Archive of Our Own

“Oh my, is that Jamil? What a surprise!”

Jamil immediately scowls. 

He had just walked out of class, hoping to get to the gym a little early for practice since they have a game coming up. Of course, someone always has to interrupt his plans. 

“How rude of you to keep walking even after hearing me call out for you.” Azul manages to catch up with Jamil’s speed walking. 

“I don’t have time for your nonsense right now.” 

“This isn’t nonsense. I have something I’d like to propose!” 

Jamil gives him a look of disdain. “How many times must I deny you before you give up? I’m not making a deal with you.” 

“I know that, unfortunately.” Azul sighs. “But that’s not what I’m here to ask.” 

Jamil cocks an eyebrow, insinuating for Azul to go on. 

Azul’s eyes glimmer with amusement and Jamil can already tell he’s going to regret this, but it’s too late now because Azul is already speaking. “You’ve been missing a certain someone, haven’t you?” 

“Not at all,” Jamil responds almost immediately.

“Not in the figurative sense. I know you’ll never admit that.” What’s that supposed to mean? “I mean literally. Your other half hasn’t been with you lately.”

Jamil grimaces at the use of ‘other half’. He’s his own person, thank you very much. “And? I much prefer it this way.” He scoffs.

Kalim has been avoiding Jamil lately. It’s so obvious that everyone in the entire school can tell. Jamil had tried to be the bigger person and reach out again first but… 

“Ah, Kalim. Let me walk you to–”

“Sorry, Jamil! Silver’s waiting for me!” 

“Did you get the notes down? Here, use mine.”

“Hm? Oh! I already got them from someone else.”

“Going out? I’ll go with you.” 

“No need! I’ll be back later. Bye Jamil!” 

“I made you dinner already, Kalim. It’s on the table.”

“Oh, I already ate at Savanaclaw!” 

That last one made Jamil seeth. Kalim never ate anything other than Jamil’s cooking. It felt like, ironically, a form of betrayal. So after that, Jamil gave up on trying to reach out. 

If Kalim didn’t want to talk to him, fine. He couldn’t care less anyway. He had more free time to do his work and the like. This was great. This was ideal.

“Honesty starts with yourself, Jamil,” Azul says, making no sense as always. 

Jamil just rolls his eyes. “So do you actually have a reason for calling out to me or are you just testing my patience as per usual?” 

“I do, I do! I know a way to get him to come back to you.” Azul states proudly. 

“Huh?” 

“Everyone can tell you’re more… temperamental without Kalim around. Clearly it’s in both yours and his best interest to make up with each other.” 

That’s absurd. He’s seen Kalim laughing and smiling freely with his other friends. They’re fine as is. There isn’t any reason to make up. Jamil didn’t even want to associate himself with Kalim if he had any say in it. 

“I have no intention of doing that and I’m sure if Kalim did, he would’ve put in an effort to.” But he hasn't. He’s the one avoiding Jamil. Not the other way around.

Azul sighs. “I expected that type of answer. That’s why this is going to be free of charge.” He gives that sly smile, “You won't have to do much, Jamil.” 

“You won't be doing anything.” Jamil glares, coming to a stop as they’ve reached the double doors of the gym. “Keep your slimy tentacles out of other’s business for once.” And that’s all he says before walking through the doors and not even casting Azul a second glance as they close. 

Azul pushes up his glasses and mutters, “He makes things so hard.” 

“Eh? Azul? What’re you doing here?” A new voice makes the contractor jolt. 

“Ah, Floyd.” 

The lanky teen had a gym bag thrown over his shoulders, he had his head tilted with curiosity. 

Azul perks up. “Floyd, you’re close with Kalim, aren’t you?”  

“Sea Otter’s my beest friend!” Floyd giggles, his shoulders rising and falling with the sound. “He’s so fun to squeeze~” 

“Perfect.” Azul starts letting his mind flow with ideas. “Come talk to me after your practice.” 

Floyd’s face falls. “Eh? Don’t wanna.”

“It’ll be fun, I assure you.” 

“But I don’t wanna.”

“It involves your favorite ‘sea otter’.”

“So what?”

Azul’s eye twitches. Floyd’s mood swings are always a hassle. It’s a wonder how he plays a team-reliant sport. “I’ll give you a shift off.” He says through a false smile. Floyd will be crucial to the plan, so sacrifices must be made.

The eel grins at that. “Yay! I’ll see you later then~!” Happy that he got his way, Floyd skips through the doors of the gym. 

“Aiya. I’m never doing anything out of the goodness of my heart ever again.” 

1.

Jamil seemed to have a permanent scowl on his face. He was gripping his pencil and practically burning holes into the back of a certain twin’s head. 

“Sea Otter~! Your hands are so soft!” Floyd trails his finger along the lines of Kalim’s palms. 

“Ahaha! That tickles!” 

Floyd’s not even in this class! What is he doing here all of a sudden? Jamil had looked around to see where Kalim’s actual seatmate, Silver, had gone only to find him asleep in a corner seat of the class. 

“Look look.” Floyd lifts his hand and puts it against Kalim’s, comparing the sizes of their hands. 

“Wow, your fingers are so long compared to mine!” Kalim looks in awe, moving his head around as if the angle he looks from will change anything.

When did they get so close? Jamil knew they were friends but he didn’t know things like all this hand touching was a normal thing for them. Kalim’s hands are only soft and dainty because Jamil’s scar cover hands are what fought to keep them that way. If anything, he should be the one holding Kalim’s hand. 

Not that he wanted to. Don’t take it the wrong way. Why would he want that?

Anyway, back to the previous question. Both Kalim and Floyd were rather touchy people, so it makes sense that they’d be all over each other. So have they always been like this, and Jamil just hadn’t noticed until now? No, he’d definitely notice if an Octavinelle dorm member had been hanging around Kalim so often. 

Then why now? Why have they suddenly become so sickenly buddy-buddy?

The professor finally walks in and all the noise around the classroom comes to a halt. Jamil is thankful when he sees Floyd frown and drop his conversation too. However, he is not thankful for the fact that the professor says nothing about this intruder in the classroom. 

Whatever. He loosened his grip on his pencil, for it might’ve snapped if he hadn’t, and focuses on the lecture. He’s not going to let Kalim and his friendliness distract him. He’s going to let Kalim district him period. He has semi-permission to prove himself now, after all. 

And that was going well for the most part. He was attentive and got down most of the notes he needed. All up until near the end of class when his ears caught the slightly familiar sound of Kalim’s giggle. He expected he’d dozed off. But no. 

Instead, he was giggling into his hand. His only free hand, as the other one was interlocked with Floyd’s. 

Jamil’s pencil snapped. And maybe something inside of him too. 

If his glare wasn’t noticeable before, it was now. Floyd had to have felt it, because he dropped his head back over his chair and locked eyes with Jamil. 

He had to fight every fiber in his being to not make a scene when Floyd’s shit-eating smirk stretched across his face. 

He turned back around to Kalim and whispered in the heir’s ears. It must’ve been something funny since Kalim laughs again, seemingly unaware of the glare of death he was receiving right now. Then he whispers something back that makes Floyd’s smile go wider. 

Jamil feels his blood boil. 

The bell rings and Floyd springs up at the same time Jamil does. Floyd looks behind him again with that same mischievous grin that clearly contrasts Jamil’s frown. Before Jamil can demand to know what he’s doing, get a word out, or even open his mouth, Floyd pulls Kalim with him out of the classroom by his hand. 

“Woah Jamil. You look like you’re about to kill someone.” A person snickers from beside him. 

Jamil whips his head around without changing his expression and the person, Ruggie, flinches back. “…I’m gonna go before I become that someone.” And then he scampers off. 

Once he’s gone, along with the rest of the class, Jamil allows himself to sigh. 

What was Floyd doing, acting like he and Kalim were— were like… lovers or something?! They never showed that kind of interest in each other before! He can't speak for Floyd, but he knows Kalim better than anyone else and he has never even hinted anything about feelings towards that eel. 

And surely, even with their short break from each other, Kalim couldn’t have changed that much! There’s no way he’s involved with Floyd like that. Right?

Right?!

2.

Jamil shoots the ball and it bounces right off the rim. He curses under his breath, wiping the sweat off his forehead. 

“You good, Jamil? You’ve been shooting bricks this whole time.” His teammate and underclassman, Ace, handed him a bottle of water as Jamil came closer to the bench. 

He snatched the bottle, muttering a thank you as an afterthought to try and ease the rudeness of that grab, and answered, “I’m doing just fine.” He twisted the cap and brought the bottle up to his mouth and started chugging the entire thing. 

Ace seemed mostly unfazed, just a little confused, about Jamil’s bad mood. “You sure? If you’re stressed about the upcoming game that’s totally okay.” 

Jamil throws him a glare that tells him to drop it and Ace raises his hands in surrender. 

Then he throws another, even harsher glare at the two boys who have been annoyingly giggling to themselves. The causes of his inability to sink any shots. 

“—and then Azul got soo mad you could almost see the fumes coming out of his ears!” Floyd was animatedly telling a story while Kalim was listening and laughing along. 

They were sitting on the bleachers together, so close that Floyd’s knees constantly bumped against Kalim’s whenever he shifted. Kalim didn’t seem to mind, apparently, since he was not trying to move away. If anything, it looks like he’s leaning closer. 

“Uh, Jamil?” 

Jamil snapped his head back to the boy in front of him. “What?” 

“The bottle…” 

He looks down at his hand and notices he had unknowingly started squeezing the water bottle, crushing it. He sighed and loosened his grip, tossing the bottle to a nearby trash can, missing that shot too. 

Ace laughed nervously as he went to pick up the trash and throw it away for him. “Look dude, you’re clearly tense. Maybe take a break before heading back on the court?”  

“I said I’m fine.” Jamil scowled, glowering once more at Kalim and Floyd before calling out, “Floyd! Get over here and practice guarding Ace.” 

“Wait what?” 

“Ehhh? But I’m having fun with Sea Otter.” 

“Yeah? Well you can keep ‘having fun’ when we leave you on the bench for the entirety of our next game.” He spits out, turning to head back to the court. He hears Floyd groan but the sound of shoes squeaking on the floor lets him know Floyd decided to listen for once. 

Jamil retrieves the ball and waits for Ace to take his spot on the court before throwing him the ball. Floyd and Ace start their drills but Jamil’s focus is elsewhere. 

Kalim hasn’t gotten up to leave yet. Jamil had thought, maybe, if he got Floyd to actually get on the court and practice like he was supposed to, Kalim would take the hint and leave. Instead, Kalim watched the way Floyd moved like some awestruck teenage girl with a crush. It was revolting, to say the least. Clearly, Kalim planned on waiting for Floyd to finish, so in the end separating the two accomplished nothing.

It’s been a while since Jamil’s seen Kalim sit in the bleachers. He used to come to a lot of practices before they fell out. Up until now, he hadn’t even come to games unless accompanied by someone else like Jade or that first-year Deuce, much to Jamil’s annoyance. 

He grimaces, not focusing on his teammates at all. 

“Yo, don’t you think somethings up with Jamil?” Ace whisper-yelled, casting a weary glance to the side. 

Floyd stayed in his defensive stance in case Ace was trying to be sly, but smiled wickedly. “What makes you say that?” 

“I mean, he seriously looks like he’s plotting a murder in his head.”

“Doesn’t he always?” 

“No but like, seriously this time. Again, I guess.” 

Floyd looks over at Jamil and he did in fact, look like he wanted to strangle someone with his bare hands. Most likely Floyd, but the gaze right now was directed toward Kalim. Floyd grins. “Hey Crabby.” 

Ace drops his stance as Floyd drops his. “Are you the jealous type?” 

“Am I the— What?” He asked, but Floyd knew he heard him by how the tips of his ears turned red. 

“You wouldn’t like it if I was all over Crocodile, would you?” 

This time Ace’s face goes red. “How… how did you know I like him?!”

“Eh? Are you trying to hide it?” 

“Well, no but—!” 

Floyd uses Ace’s flustering to his advantage, taking the ball out of his hands. He pushed past his junior and headed straight for the hoop, dunking the ball in effortlessly. The act finally caught both Kalim's and Jamil’s attention. Jamil, looking like he’d pop a blood vessel, and Kalim, clapping his hands and smiling. 

“‘Kay, can I be done now Sea Snake?” Floyd sing-songs, skipping over to where Jamil stood. 

“I told you to practice guarding, not dunking.” 

“But that’s so boooring! I wanna go hang out with Sea Otter now.” 

Floyd watches Jamil’s eye twitch as he replies, “Fine. Do whatever you want. I don’t care.” He waved Floyd off, walking over to where Ace was standing, still flustered and dumbfounded. 

The eel strides over to Kalim, who stands up as he sees Floyd approach. “That was really cool Floyd!” 

“Thanks Sea Otter~” Floyd drapes his arms around Kalim, squeezing him and making sure the squeeze is tight and long. Kalim didn’t seem to mind it.

But he felt Jamil’s eyes on him and he definitely minded it. 

Then he grabs Kalim’s hand and drags him out of the gym. Jamil doesn’t call out and stop them, to Floyd’s annoyance, but that was fine. This just means Floyd can have a little more fun until Jamil finally cracks. 

And Jamil was having a very hard time not cracking. 

“What the hell was that?” He hissed at Ace. 

The boy blinked, then refocused on the world around him. “Hey, is my crush on Sebek obvious?” But, clearly not fully. 

“Why would I care about your schoolgirl crush?” 

“So it is obvious!” His eyes widened. “Deuce was right?!” 

Jamil pinches the bridge of his nose. 

3.

Floyd is in Scarabia. 

What is Floyd doing in Scarabia, you might ask? 

That’s what Jamil wants to know too. 

Azul smiled at him slyly. “What’s wrong, Jamil?” 

“Shut your mouth. Why are you both here? One slimy creature is already too much.” 

“I would really like it if you refrain from calling me and my dorm members slimy.” 

“I will. Only when your dorm member stops referring to me as a sea snake.” 

“Don’t be childish, Jamil. That has nothing to do with winter break. Your last name is Viper.” 

“Me? Childish? Floyd is childish.” Jamil grumbles, pointing the knife he held in the direction of where Kalim and Floyd were sitting. 

They were at the lounge table. Azul, all of a sudden, proposed that he and Kalim had their study session here at Scarabia. And, definitely not by coincidence, Floyd overheard their plans and tagged along. Jamil had shut the door in their faces but Kalim came down shortly after and let them in. 

They were supposed to be studying right now. Instead, Floyd was laying his head on Kalim’s lap as the boy played with his ragged bangs, brushing them out of the eel’s face. Azul, for some reason, is over here in the kitchen bothering Jamil instead of being over there to, one, stop those two from acting so… lovey, and two, to actually do his job and tutor Kalim. 

Jamil was the only one actually doing his task. He was making some snacks for Kalim, because the heir was bound to get hungry from using his brain. If he stops playing with those teal locks and actually gets to studying, that is. 

“You shouldn’t point that knife with such a scary look on your face, Jamil.” Azul muses from his side. Jamil turns, knife still in hand, and points it at him instead. 

“Get over there and help Kalim study.” He demands.

Azul thankfully had enough smarts to listen to a man holding a very sharp knife. “Yes, yes. As you wish.” 

Jamil goes back to what he does best, cooking, while trying to resist the urge to drag Floyd off of Kalim and toss him out. Kalim seemed to be paying attention to whatever Azul was teaching, at least. Jamil was only still seething because of the fact that Kalim’s hand was still absentmindedly brushing through Floyd’s hair. 

He finishes making the hummus dip for the chips, putting everything on a platter big enough so that all three of them can eat if they please. Although he only made it for Kalim, and prefers if only Kalim eats it. If he’s being honest, he’s not sure if he’ll be able to stop himself from smacking Floyd’s hand away. 

Anyway, Jamil is finished, so he brings the platter around to the lounge area where the three were sitting. 

He doesn’t say anything as he drops off the plate to the side of the table, making sure not to interrupt Kalim’s focus. It didn’t work, because Kalim looked up immediately when the plate was put down. 

“Ah, thanks Jamil!” Kalim grinned. 

There was a pause where everyone froze except for Kalim, who was taking a chip and dipping it into the hummus. He hummed in delight at the taste. 

“Oh, uhm. No problem.” Jamil let his lips rise just a bit while internally cursing himself for stuttering like that. It’s not his fault. This was the first time Kalim spoke to him in a long time. The first time he smiled at him in a while too. 

Floyd’s smirk grew. “Hey, Sea Otter. Can you feed me a chip?” He asks, looking directly at Jamil. 

The corners of his lips twitched. 

“Sure!” Kalim picks up a chip, dipping it in the hummus. “Open wide!” 

Floyd makes an ‘aaahh’ sound as Kalim drops the chip into his mouth. The eel’s sharp teeth chomp on it and his eyes widen in genuine shock. “This is really good!” 

Jamil clicks his tongue. He doesn’t care for praise like that. He already knows how good—

“Right? Jamil has the best cooking ever!” 

Ah, well. A little praise is welcome. 

“Would you like to sit with us, Jamil?” Azul offers with an annoying grin on his face. He probably knows that Jamil wants nothing more than to sit with them just but also knows that Jamil can’t say yes. 

Kalim tenses at the offer but he tries to cover it up. 

Jamil sighs and shakes his head. “I have my own studies to get to.” 

“Nonsense. Is it not the same thing we’re working on now?” Azul pushes. 

“It is, but I prefer working alone.”

“It’s more enjoyable working together though,” Azul turns to Kalim. “wouldn’t you agree?” 

Kalim seems to squeak at the attention shift to him. “W-Well, I like it… but if Jamil wants to work on his own, we should let him.” 

Jamil fights a frown. Before, Kalim would insist right along with Azul. “Right. Thank you, Kalim.” 

Kalim just nods. 

“How boring.” Floyd yawns, stretching his back like a cat while still laying on Kalim, then snuggles up like he plans on sleeping right on the heir. 

He apparently is, because he says. “Wake me up when you’re done, ‘kay Sea Otter?” 

Kalim giggles, running his hands through the hair near Floyd’s ear. “Okay!” 

Jamil bites the inside of his cheek, glares at the slimy creatures, and turns away. He’s done his job. There’s no more reason for him to stick around any longer than he has. 

Kalim still doesn’t want to be around Jamil and that was fine. 

4.

Jamil chews his bottom lip. Not because he’s nervous or anything, Jamil Viper doesn’t get nervous. It’s more like out of frustration, to steady himself before he breaks something or punches someone. 

That someone being Floyd, obviously, because who else would it be? And all because, 

“You invited Kalim to watch our game?” Ace asks, pulling his shirt over his head. 

Floyd hums, long and slow. As if letting the confirmation seep into Jamil’s mind. “He was excited~”

“I bet.” Ace snorts. “It’s been a while since he came to one.” 

“Don’t let him distract your game.” Jamil, totally accidentally, slams his locker shut. 

“Crabby’s not gonna get distracted.” Floyd snickers. “He’s gonna be too busy showing off to Crocodile!” 

“Hey!” 

“I’m talking to you, Floyd.” 

“Eeehh? Me?” Floyd, who was in the middle of putting his uniform shirt back on, says incredulously. 

“You’ve been real friendly lately, haven’t you?” Jamil didn't even bother to hide the venom laced in that question. 

Ace looked between them nervously. Floyd, though, seemed unbothered and grinned widely. 

“Don’t worry Sea Snake~ I’ll be focused.” He sneers as Jamil looks at him dubiously. “Sea Otter promised me something if we win, y’know.”

“Oh?” Jamil had to admit, that got him curious. After all, Kalim never promised him anything after winning games. Unless it was always a thing and he never knew about it. If so, Kalim owes Jamil a lot of promises. “And what might that be?” 

Floyd does that goddamn annoying smirk and chuckles as he answers, “A kiss.” 

Jamil freezes. Ace chokes on his spit. 

Floyd seems amused by their reactions. A moment later, after Jamil gets over the initial shock, he scoffs. 

“A what?” 

Floyd repeats as clear as day. “A kiss. Sea Otter promised me a kiss if we win~” 

“That’s—That’s not funny,” Jamil said through gritted teeth. 

“It’s not supposed to be funny, Sea Snake.” Floyd stretches his arms through the sleeves of his uniform jacket. “Ask him yourself!” He grins, knowing good and well Jamil can't do that. 

This was ridiculous. He’d say there’s no way Kalim would agree to something like that, but he’d be lying. Hell, Kalim could’ve been the one to have suggested it for all he knows! Since, apparently, Jamil can't say he knows Kalim better than anyone anymore. Because, apparently, Kalim is the type of person to go around making promise kisses. With, apparently, Floyd fucking Leech.

Aaah, shit. 

There’s nothing in Jamil’s hand right now for him to squeeze, break, or snap. So, he storms out of the locker room before he does something completely irrational, stupid, and unjustified. He stomps all the way back to his dorm, into his room, and slams the door shut. 

In the safety of his room, Jamil grabs a random open book from his desk and throws it at his wall, uncaring about the fact that it might startle someone outside. He’s shaking with unbridled anger as he sits down on the edge of his bed. His leg bounces as he breathes in and out. 

He really needs to calm down. 

Let’s think first. He’s upset, that much is obvious. But why? What exactly made him this angry about the idea of Kalim and Floyd… being like that. Floyd annoys him, yes. Kalim does too, sometimes. Not as much as he used to but still sometimes. That still didn’t really explain why Jamil felt so against them together. 

Together. The idea of them together? He doesn’t like it. Why? They seem to like each other. A lot, at that. Jamil has never seen Floyd look so entertained for such a long period of time. Usually, he’d have been complaining about how boring things have been, probably trying to chase someone around or bother someone to the point where they physically and mentally cannot take it. 

So, they’re both happy. Why isn’t Jamil? It doesn’t make sense. He doesn’t even need to be happy about it. He shouldn’t care at all. He’s supposed to not care about Kalim. What Kalim wants to do, who he wants to see, anything that isn’t the basic necessity for his safety, Jamil doesn’t need to care about anymore. If Kalim wants to kiss Floyd, he can.

Jamil imagines it. 

And he doesn’t like it at all. He wants to bleach his brain and erase that image from his mind completely. It made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He felt the need rip imaginary Kalim away from imaginary Floyd’s slimy hands and take him back because Kalim belongs to—

Oh. 

…So that’s what it was. 

Jamil isn’t simply angry — well, he is, but in addition to that — he’s jealous. 

Jealousy. Something he used to think he was above, honestly. He’s always thought he was better than petty feelings like that. And the reason for that? Because before, he could always trust Kalim would stick with him. Before, he never had to worry about Kalim’s adoring gaze being focused on someone else. 

Only, that was before. Now there was a threat. Someone who seems to be very capable of taking that adoration away from him. 

It’s a good thing Jamil likes a little competition. 

+1 

The bleachers were filling up as the basketball team stood around in the locker room, hyping themselves up, or trying to calm their nerves. 

Ace seemed to be in between the two. 

“Dude, there’s a lot of people out there. Like, a lot.” 

Jamil pats him on the back as he walked past him to his locker. “Of course there are. I thought you wanted to show off?” 

“To Seb— I mean, not in front of that many people!” Ace cries as he scurries over closer to Jamil. “I mean, look, we all know I’m great and all but sometimes stars like myself get nervous too!” 

“I don’t think that’s right.” Jamil grabs his arm sleeve. “But it’s okay to be nervous. Your boyfriend—”

“He’s not my boyfriend!” 

“—is going to be watching. Of course your nerves are messed up.” 

“Did you ask for a kiss if you win?” 

Jamil keeps his face straight as he closes his locker calmly. Floyd draped himself over Ace’s shoulder, smirking at Jamil. 

Ace seemed to genuinely consider the thought. “Huh… Maybe I should’ve.” 

“You can ask him after the game. For now, focus.” Jamil tells him, not bothering to even acknowledge Floyd as he walks towards the rest of the team. 

Except Floyd catches his arm, still looking smug. Jamil immediately shrugs the hand off, but stops to face Floyd. Ace steps back, sensing some weird electricity. 

Even though Floyd had a few inches on him, and normally anyone would be scared to do this, Jamil smirked confidently. “You keep your game up too.” Then he leans closer, and this time more quietly says,

“Or you’ll lose.” Not the team. Just Floyd. 

Floyd’s grin turns crazed as Jamil turns his back to him. He hears Floyd laugh, although it sounded more like a hiccup, and say, “How fun~!” 

With that, the team walks out of the locker room and onto the court. There were cheers as they walked out. Jamil immediately caught Kalim’s eyes and waved with a smile. Surprisingly, Kalim waved gleefully back. He also got a glimpse of Diasomnia’s knight nodding in acknowledgment. Mostly to Ace, of course, who had put up a confident front despite his earlier worries. 

The announcer introduces them and the team they're up against. They take their spots on the court, the whistle blows, and then the game starts. 

The start of the game, as always, was breezy, played lightly. Each side scores something. The other team was leading, only by a couple of points. It wasn’t anything to worry about, not at all. This was just the beginning. If the opposing team counts this as a win, only this early, then they’re in for a shock. Because the game hasn’t truly started. Not until Jamil says it does. On the court, Jamil is the one in control. The shackles he wears are loosened here. There are only three things that matter. 

The ball, the hoop, and the final shot. 

Half-time rolls around. Jamil gives his teammates a look, a look only they understand the meaning of. Ace nods, a serious look on his face. Floyd grins maniacally. It was a wonder he was still complying right now. Jamil glances at Kalim and then remembers why. He shakes his head. He won’t let it distract him. Instead, that promise will work as his strength. He takes a huge swig of his water and as half-time ends, Jamil walks back onto the court with burning determination. 

Ace ducks around, fast and quick to the point where he’s able to stop and stand still without anyone his way, shooting a perfect shot. Floyd, you could tell the players feared him. Even his own teammates shiver at the sight of him dunking whenever he was given the chance. And if he wasn’t given the chance, he took it. Somehow, without risking any fouls. They weren’t the only ones scoring, of course. The whole team worked in perfect synchronization. As much as they play around, tease each other, or fight, they knew when to play right. 

Jamil, his eyes never leave the ball. Even when he’s switched out just to take a break, he watches its every movement. When it bounces off the rim, costing them a point. Then when it gets shot straight in thanks to a strong player from Savanaclaw. He watches as it gets dribbled across the count, into the other team’s hoop. Then when he takes it for himself, stealing it and throwing it in his team’s hoop. It was a game of back-and-forth. It was exhilarating. Fun. Just as Jamil likes it. It kept him on his feet. Because easy wins were boring. He loves the rush, the hairs standing up on his skin. 

Last quarter. The tension could be felt by both teams as they played their hardest. The scoring was still close, Night Raven College ahead by three points. But then the other team scores again, tying it. There’s not much time left on the clock. Some of Jamil’s teammates are getting tired, sweating with their hands on their hips as they get switched. The other team’s status isn’t any better, but they had some resilience, he’ll give them that. If it wasn’t Jamil’s goal to send them home crying, he’d admire it.

He starts playing harsher than he did at the start. Maybe a little too harsh, because the coach had to call a timeout and get him to calm down before he hurts somebody, or even worse, himself, and cost them the entire game. He grumbled but complied. He needed to win. 

Just a few seconds on the clock. Not enough to create a whole new play. He needed to think later and act now. The game was still tied. They didn’t have the ball. They could lose. They’re going to lose. Jamil can't let that happen. He can't. Jamil Viper doesn’t lose. He doesn’t plan on starting to. 

His body moves fast. The ball that was once in another’s hands is in his. He’s quick, swift as he moves around and dodges everyone trying to get in his way, clearing a path. He could pass. Give the ball to another teammate. Ace, who was right under the basket, or Floyd, who would be able to get it in no matter how ruthless he had to be to do so. 

But he wants to win.

Plus, he’s sure as hell not letting Floyd shoot his shot. So he stops, right at the line, doesn’t take much time to aim, and shoots. 

Everything around him seems to slow. He can't hear the loud cheers of the audience anymore. All his senses are focused on the ball. It won't miss. It can't miss. Because it’s his win. The ball goes straight in, a swish, and the buzzer goes off a split second later. 

The world comes back into view as the cheers grow louder and Jamil sees his teammates rushing towards him. He doesn’t, however, have time to brace himself for them all crashing into him. They almost knock him down onto the ground but he finds that he doesn’t mind it because they’re all laughing and smiling. 

Jamil looks around. He sees the bleachers look more empty as some of the people have made their way onto the court. His teammates lay off him, and he pushes his way through them to meet with the crowd. 

Ace was untying that singular band that held up his bangs, shaking his head like a dog as he let his hair fall down. He notices Sebek sneak up, or just silently walk up, behind him, making Ace jump back when he lifts his head again. He said something to the redhead, but Jamil didn’t care to listen in and find out what. But he could tell the red flush of Ace’s cheeks wasn’t from the heat of the game. 

Anyway, his eyes search the sea of people, looking for that familiar face. He finds it easily, that’s no surprise. It’s like a natural response for his eyes to find Kalim. 

But with Kalim, also stood Floyd. Jamil didn’t waste a second before rushing over there. 

Once Kalim noticed him, he seemed to forget about his past avoidance and beamed at him. “Jamil! You were great! You looked so cool!” Although he was singing him praise, he still seemed hesitant to move any closer. 

Jamil glared at Floyd, who looked like he was taunting him. “We won, Sea snake~” 

“Like hell we did.” He hissed. “I won.” Then he faces Kalim, grabbing the collar of his shirt and bringing them close as he whispers,

“And I’ll be taking your prize.” 

Jamil presses their lips together, a little rough due to adrenaline. It evokes a surprised squeak from Kalim and Jamil swallows the sound, deepening the kiss. There are whoops and whistles around them but Jamil is too focused on the taste of Kalim to pay them any attention. 

Kalim melts into the kiss, his hands clutching at the front of Jamil’s jersey. Their bodies are pulled even closer together, if that was possible. They don’t part until Jamil starts to feel lightheaded from the lack of air. 

He pants, his eyes dazed. He’s still able to make out Kalim’s features, thankfully. His flushed cheeks, glazed eyes, and adorably swollen red lips. The urge to kiss him again almost wins. 

But, as always, there’s an interruption. Maybe it was his fault, kissing Kalim in the middle of a court filled with people. 

“Eheh~ Azul, it worked!” Floyd giggled as Azul walked up, seemingly out of nowhere, with Jade by his side. 

“I see that,” Azul says, pushing up his glasses. “A lot better than what I had planned, too.” 

“Looks like you’ve had fun, Floyd,” Jade says with his hand over his chest as he smiles at his twin. 

Jamil wrapped his arm around Kalim’s waist protectively. The heir flinched but didn’t seem to try and get out of his grasp. In fact, he just hid his face in Jamil’s shoulder. Cute. He didn’t think Kalim could get flustered like this. 

“What do you mean it worked? And what had you planned?” Jamil questions. 

Azul tilts his head in mock innocence. “Don’t you remember our previous conversation?” 

“No. Everything you say to me goes in one ear and out the other.” 

“You wound me, Jamil. After all this work I did to get you and—”

“Jamil! Dude, that was so badass!” Ace suddenly jumps in, cutting off whatever Azul was about to say. “I mean, that was totally something that’d only happen in some corny romance manga, but still! Badass!” 

Now it was Jamil who wished he had a shoulder to hide his face in. “Shut your mouth.” He bites back. “Did you kiss your boyfriend?” 

Ace’s teasing smirk fell as he flared up. He didn’t get to say anything as Sebek appeared behind him and asked, “Boyfriend?” 

Ace jumps much like he did before. “Stop doing that!” 

Sebek glares at him. “Don’t tell me what to do, human. It’s your incompetence that makes you so easily frightened.” 

Jamil arched a brow. This is what gets Ace all shy and red in the face? What is he, a masochist? 

Before Jamil can tease a little more, Kalim lifts his head back up. “Jamil…” He says, his voice uncharacteristically quiet and low. 

Jamil hums, letting him know he’s listening. Kalim continues. “I’m sorry. About avoiding you, I’m sorry. I-I just thought it’d be better for you if I gave you some space.” 

Jamil held him closer. “It’s alright. Though it seems you really like making me work, don’t you?” 

Kalim pushes back, a worried look on his face. “Of course not! That’s not what I was trying—”

“I’m joking. I don’t mind.” He smiles softly, feeling pleased when Kalim smiles back. 

Then his face straightened again. 

“But what was up with you and Floyd?” He asks, his tone letting Kalim know that he should be careful of what he says. 

Kalim though, as always, ignores the danger and laughs. “Ahaha! I dunno either. He suddenly became clingier than usual, but it was nice so I didn’t mind!” 

Jamil scowls, looking at Floyd happily chatting with his dorm members. “Well, you should start minding it.” 

“Hm? Why? It’s pretty normal— Ouch!” Kalim covered his forehead, right where Jamil had just flicked him. “What was that for?!” He pouts. 

“Figure it out yourself,” Jamil mutters. 

“Eeehh? What am I supposed to figure out?” 

Jamil starts walking backward, away from Kalim. “Figure. It. Out.” He catches Kalim’s frown before he turns and continues walking toward the locker room with the rest of his teammates. 

He smiles to himself, pleased to have won twice.

Until Floyd knocks into him, making him stumble. He curses the eel out all the way into the locker room. 

“Hey, where’s my credit for all this?!”