ELYSIAN;; twst.

19 - jade

can a mushroom and a seashroom coexist with one another?
feat. two smart and cool but dense friends in love (a lowkey-jealous jade drabble ?! an absolute yes !)

—

“hm? that's quite an entourage you've brought with you, prefect. what are you lot doing here?”

you raised a brow at the sight of the approching figures of the ramshackle duo and adeuce. your gaze shifted quickly unto jade, who was busy observing the mushrooms a few distances away.

“y/n? what are you doing here?” grim shrieked with that loud voice of his. “yuu applied for a part-time job at mostro lounge, deuce and i pitched in to help yuuken.” ace intervenes before you could answer, huffing and puffing his chest out.

you only hummed, “.. is that so? well, did azul send you here to help us pick weird mushrooms?”

“yeah. floyd was the one originally assigned with this task but he's ‘not in the mood for this’, or so he says. so here we are.” yuuken replied, lifting the stacked empty baskets he was holding.

“so.. what do we do?”

“put your gloves on and just start pulling out every weird mushroom you see. jade can sort out what's needed and not by himself later.” you said, gesturing to jade who's hunched over by the bushes.

you then turn around to do your part, finding a good spot a few feet away from the rowdy bunch.

aah, they really had to arrive just when you and jade were getting the peace and quiet you both needed...

it was after a good ten minutes when someone began to make concerning choking sounds. “grim! did you eat the mushroom?! we should get help, he's turning green!” deuce's worried screams echoed through the forest.

you only sighed heavily before you walked to the first years. with your fingers glowing a bright but soft green, you gave grim a forehead flick. he was about to complain when he suddenly felt the burning sensation inside his mouth vanish.

“have you not heard of the saying ‘never eat an unfamiliar mushroom even when you're in your death-bed’?” your sarcasm was followed by a not-so-intimidating glare from the furry ramshackle resident.

“don't glare at y/n like that, you brought this upon yourself. you should've known not to eat these weird mushrooms.” yuuken scolds lightly, making grim shut his mouth in silence.

“thanks and sorry for the bother, y/n.” yuuken gave you an apologetic smile. you shrugged it off, giving him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder before heading back to your spot.

“boo.”

you only made a deadpanned face when yet another dumb idiot has disturbed you. “what.” you flatly asked, as ace only frowned at your lack of reaction. “you're no fun at all.” he says, but he doesn't make a move to leave and instead settles himself right beside you.

“so...” you raised a brow when he trailed off, as if he's implying something. but what?

“so?” you parrot back and ace only groans in frustration as he rolls his eyes at you. “are you or are you not gonna tell me what's up with you and jade leech getting closer nowadays?” he leans and whispers in your ear as you only shook your head in disappointment; ace was such a gossipmonger.

“well, i want to be closer to him because our interests align with each other– and for the record we're friends and we've always been ‘close’.” you did not forget to add the last sentence for emphasis. defensive as it may sound, it was the truth. but ace, oh ace.. to say that he's horrified is an understatement.

“friends?! closer?!” he shrieks, and you glare at him to warn him of how loud he's being. jade is just a short distances away, and he literally yelled in your ear.

he only rolled his eyes before he continued, “have you forgotten how he tormented deuce and i back then? he's literal evil!” he expresses his strong opposition through aggressive whispers.

you only chuckled in amusement, “all the more reason for me to like him.”

at this, ace becomes jaw-slacked. oh right, he forgot how crazy you were.

“you're fucked up.” ace comments, shaking his head as you raised your shoulder in a shrug. “well, at least i'm still pretty and hot.”

“oh, shut up.” he groans in frustration as you gave him a sly smile, raising your eyebrows smugly as if to point out the lack of denial from his side.

“well hello there. i apologize for the late greeting, i must have failed to notice your arrival earlier.” you gave ace a last look of warning when jade suddenly approached the two of you.

“yeah, no biggie, leech-senpai. i should probably go back to work, talk to ya later, y/n.” with that, ace quickly leaned back and excused himself after giving your shoulder two hard smacks.

you sighed, massaging your temples. you can already feel a headache coming.

you expected jade to notice how ace quickly left, but for some reason he did not voice out his thoughts. instead of confusion, there was a pleased look on his face.

“did you find anything interesting?” you asked, curious as to what may have put him in a pleasant mood. “oh, nothing. what about you? you seemed to be having a.. fun conversation with ace trappola. care to share?” jade asked with a smile on his face.

for strangers, it might have looked the usual polite smile of jade's. but for you who've been watching him closely and taking note of every little changes in his behaviors, there was something different that you couldn't pinpoint in his smile and it's the first time you've seen it on him.

“.. hold on, have i perhaps done something to upset you?” you asked with narrowed brows. jade blinked with a hint of surprise in his eyes, but it disappeared as quickly as it appeared. jade is baffled at how you never fail to somehow know what he's thinking of.

“no, not at all.” he replies with a smile, and you breathe out a sigh of relief. “— but i can't say the same for ace trappola.” jade quickly adds, and the face you made became one of the many reactions he liked on you.

“ah? .. are you mad at ace? what did he do?” the look of pure confusion on your face melted jade's silent anger away.

he decided he'll generously let your friend get away this time—

“no, nevermind. shall we first sort out the mushrooms together? it seems like we have more than enough.” jade swiftly changes the topic, and gestures towards the baskets full of mushroom.

“oh, dear. this will surely take us a long, long time to finish.” you commented, cupping one cheek with your palm as you sigh. jade took a step closer to you and bent down to your ear, “to be honest with you, i don't think we'll be able to finish this quicky with them being here.” he whispered in a low voice.

feeling the shivers in your spine, you swallowed to compose yourself. “you think so? should i get them to leave?” you whispered back without moving. jade only chuckled, and leaned closer– you couldn't stop a small “eek!” from escaping your throat when his cold lips touched your warm ear.

“i think they'll like it that way too.” and with his reply, you immediately moved away and to the bunch, escaping from jade and his teases.

— but only this once.

“the next time he– or anyone does that again, i won't let it slide.” jade mumbled under his breath. he eyes a certain heartslabyul student and shifts his gaze unto a certain octavinelle student before shaking his head,

“... for now, i'll bask in her presence and simply enjoy our moment.”