made up entirely of teen geniuses

[waywardstraysau]

I (Mod Nightmare) present to you:

The Tri-Nerd relationship chart <3

Edric and Jack will be taking Hunter’s last name if they marry :3

[waywardstraysau]

The First Morning

By: Mod Nightmare

The boys let their situation sink in, and plan a course of action to get back to the school.

Accompanied with the three-way gay/bi panic that is sharing a quasi-domestic living space for the foreseeable future

……….

Edric was used to sharing a bed with Hunter back at the school.

Was it nerve wracking? Yes. Titan only knew the amount of near heart attacks the greenette had waking up in the morning with the small male curled up on top of him. However, watching the violette lazily awaken in the mid morning light, usually accompanied by a big yawn that displayed an adorable tooth gap, made the near misses quite worth the trouble. 

The addition of Jack didn’t present any new problems, at least that night, the redhead being a rather sound, still sleeper.

However, it did bring a new perk to the table.

“You fucking asshole” Jack hissed quietly as Edric ran his fingers through Hunter’s fluffy hair, the Violette having curled up on top of the redhead during the night. “At least help me out! What am I supposed to do?”

“Well, you can either wake him up now and deal with him being cranky” Edric hummed, moving to brush Jack’s soft bangs out of his eyes. “Or, let him wake up on his own. I’d recommend the second option from personal experience”

“Are you serious!? Theres a lot of shit I need to get started on if we want to get home within the next two months, at the earliest!” Jack whisper-shouted, scowling with a bit of a blush as Edric simply moved on to running his fingers through the boy genius’ hair. It was rather messy from a good nights sleep, so it made the other boy appear even more flustered.

Cute.

“Well, if getting back is gonna take a while regardless, then there’s no point in rushing the process” the greenette reasoned, pushing the redheads bangs back again with a little more scrutiny. “Theres other things to focus on in the meantime. For example, we’re gonna need to track down some decent hair-dye, not to mention figure out the whole food situation”

“We could be stuck here forever, and your immediate concern is my dye job” The faux redhead deadpanned, eyebrow twitching as the greenette chuckled, finally withdrawing his hand. 

“It was you who told me you’d prefer choking over ending up having to go back to being ginger” Edric replied, moving to sit up more properly in bed as he checked the clock. “Besides, Hunter is an early riser, soon enough he’ll be up long before we are”

“Why can’t it be today though?” Jack whined, before he went beet red as Hunter shifted a bit in his sleep, his consistent purr rising in volume. “What’s with the purring???”

“It’s a witch thing, he’s happy” Edric hummed, relaxing his back against the headboard as he watched Hunter tighten his arms around the redheads upper torso. “Although, yesterday was certainly the first time I’ve heard him purr so audibly when conscious”

“Thats… really weird”

“It’s only weird because you don’t do it” Edric replied, summoning his glasses and a book he’d checked out from the library before the whole disaster took place. “Just, relax, Hunter will be up soon enough, and he won’t say anything about this”

“Just how often does he-“

“No idea, he’s usually up long before me” Edric cut off the inquiry, putting his glasses on and opening his book to where he’d left off. “Let him sleep, he needs it”

……………

“Alright, Jack, you have the floor” Hunter hummed as Jack settled down at the lab table, spreading out the blueprints he’d managed to salvage from his previous attempts to return home. “What’s our game plan for getting home? I assume you were making attempts when Wuya first left you here”

“You assume correctly” Jack replied, a little flattered by how well the violette knew him. “That’s probably the only good news I have in that regard, though”

“Whats the bad news?” Edric asked as Jack flattened out the creases of the old paper, some small aspects having worn a bit or become illegible due to exposure and having been written hastily in pencil. 

“Well, this is the closest I got in attempts to design the portal we’d need” He huffed, glaring at the half-concepted mess on the paper. “Not only that, but since this world essentially lives off the magic that flows through it, electricity is completely useless as a power source for a portal out”

“So we just need a source of raw magic?” Hunter asked, and at Jack’s affirmation, he reached into his jacket and produced a scroll made of ink tablets, sliding it across the table. “Problem solved then, this relic has enough magic to trap Sun Wukong himself, so powering a gateway would, theoretically, be child’s play. Just… don’t touch it bare-handed. It gives humans horrifying hallucinations”

“What is that?” Edric questioned as Jack picked the scroll up with his palms, giving it a close visual examination. Deciding it was worth testing, he turned toward an old magic reader to see if the artifact was compatible with the magic needed. “Actually, better question, where did you keep that? Between your tits!?”

“No! I have a pocket sewn on the inside of my hoodie for it” Hunter defended, and whatever he said next was blocked out by Jack focusing on the readout his scanner had just returned. Translating technobabble from magical output was an achievement he was rather proud of.

“Bad news, this thing is incompatible” The redhead announced, cutting off the flustered conversation that had been going on behind him. Careful to not let his bare fingers touch the artifact, Jack returned the scroll to the table, sliding it back in Hunter’s direction. “If we tried to use that as a power source, it’d be much more likely to tear this reality apart than open a portal back home”

“WHAT!? Hunter, why would you be carrying something like that around!?” Edric shrieked as the violette tucked the scroll back into his hoodie, jumping away from the other witch like he was diseased. 

“Because it’s only dangerous if some idiot other than me tried to use it” the smaller boy replied, patting his chest where the scroll had been stored. “I repurposed it’s magic to my own end, a final gambit of sorts should I ever be backed into a corner”

“What the hell kind of-?“

“Instead of exploring whatever unspeakable horrors that thing could possibly unleash, can we please get back to the topic at hand?” Jack interrupted, making the greenette pout a bit as he sat back down. “Thank you. Now, does anyone else have any exceptionally magical artifacts I should know about?”

“No” Two voices, one answer.

“Then it looks like we’re gonna have to power this thing as I had originally planned” Jack sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he pressed a button to activate the hologram projector in the table. “With the Shen Gong Wu. And all the shit that comes along with claiming them”

“Pfft, is that all?” Hunter cackled, leaning forward to poke at a holographic projection of the Xiaolin Temple. “Just point me in the direction of the vault here, and we’ll be back home before you even have to start fixing that entrance”

“Hunter, that won’t accomplish anything other than alerting the monks to our presence, which I would like to avoid for as long as possible” Jack argued, pulling up a holographic replica of the monks vault. “You have to actually open the door in order to access any Wu inside, and that is a painfully difficult and loud process, making discreet espionage almost impossible”

“Yet you managed to steal shit from them more than once?” Edric, with some skepticism. 

“They were distracted and I was lucky, but not the point” Jack replied, before pulling up a list he’d programmed a long time ago. “Now, I don’t know if some of the unclaimed Wu I was told about have been recovered just yet, but considering how often new artifacts reveal themselves, there should be plenty of opportunities to legitimately claim enough of em’ to power the portal, at least within the next couple of months”

“Well, we can certainly shorten this timeframe, right? I mean, if we just had one, we can start challenging the monks to Showdowns” Hunter mused, eyeing the school bag hung on the chair next to Jack. 

“Don’t even think about it, the Monkey Staff is off limits, both for powering the portal and wagering in Showdowns” The teen genius sniped, snatching the bag off its temporary perch and holding it close. “I’ve lost it more times than I’m comfortable with already”

“Calm down, it was only a suggestion” the violette replied, holding his hands up as a sign of surrender. “I can wait for a Wu to reveal itself naturally, alright?”

“You better” Jack almost hissed, hugging the bag protectively. 

“Okay, you can chill out Golem” Edric interrupted, snatching the bag away from the redhead and pulling out the Monkey Staff, careful to not touch it with his bare hand. “If you’re gonna go all “My Precious” with your stick, then you need to leave the rest of our shit out of it”

“You’d understand why I like this thing so much if you were man enough to try it out” Jack argued, accepting the staff with a bit of a sly smirk. “Just ask Hunter, monkey tail’s are awesome”

……………..

Hunter would be lying if he said he wasn’t looking forward to what the next few months had in store. 

He was back out in the hidden grove next to the entrance of the base, having just put away a week’s worth of groceries in the kitchen. The nearby village had great deals on tofu and other traditionally Chinese ingredients, being primarily a farming community, and the violette couldn’t be more thankful for Pigsy’s tutelage, for he was now well versed in making healthy Chinese cuisine.  

However, the true root of his optimism came from the opportunity this world provided. 

The opportunity for revenge.

He’d heard all of Jack’s stories, knew how his friend had been tormented by both the monks and his so-called “allies”. It had the violettes blood boiling, enough that he’d made use of the “freakout room” more than once to calm down. 

Now, though, Jack’s tormentors were in reach. 

It was now just a matter of patience, wether it be out in the field or right at the door, they were bound to cross paths with the monks, or even Wuya alone with some luck. It was a guarantee with their goals so intimately aligned, and Hunter was eager for some vengeance. 

All he had to do was wait. 

So, he’d retrieved his current palisman carving project, and took advantage of the quiet grove just outside the door to make some progress. Sure, he was using up the last of his limited supply of palistrom wood, and Buddha only knew when he’d be able to quietly pilfer more from Terra’s personal garden, but he’d already made up his mind about what this particular hunk was going to be, and who for, even if it meant Luz would have to wait even longer for her own palisman. 

The hunk’s shade of grey was just too perfect of a match not to, anyway. 

Overall, the project he’d undertaken was rather ambitious, carving a Crimson Glow Valstrax down to the smallest detail being a challenge in of itself. However, considering who the palisman was meant for, Hunter had chosen to carve aforementioned Elder Dragon with its wings risen in a protective stance, giving it the appearance of an ornate spearhead to the uninformed eye. 

Getting its face right from behind those wings had been a bitch and a half, but thankfully, Hunter had successfully overcome the hurdle, and now the fun part of detailing and sculpting was upon him. A welcome distraction from the wait he’d have to endure.

He just hoped Jack would like it once he was finished.

He just hoped Jack would like it once he was finished.

He just hoped Jack would like it once he was finished. 

[waywardstraysau]

I like to think this would be labeled: “Me and and the two witches I pulled by bein’ autistic”:

Yes, in Wayward Tides, this is going to be a cannon ship. The original plan was to keep the relationship between Jack and DT Hunter completely platonic, but then I had an epiphany:

These three nerds would have an AMAZING wholesome poly relationship

We’re calling it Tri-Nerds! And I, personally, have plans~

Have a Happy Valentine’s Day!

[waywardstraysau]

It’s Showdown Time!

By: Mod Nightmare

During a routine shift of helping out in the Portal Room, Jack, Hunter, and Edric accidentally get transported to another world

One Jack is intimately familiar with

Let the action/Rom-com shenanigans begin!

(This is the first of a series of one shot shenanigans Mod Nightmare will usually be writing when she needs a break from her own projects! And maybe Aeon, but probably only Nightmare)

……….

The first indication that something had gone wrong, at least in Hunter’s perspective, was when he started to regain consciousness, despite not remembering what knocked him out.

The second indication was a hard boot slamming into his back-

“YEOW!”

Hunter bucked up to throw off his assaulter, whipping around with a snarl as he got to his feet. However, his anger was quickly washed out with confusion as Edric hastily motioned for silence.

He looked… scared.

“Whats wrong?” Hunter questioned, voice low to not startle the greenette as he finally took in their surroundings. 

This is NOT the portal room, what the fuck

“Jack’s in trouble” Edric answered, gesturing at the entrance to their dingy prison cell, where an angry-looking jungle cat was prowling back and forth, glaring at them. “Long story short, you’ve been… “out of commission” for two hours”

“What could have-“ Hunter started to demand, before memories of an overloading portal invaded his brain. “Actually, better question, what did I miss”

“Long story short, portal overload, we ended up in the “treasure room” of some evil overlord Jack knows, guy was NOT happy to find us there” Edric explained, ticking off fingers. “Jack talked the guy out of outright killing us, but now we’re essentially hostages unless our resident robotics whiz tells aforementioned evil overlord how we got in”

“…Chase Young?”

“From the stories we’ve been told, most likely” Edric replied as he followed Hunter to the bars of the cell. “I’ll warn you now, Jack was not exaggerating, dude’s hotter than the surface of the sun”

“We’ll torch that distraction when we get to it” Hunter replied, tapping a claw against the bars of the cage. 

As expected, the big cat lunged for him, clawing at the empty air where he witch had just been. 

“Okay, Vex, wake up, we need you” Hunter ordered, pulling his hoodie collar a bit so his little palisman could dart out, hovering attentively next to his head. “You’re gonna be our recon scout here. Without letting anyone see you, find Jack, give us his location, then wait in hiding for further orders”

“As you command” She responded, dipping her head a little bit before disappearing into the shadows along the wall. Edric, meanwhile, had crouched down and flicked open his enchanted school satchel, which was basically the groups infinite storage space for all their valuable shit. 

“What are we looking at?” The greenette asked as he pulled out his portable “potions” set, mostly stocked with dangerous chemicals and a near endless supply of spherical glass bottles, enchanted to contain all substances safely until thrown.  Hunter turned back to eye the big cat still clawing fruitlessly at them through the bars. 

“Obsidian reinforced with steel, I think. Mostly steel to keep functionality” he mused, checking underneath his nails. “Go with a melting solution, I want it to look like we escaped quietly out the front”

“Got it” Edric muttered, quickly filing through his available chemicals and selecting the ones he needed. “And the cat?”

Hunter simply snapped his fingers, and a spike of shadow shot up from underneath the big cats head, killing it instantly. 

“They can draw their own conclusions”

…………..

Of course Chase Young would finally be interested in me after I stopped idolizing him

It was honestly hilarious, in that ironic way, but also so, so, irritating. Mostly because the evil warlord was trying to leverage admiration that no longer existed. 

“How many times must I tell you, it was pure bad luck I ended up in your little horde room” the redhead huffed, glowering at the intimidating man staring him down. With time, the memories of servitude and being the butt of every joke had soured Jack’s opinion of Chase Young and everything he stood for. Actually, he hated every single villain he’d ever formed an alliance with at this point. All they’d ever done was use, then dump him. “I don’t even have anything you could want on me. Just let me and my friends go, and I promise, I won’t come back”

“Friends? Oh, thats a riot” Quite possibly the only voice Jack despised more than Chase’s chimed from the Heylain’s side. Wuya, restored to her physical form, was cackling her evil little heart out, clearly mocking the redhead. “I’m more likely to convince Chase to give me all my powers back than you are to have even one ally who genuinely enjoys your company”

“If this were a bet, you would have your powers back, you bedraggled old cunt” Jack sniped back, smirking at the downright offended reaction he got out of the nasty hag. “What? Did you expect me to just sit here and take your shit? Sorry to tell you, but therapy has done wonders in helping me grow a nice, shiny spine”

“You little-!” The Heylain witch snarled, looking prepared to tear the redhead a new hole, but was blocked by Chase’s arm, the overlord shooting her a warning glare.

“Your misplaced confidence aside-“ Chase spoke, putting his arm down after his point was made, then turning to face the young inventor. “-you still managed to get into my vault, with no signs of forced entry, without the Golden Tiger Claws. Clearly, you know something that could be of value to me”

“Even if I do, there’s nothing to be gained from telling you” the pale redhead replied, keeping eye contact despite the painful reminders of shitty past decisions. “I can’t go home, and I got my friends dragged into my old problems on top of that. Theres nothing you can do, or offer me, that’ll get me to do anything for your benefit”

Wuya made some sort of snide comment on his statement, but Jack just focused on keeping eye-contact with the intimidating man at her side. The redhead knew he was out of his depth, with no chance to fight off either adult if they decided to kill him, but he’d be damned if the only people he cared about suffered because he talked to save his own hide. 

He wasn’t expecting the warlord to roughly grab his chin to get a better look into his eyes. Still, Jack kept a brave face, hoping the Heylain couldn’t feel his trembling. 

“… It appears I have gravely underestimated your value” He finally hissed, jerking the boys head to the side before releasing him, turning to face some of his Jungle Cat Warriors. “Lock him up in the west wing. He requires re-education”

“WHAT”

“Chase, you must be joking” Wuya sneered as the jungle cats stalked towards Jack, who was now actively struggling against his bonds. As Chase turned to address the witch, probably just to shut her up, Jack was distracted by the feeling of a familiar set of paws scrambling up his back, underneath his trench coat. 

“Knock yourself over, you have five seconds”

Not needing to be told twice, Jack kicked out at one of the jungle cats who’d prowled too close, shifting his weight so the driving force knocked his chair to the side. However, before the second jungle cat had time to avenge the dishonor suffered by his brethren, a very big, very angry green wolf tackled it to the side, sinking its teeth into its throat. 

Chase’s reaction to the sudden intruder was quick, knocking Wuya out of the room as he lunged for Jack, but unfortunately for him, at that moment, the wall behind the redhead exploded in a glorious inferno, from which a streak of purple plowed into the Tai-chi master, knocking him back before materializing in front of Jack, the violette behind it snarling in warning. 

“Sorry we took so long, had to make the escape look physical” Edric apologized quietly, sawing at Jacks bonds with a pocket knife while Hunter intercepted Chase again, knocking the warlord back and returning to his previous defensive position. 

“You have no idea who you’re messing with, child, step aside or face the consequences” the tyrant hissed, eyes flickering to a familiar, sickly yellow. “I have need of your ally”

“The only thing you “have need” of is a good punch into the center of that pretty face” Hunter spat back, catching Vex as she darted out from Jack’s trenchcoat, eager to return to her master. “Bring it on”

Chase roared as he shifted into his draconic lizard form, lunging for Hunter directly that time.

However, instead of sinking his fangs into the small witch as expected, he was instead met with a wall of dark grey scales, ones that easily deflected gnashing teeth. As the annoyed warlord made an attempt to redirect, golden claws dug into his hide and hurled him through the door and several fortress walls. 

“Alright, we’ve lost the element of surprise!” Hunter shouted over the chaos of crumbling walls, while Edric helped Jack to his feet. As Chase poked his scaly head up from the devastation, the violette drew a circle in the air, returning Cedric to his palisman form as he blasted out another wall with magic from his free hand. “Vex, we’re out! NOW!”

Needing no other commands, the enlarged dragon slung Jack and Edric onto her back and took off, quickly followed by Hunter leaping onto her back right before she gained too much altitude. 

The euphoria that Jack experienced when he realized how much destruction the trio had just gotten away with had him shouting victoriously as Vex flew them off into the sunrise.

…………

By the time Vex had touched down again, the sun was just reaching its highest point, and all three boys had their fill of flying for the day.

Mostly because they discovered Jack got pretty airsick when he was riding on something that required a lot of movement to fly. 

Edric ended up settled at the redheads side as he threw up what little food had been left over from the previous day, thankful the trio had decided to take the pre-breakfast shift to help out with reconstructing the portal. 

It shortened the poor guys suffering.

When the pair re-emerged from the bushes, Jack still a bit disoriented from being sick, they found Hunter had stretched out on a flat rock, purring audibly as he basked in warm sunshine. 

“Um… what are you doing?” Edric questioned as Cedric jumped into his arms, eager to see his master again, despite the relatively short time they’d spent apart. 

“It’s been a while since I’ve enjoyed strong, uninterrupted sunlight” He replied, like that answered any questions the greenette had about his behavior. “I know this spot wasn’t chosen for my enjoyment, though. Why did you want us to fly here, Jack?”

“Oh! Right, that” Jack muttered, violently shaking his head to reorient himself. “I set up a secret base in this area a while ago, somewhere to hide out and live in when Wuya was refusing to send me back home. It’s nice, but… I haven’t used it in a while” 

“You forgot where the entrance was, didn’t you?” Edric accused, making the shorter teen turn a little red. Which, adorable, but not helping the problem at hand. 

“Well, its not like I can label it! It’s a secret entrance for a reason” The goth defended, crossing his arms and refusing to meet the tall witches eyes. “I just know it’s somewhere in this grotto, because you can’t easily get into it without flying”

“Which is a damn shame, this would make an amazing sun spot if it wasn’t mostly cut off from the sky” Hunter cut in, rolling onto his stomach to stare at them from his little perch, Vex taking the opportunity to jump onto his fluffy head. “Where was Jack sick at, this is basically going to be our front lawn, I don’t want it stinking”

Edric simply gestured to the cluster of bushes behind them, then passed him by as he started his search for the entrance trigger, Jack heading in the opposite direction. 

Their search didn’t end up lasting too long, as a loud scream from the bushes they’d emerged from had the Christmas colored duo darting back to check on their friend. 

They instead came upon a hole, with Vex hovering over it.

“Jack, why the fuck does the entrance trigger open up the ground UNDERNEATH it!?” Hunter screamed just as the duo’s heads popped up over the hole that had opened up, glaring at the redhead while his tail puffed out from rage. “I almost broke my neck!”

Edric had to duck back down to stifle his giggles from how cute the violettes enraged reaction was, while Jack hurriedly tried to explain his reasoning after mounds of apologies.

“If we’re still stuck in this world by sundown tomorrow, you are going to fix that stupid design choice!” Hunter finally yelled, sounding much calmer after Jack’s near incomprehensible rant. “Now get your asses down here, this place is a fucking mess, and I refuse to live in such grimy conditions!”

………..

By the time the sun had set, the trio had managed to deep-clean the entire base, to the point even the previously fucked up kitchen almost sparkled in the gentle lighting. 

Their accommodations in their temporary home were rather luxurious, including, but not limited to: a video-game room, heavy duty lab space, reading nook, and a large, welcoming living area. It alone included a nicely furnished corner in front of a huge television, a five star kitchen (which Jack had almost destroyed in his time using the place alone) with accompanying bar space, and a large dining table with comfortable-looking chairs. 

“Gotta admit, Jack, you know how to put together an awesome secret base” Hunter purred as he leaned on his palisman staff, Vex having overtaken one of the couches in the “living room” to sleep. “Despite the unholy destruction you inflicted upon the kitchen, this place looks pretty top-notch”

“The wi-fi is quite a nice touch” Edric added, and Jack found himself having to fight off a rather strong blush as he tugged at the collar of his trench coat. “Though it is pretty odd you only have one bedroom despite having a dining table that easily fits eight”

“Oh, the couches pull out! And I also have sleeping mats in a closet somewhere, I just wanted to have one private space for me” The redhead admitted, scratching his cheek as his blush got stronger. “Never really thought I’d be able to share this place with anyone long-term”

“Eh, thats because you’ve only been interacting with assholes before” Edric hummed as he threw an arm over the redheads shoulders, grinning smugly. “Now me and Hunter got your back, and we’ll make sure you’re treated right from now on”

“Thanks, that… that means a lot” Jack replied, trying to suppress a happy smile. 

“Ack, Vex, what the fuck!?” Hunter suddenly yelped from the living area, bringing the duo’s attention to him just as he dodged another attempt on Vex’s end to bite him. 

“Living room for palisman! You three share!” She warbled in that creaky, unnatural way she did whenever she physically spoke. 

“Vex, you are vastly underestimating my willingness to strangle you for a good nights sleep” Hunter hissed dangerously, fingers twitching.

Both Jack and Edric took a step back, as it just occurred to both of them Hunter had a total of eight hours of sleep in the last three days thanks to a combination of bad nightmares, insomnia, and a whole night of tracking down two preteens after they got lost in the woods. 

The sunbathing and sheer ruthlessness of his blatant feline homicide that morning now made a lot more sense.

Vex, however, was unbothered, choosing to land on the backing of the sofa. 

“You underestimate this ones knowledge” the palisman purred back, shooting the other two teenagers a sly look. “We get living room, or all secrets exposed. Choice yours”

 Hunter visibly stiffened at the threat.

“Fuck this” He finally muttered, storming off in the direction of the bedroom. When Vex leveled her gaze to the two other boys in the room, she received dual notions of surrender.

“We really need to get some dirt on her” Edric muttered as the female palisman ducked out of view. Jack simply shuddered in response, the thought of his personal fears and insecurities being put on blast enough to resign himself to his fate. That was, until Edric flung an arm over his shoulders, and in a teasing tone whispered “See you in bed then, sweetheart”

Jack was left in the room with his brain essentially fried as Edric giggled and sauntered out, only moving again to slap his hands to his face as the automatic doors closed behind the greenette.

Jack was left in the room with his brain essentially fried as Edric giggled and sauntered out, only moving again to slap his hands to his face as the automatic doors closed behind the greenette.

Jack was left in the room with his brain essentially fried as Edric giggled and sauntered out, only moving again to slap his hands to his face as the automatic doors closed behind the greenette.

[waywardstraysau]

Tri-Nerds: Origin

(A Beginning to a Wayward Tides Saga, by Mod Nightmare)

It’s common knowledge (DT) Hunter has a crush on Edric

Nobody really thought the romantic life of those two could get much more complicated, considering they’d probably never make a move. 

Everyone was wrong

SO FUCKING WRONG

(Or: Jack, Hunter, and Edric develop mutual crushes on each other, one small moment at a time)

(Also, an introduction to Vex, DT’s psychic palisman modeled to scale after Malzeno, from MHR: Sunbreak) 

…………

Jack never really expected Edric to come to him for something like robotics tutoring. 

He was an illusionist witch, which, in Jack’s personal opinion, was the FURTHEST profession away from something as hands-on/logical as robotics and coding.

Yet, Edric was so insistent on learning the trade that Jack was eventually coerced into tutoring him. After all, if this ended up as a waste of time, at least Jack had an excuse to infodump about robotics for an hour each day until Edric grew disinterested. 

Except, he didn’t. 

If anything, Edric took his robotics lessons more seriously than he did in most of the schools core classes. Within two weeks he was shadowing Jack around his lab while Hunter played Animal Crossing on his loveseat. He was constantly asking thoughtful, on topic questions about each part of Jack’s constructive process, from something as delicate as the circuitry, to the bulky, hands on intricacies of proper metal welding. 

Edric was actually eager to learn.

So, naturally, Jack upped the intensity of their tutoring sessions. Instead of just info dumping about the basics and leaving Edric to pick out what was and wasn’t super important, he took the time to plan out lessons. He had Edric observe him while he drew out blueprints, explaining each part of the process in detail, and drilling in to the greenettes head how important the planning stage was. He even let Edric help him with welding parts and repairs, though the scrawny witch usually stuck to observation due to his sub-par physical strength. 

The whole arrangement turned out to be rather fun!

The lessons continued, and over time, Jack grew rather comfortable with Edric, even beginning to consider him a close friend. Close enough that he was noticing a few little things about the greenette he wouldn’t have expected of him.

One: Edric’s crush on Hunter. Jack wasn’t an idiot, he knew the two were close, even knew Hunter had feelings that weren’t entirely platonic (not that he’d ever admit to it) in regards to the greenette, but he honestly thought those feelings weren’t entirely reciprocated. 

He’d been wrong. 

If anything, Edric was downright smitten with Hunter. While the greenette tended to be rather attentive during lessons despite (what Jack suspected was) his ADHD (accommodated with a fidget cube), if Hunter was in the room with them, Jack would have to constantly, and repeatedly, redirect the scrawny witch’s visual attention back to the task at hand. If Hunter wasn’t in the lab, Edric would doodle his face in the margins of his notes, with a bunch of little hearts to boot. 

Jack felt it would be inappropriate to comment, so he didn’t. 

Two: Edric’s palisman, Cedric, who was practically on him twenty-four seven, looked EXACTLY like Hunter’s wolf form, with a green color pallate instead of purple. 

Disregarding the fact that the concept of palisman was fucking weird as hell, it also was revealed to Jack that Edric had carved him long before he knew Hunter could shapeshift at all. 

When Jack asked where he got the inspiration from, Edric simply replied “I’ve only seen two creatures who look like him in my life, and the one I modeled Cedric after was the most majestic thing I’ve ever seen”

The look Jack shot Hunter after that statement was pointedly ignored. 

Three: Edric was blind as shit, but refused to wear his glasses. 

Jack assumed he had contacts he misplaced on occasion, mostly because his blindness seemed to come and go. When Jack inquired about Edric’s vision problems, and ways Jack could get him some proper visual aids, he got touchy and sometimes outright left the room, but always returned and just refused to discuss the situation further. 

When Jack brought this behavior up to Hunter, he confirmed that Edric had a pair of glasses, but warned him to stop bringing up the subject, as the greenette hated them. 

So, Jack stopped bringing it up.

(He was admittedly curious about what the greenette might look like in them)

Four: Edric knew how to dye hair on almost a professional level

How Jack learned of this information was rather funny, in hindsight. He’d noticed his ginger roots were starting to become a little obvious one Saturday, after an all nighter. Instead of going back to his room to take care of the problem, preferably after a nap, his drunk, half asleep mind rationalized that he could probably take care of the problem without needing to leave the lab.

Bad. Idea.

Edric had walked in on him half covered in red hair dye and his lab looking like it had bore witness to a fresh, brutal murder. 

None of the dye had even gotten to his hair, and he was pissed he’d run out. 

Instead of being insulted for fucking up, as he had grown accustomed to after months of living with Wuya, Edric had simply chuckled, helped Jack to his feet, and then cleaned up.

Afterward, Edric had strong-armed the ginger into letting him completely re-do his dye job, with promises he could make the red both more vibrant and natural looking.

He’d delivered on both to say the least, and Jack had never felt like less of a ginger prep-school loser until that moment.

He could have kissed the greenette, the job was so well done.

Jack could understand why Hunter adored Edric after that moment.

He could do without the greenettes tardiness on Saturdays like on that current one, though. Edric’s palisman had showed up on time, as Cedric was known to be punctual, but his witch was so scatterbrained on Saturdays Jack usually ended up waiting up on him. 

Usually, as a bit of harmless fun, Jack would greet the witch with Cedric in his lap, doing his best interpretation of an evil cat while he stroked him. Jack had even come up with a mock monologue about how he could have conquered Norway in the time it took Edric to show up, but that didn’t end up happening. 

What happened instead was a proverbial slap to the face of Jack’s feelings.

Edric stumbled into the lab half asleep (despite it being near noon), more disheveled than Jack had ever seen him, wearing tastefully black glasses with box lenses and what looked like sleepwear.

Also, it could be a trick of the light, but Jack swore Edric looked taller. 

“Edric, what the fuck” ended up coming out of the redheads mouth instead of his planned “Norway Conquest” monologue, but Jesus shit he barely recognized the teen slumped against his doorway. “Are you okay?”

“Fuuuucccckk no, Jake challenged me to do shots last night” he grumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose as Jack took a hint and dimmed the lighting in the lab. “Hunter’s been helping me through this mornings hangover, but titan winning that twenty bucks was so not worth it”

“Well I can’t in good conscious let you work near machinery if you’re this fucked up” Jack concluded, getting up after Cedric jumped off his lap, quickly moving to steady Edric against his side. “I’m taking you back to your room”

“What about todays lesson?”

“Heres a lesson: NEVER work with machinery when intoxicated or hungover” Jack chided, trembling a bit under the taller males weight. “When the fuck did you get this tall, though?”

At the inquiry, Edric’s entire face turned tomato red, and he started spluttering something about a “Concealment Stone” while trying to hide his face with his available arm. 

All Jack could focus on was how… oddly cute the reaction was-

Oh.

Oh, fuck.

………………………….

The guilt that followed Jack around since that revelation was soul-crushing. 

Edric was a wonderful boy, inside and out, but Jack was currently cursing his bisexuality for turning his platonic feelings into something deeper. 

Thankfully, Jack’s experiences with his father gave him great practice with suppressing any external indications of attraction, so he could still hang out with Edric just fine, even if he really wanted to run his fingers through the witches soft hair-

“God, I’m a shit friend” Jack groaned to himself as he let his head slam down on his workbench. He hadn’t had many friends in his life, especially ones who actually liked him, and his stupid bi ass just had to fuck it up by falling for one of them.

Needless to say, because of his feelings, the week had been painfully awkward, at least on his end.

Seriously, what the fuck was he supposed to say to Hunter? 

“Hey, I think Edric’s hot too, and I’ve already daydreamed about kissing him more than once”?

Yeah. No, Jack knew he would hurt the violette if he dared admit to something like that. Not to mention Edric…

What sucked even more was Hunter was a fucking saint of a friend. While Edric was a boy he could really bond with over similar interests in regards to hobbies, Hunter was something more of a kindred spirit. The guy was an absolute riot when it came to messing with the other kids, and generally led the trio into fun shenanigans, or bailed them out if shit went south. He was a shoulder to lean on, a vote of confidence when Jack needed it.

Yet, Jack had betrayed all that, and fell for his crush. Fell hard.

Worse still, the guilt didn’t squash the butterflies, not by a long shot. His heart still pounded at the thought of Edric’s silly little grin when he managed a breakthrough in their tutoring sessions. Or when the witch brought him lunch when they met up on the days where Jack zoned out and missed the period due to one project or another-

“ARGH, fuck off!” The redhead huffed, slamming his head down again before getting up from his desk, clearly ruffled. “Fuck this, I’m getting pudding-“

“JACK!”

The redhead stumbled back in surprise as his lab door was flung open in front of him, a flash of purple light being Jack’s only warning before Hunter was grabbing onto the fabric of his trechcoat, pulling the boy genius down to his eye level and shaking him.

“JACKIFUCKEDUPTHEPALISMANSTARTEDMOVINGSHESHOULDNTHAVEBONDEDWITHMEIBONDEDWITHFLAPJACKALREADY-!!!”

“HUNTER!” Jack shouted, slamming his hands down on the shorter males shoulders to gain his attention. Thankfully, this maneuver also stopped the shaking, and even quieted the smaller teen. “I couldn’t understand a word of what you just said, what’s the problem?”

“The palisman I made for Luz, my Luz, just look at her!” He spluttered, reaching into his hood and pulling out-

“Holy shit!” The redhead exclaimed as he watched the tiny, intricate dragon in his friends hands raise its head to stare at him. He’d seen the palisman before, Hunter had proudly showed the carving off a few weeks ago when he’d completed it, claiming he was going to give it to his sister when he got back home. The dragon had been modeled after Malzeno, a monster from Hunter’s favorite game, but Jack could have sworn the carving was much lighter in color before. “It’s moving, what-”

“She’s not supposed to be moving, Jack!” The violette snapped, dropping his hands as the newly animated palisman took to the air, looking ready to lose his shit. “A palisman doesn’t move unless it’s already bonded with a witch, Luz was supposed to be her witch, not me! I already have a palisman!”

“… Okay, that sucks, you accidentally made your sisters gift useless to her, but I don’t understand why you’re freaking out so bad” Jack replied, holding out his arm to let the dragon land, and scritching her tiny chin. “Honestly, she seems perfect for you, anyway”

“Jack. A witch cannot bond with two palisman at one time, and trust me, many have tried” Hunter explained, face strained with distress. “Something bad could have happened to Flapjack!”

“You named a cardinal “Flapjack?””

“He came with the name!” The violette rebutted defensively, before shaking his head and clasping his hands together, which were noticeably trembling. “Oh God, he’s with my dad, what if they’re both hurt somewhere-“

“Hey, I’m sure they’re fine!” Jack quickly stepped in, placing a hand on the smaller males shoulder, cutting off what was sure to be a bad downward spiral. Hunter refused to look up, and so the redhead deposited the draconic palisman on his head, making him squeak and scramble to catch the little thing as it jumped right back off and forced its way into his arms. “Besides, from what you’ve told me, a palisman bond is a deep connection few can experience. I’m sure this girl would be crushed if you rejected her”

“Jack, she’s not a girlfriend” Hunter replied in deadpan, but stifled a chuckle right after as the little dragon placed her front paws on his chest and nuzzled the underside of his chin. “H-hey! Quit it!”

“I think she agrees with me” Jack chuckled, crossing his arms with a little smile as the newly animated being scrambled up onto the witches shoulders to avoid grabbing hands, Hunter laughing with genuine glee as he took part in her little game, looking happier than Jack had seen him in a while. 

Wait, when did the air conditioner turn off?

“Gotcha!” Hunter finally shouted in triumph, pulling the little dragon off of him and holding her out, her little feet dangling in the air. “Silly little troublemaker! I haven’t even named you yet and you’re so smart already!”

Jack couldn’t restrain the little smile of his own as Hunter cradled the little dragon like a baby, stroking her back with adoration. 

It would have been much more wholesome if the little dragon didn’t turn her head and lock eyes with Jack again.

“Thats not the air conditioner, by the way” a sleek, feminine voice suddenly chimed in Jack’s head, making him flinch violently at the sudden intrusion, staring at the little dragon in shock. “Your face is redder than your hair, and as new as I may be, I know what adoration is”

“What the actual fu-“

The rest of her statement finally sunk in, cutting off any other train of thought.

FUCK.

“Language!”

…………….

Edric chuckled from where he was catching his breath on a branch. 

He wasn’t really sure why, but Jack had invited him to go tree climbing in the middle of the night. Just him, as Hunter was sleeping soundly and neither teen wished to wake him for something so silly. 

Not only would Edric feel bad for disturbing his rest, but he was pretty sure Hunter would shank both of them for their reasoning, so he was left to snooze with Vex and Cedric.

“How do you suck so bad at this?” Edric wheezed as Jack flipped him off from where he was a foot or so down, limbs trembling at the sudden shift in weight support. 

“Fuck you, I’m out of practice” he hissed, spite allowing him to make that final push up to where Edric sat, forcing the scrawny witch to scoot over so he had room to sit. Edric simply hummed and shimmed further down the branch, taking in the decent view of the school from where they’d chosen to climb, just outside of the property. 

“It’s amazing how much luxury humans can cram into one lifetime” the greenette mused as his companion got comfortable. “Like, my parents were two of the richest people on the Isles, but even they couldn’t dream of going this extreme with a house”

“Pfft, this place had got nothin’ on my dad’s mansion in Shanghai” Jack cackled, earning an inquisitive look from the witch as he leaned against the trunk. “Not that I was allowed in there all that often, he’d usually confine me and mom to a secondary homestead while he smoozed in his big ol’ manor”

“… He didn’t have his wife and child live with him?” The scrawny witch inquired, sounding mildly horrified. 

Jack just shrugged nonchalantly. 

“I mean, mom was free to come and go around there as she pleased, but she usually stuck around the smaller house with me until I was twelve, when I graduated secondary school” The redhead clarified, picking at his nails despondently. “As soon as I had a GED, she was comfortable with leaving me to my own devices for longer periods of time”

“How long are we talking?” Edric asked, to which Jack just shrugged, looking disinterested.

“Long enough that I wouldn’t be surprised if I haven’t been reported missing yet” He replied, crossing his arms and staring off in the direction of the manor, eyes unfocused. “Who knows, maybe dad sent me that Puzzle Box as a plan to get rid of me for good, I’d gone off the deep end of obsessive villainy for a while at that point”

Edric didn’t know what to say to that.

What could he say?

“… Do you still consider yourself a villain?” The greenette finally settled on, to which Jack just shrugged again. 

“Not really” he responded, finally looking back at the witch as he repositioned himself on the branch. “I mean, I’m not senselessly evil, but I’m not hero material, either. Mostly I’m just… bad at everything” 

“Jack, your robots do all the chores and housecleaning of the entire school-”

“Not… not like that” the redhead corrected, blushing a bit as he avoided eye contact. “I’ve failed at every turn when it came to evildoing, every ally in villainy has turned on me more than once, and by the end of my so-called “career”, even my adversaries regarded me as nothing more than a joke”

“Ouch” Edric winced, and Jack just nodded along. 

“Yup. And the laughing just made it all the worse” He sighed, pulling his legs in to rest his head on his knees, still avoiding eye-contact. “Hell, I was once tied to the back of a speedboat by those monks and dragged across three miles of ocean, I was considered that much of an annoyance”

“What the fuck!? What monk does that shit!?” Edric shouted, startling the redhead enough to finally look at him again. Then, realizing the yelling was probably inappropriate for that time of night, Edric turned a little pink and put a hand to his mouth, years of harsh lessons on “manners” kicking back in. “Sorry”

Then, Jack did something rather unexpected. 

He laughed.

Not the old villainous cackle, or snarky snicker, but honest to god genuine bouts of laughter, the biracial redhead nearly doubled over and clutching his stomach, howling.

Edric could feel himself turning a little redder, cursing his fathers genetics for the way blushes spread over his entire face, but at that moment, he found he barely minded. 

Eventually, Jack did regain composure, but it took a good moment before he could talk again, a rare, genuine smile on his face.

“S-sorry, Edric, I just didn’t think you were capable of such indignant outrage” he cackled, waving his hands around a bit to calm himself. “Glad to know you care, though”

“Of course I care, Jack. You’re my friend” 

The redhead stilled at the claim, turning a little pink himself. The color was a rather start contrast to his pale skin, but oddly… alluring?

Huh. 

He’s pretty cute

…

That… could be problematic.

“You… really mean that?” Jack asked nervously, picking at the holes in his fingerless gloves, cheeks looking a little more red.

Eh, screw it, I can think on it later.

“Of course! You’ve been putting up with my shit for like, two months, why wouldn’t I consider you a friend?” The greenette asked, slinging an arm over the redheads shoulders and pulling him into a side hug. “Plus, Hunter adores you! He’s even carv-“

Edric quickly slapped a hand over his mouth, remembering that particular bit of info was supposed to be a secret. Jack, in all his red-faced glory, stared at him from his position with confusion.

“Uh- lets just say he’s making something special for you and leave it at that” Edric chuckled, scratching his cheek with embarrassment. 

Jack looked a little suspicious, but ended up just laughing again, ducking out of the side hug and scooting away a bit, blush still in place. 

“If you say so” he replied, trying to hide the big smile spreading across his face as he moved to get up. “We should probably head back-“

“Oh, leave this part to me!” Edric hummed enthusiastically, pulling out a piece of paper to slap on his chest, and grabbing Jack around the waist. 

“Wait, what are you-!?” Jack screeched, only to be cut off as Edric pushed off the branch, dragging the redhead into freefall with him. 

Edric would treasure the hilariously girly scream Jack had unleashed before the “safety fall” glyph kicked in for the rest of time.

…………….

Like many teenagers who drank too much at wild parties, Hunter woke up confused. 

The violette was lucky he never had to deal with a hangover, but that didn’t stop alcohol from messing with his memories. All he had from the night before was Edric passing out in the pillow fort room after losing several rounds of beer-pong to Randy (dude was surprisingly dexterous when wasted), and… a lot of intoxicated conversation with an equally-wasted Jack.

Which didn’t make a whole lot of sense, considering someone was spooning the violette from behind, and he was pretty sure he’d left Edric in the pillow fort room to sleep off the shots-

Fuck me thats not Edric the violette realized with a jolt, wincing as the redhead currently cuddling him like a beloved toy grumbled in annoyance, tightening his arms around Hunter’s waist a bit before relaxing again. Fuck fuck fuck- 

The urge to squirm out of the intimate embrace he’d awoken in was sadly suppressed by the urge to not wake the neurotic genius, as he knew Jack didn’t sleep a lot if he could help it. The whole situation was incredibly awkward, probably even more so considering Hunter was subconsciously musing upon how good the other teen smelled, like sharp cinnamon mixed with burnt sugar. Intense, and a bit irritating to the senses at first, but oddly sweet once you got used to it.  

“Master? How are you?” Vex trilled from where she had previously been curled up on the nightstand, sharing a plush pillow with Cedric. 

Could be worse Hunter admitted, trying to distract himself from how warm Jack was despite his pale complexion. What the fuck were we even talking about last night? How did that lead to this?

“Oh, its was quite a show~” Vex chuckled, gently disentangling herself from Cedric and leaping over to join the violette on the bed, settling down while Hunter carefully repositioned himself so he was upright, but his waist was still in Jack’s hold. “You two were just chattering away, about how you both think Edric is sooo charming, then guiltily apologizing for getting in each others way”

Huh, not too bad then Hunter mused, scratching his cheek with bit of a blush. I’m not surprised Jack likes Edric too, he’s very pretty, and there’s even more substance underneath that cute face…

“Yeah, no, thats not everything. I wasn’t paying much attention to what was going on in here after that whole fiasco for a bit, your alternate was having a rather intense crisis under the influence and his Flapjack came to me for help” Vex cackled, looking rather smug. “When I came back, you and Jack were getting pretty comfy, all snuggled up together while you told Jack all about your failed missions under your uncles orders back in the day, using a light orb to project shadows to give him visuals”

… I remember that, actually Hunter mused, blushing a bit as the memory of Jack’s laughter at his side became more clear. Buddha, did I really tell him about the Bat Queen incident?

“Oh yeah you did” Vex giggled, raising a paw to cover her snout. “Hearing you recount how you tried to fistfight her after she knocked your staff out of your hands was hilarious”

Fuck me Hunter groaned internally as he buried his face in his arms, hiding his bright blush. Not just from the mortification on behalf of his thirteen year-old self, who’d received a painful thrashing from the palisman den mother, but also the delighted, carefree laughter of a teenager who was usually so closed off when it came to expressing genuine happiness. 

He kind of just stayed in that position, musing over his life choices for a while, before Jack finally began to stir, retracting his arms to push himself into sitting position. 

“Agh, fuck” he hissed, slamming his face into his knees and curling up to block out the sun. 

“Hangover?” Hunter questioned, sitting up himself as Vex turned to rejoin Cedric on their bed, shielding the tiny wolf palisman’s eyes with her wings as she settled back in. 

“No shit” he grumbled, massaging his temples with scrunched closed eyes, looking about ready to lose his mind. “Whoever invented hangovers can bite me”

“Yeah, well, you need to get up, I need someone taller to help me drag Edric back here” the violette hummed, slipping out of bed and heading over to the windows to close the curtains. The groan he received in response was expected, but still rude. “Oh, hush up, I’ll be taking care of you two for the rest of today, the least you can do for me is help out”

“Fuckin’- give me a moment, I’ll get the bots to bring him” the redhead muttered, uncurling from his vertical ball and reaching over to his trench coat tossed on the bedside table, pulling out a phone. Then, he dialed a certain number and pressed the device to the side of his head. “Operator Number 80085, dispatch retrieval drones to bring one Edric Blight back to his room”

“Did you seriously make your operator number a boobs joke?” Hunter cackled as his hungover companion shot him an exasperated look, appearing ready to just keel over and die. “Okay, sorry, you’re doing me a favor, lie back down while I clean up a bit from last night”

“Finally” He whined, flopping back over and slamming a pillow over his head, trying to hide from the natural light still streaming into the room. 

Pfft. Dork the violette mused as he moved to open their door, knowing Jack’s inventions tended to break anything that interfered with their objective, then proceeded to start tidying up, habit and personal pride in his own work keeping him from using magic to expedite the process. He greeted the Jack-bots as they dropped Edric off on the bed, as Jack swore at them both for their incompetence. Yelling at your own brain children doesn’t change their programming

“Fuuuuccck, Hunter, you need to stop spiking your desserts, I had one drink” Edric whined as he stole the blanket off Jack, earning a yelp from the redhead as he swathed himself in the fabric, flopping forth in a position Hunter liked to call “The Miserable Caterpillar”. “How did you even manage to make cake intoxicating, doesn’t baking mostly nullify the alcohol!?”

“The trick is the icing” the son of Macaque hummed as he dropped his bag into their trashcan, dusting off his hands. “If you really don’t want to get drunk, just take desserts from the kids tables, I tried to warn all you guys I made my stuff particularly strong last night”

“And you lied about the “one drink” shit, I know you were doing shots before challenging Cunningham to beer pong” Jack sniped from underneath the pillow he used as a shield, voice barely muffled by the material. 

“Why would you betray me like that?” Edric whimpered as Hunter shot him an amused look, flopping on top of the redhead while still wrapped up. “I thought we were friends”

“Goddamnit, Edric, get off!” Jack groaned as he tried to squirm away from he greenette while keeping his pillow firmly in place. Unfortunately, he underestimated Edric’s commitment to getting free snuggles, and both of them were on the floor within two minutes. “FUCK”

“Alright, enough messing with each other” Hunter finally stepped in, room darkening considerably as he drew a circle in the air. Both boys yelped as they were levitated off the floor and back onto the bed, before a blanket and a couple of pillows appeared in each of their laps. “Set yourselves up and get comfy, I’ll go scrape together a breakfast that’ll help out with your hangovers”

“God, please” Jack begged as Edric flopped over, sighing in relief. “Thank the lord for your magic, I was losing my shit in that sun”

“You’re a saint in sinners clothes, Hunter” the greenette added groggily, setting his glasses on the bedside table as Jack set up a little tower of pillows to rest his back against, his stubborn tendencies to avoid sleep kicking back in with the addition of darkness. 

“Hey, no, Jack, give me all your devices, you don’t need to be making that headache worse” the violette scolded as the redhead produced his phone, swiping that and his tablet from the backpack on the floor. 

“Oh, come on! I have codes I need to update!” He whined petulantly, trying to reach for the devices, but Hunter simply pushed him back until he relented, crossing his arms and sitting back with a frown. “Jerk”

“You’ll thank me later, Spicer” Hunter simply replied, drawing another spell circle and teleporting the electronics back into the redheads lab. “The coding will still be there when you’re well, just relax”

“Fine” he groaned, rolling his eyes as Hunter headed out, Edric already well on his way back into unconsciousness. 

The second the door closed behind him, the son and successor of the Six-Eared Macaque let out a deep sigh of relief, covering his face with his hands as his ears turned red.

What even is my taste in men?

The second the door closed behind him, the son and successor of the Six-Eared Macaque let out a deep sigh of relief, covering his face with his hands as his ears turned red.

What even is my taste in men?