Granting Favors (Twisted Wonderland | Azul x Jamil)

Chapter 13: An Honest Shot

Summary:

Amidst rising tensions among the VDC group, Jamil has decided to take a real shot at Azul. Unknown to him, Azul is also planning to make a move, enlisting the help of an unlikely friend.

Word Count: 5,521

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Azul somehow felt lighter as he made his way back to Octavinelle. He and Jamil had talked about possible ideas for their project and scheduled when they could meet up to work on it, then the breaktime ended and Jamil had to get back to rehearsals. So Azul had decided to get back to work himself and calculate Mostro Lounge's profits considering their early closing time. Fortunately, Floyd didn't force him to stay at the Pomefiore ballroom.

The atmosphere was perfectly comfortable while he talked with Jamil about their schedules, despite the fact that Jamil had acknowledged that they almost kissed at the masquerade ball. Azul hadn't been able to respond to it; he was afraid of saying the wrong thing so he just redirected the conversation to their project. At the very least, he had managed to secure a lunch with Jamil tomorrow.

But what next? Was he expected to do something now that their almost-kiss had been acknowledged? Was there even anything that he wanted to do?

Azul sighed. For the first time since he had enrolled in NRC, he was at a loss about what his next step should be. It might be an option to just let whatever dynamic he had with Jamil to develop naturally, they didn't have to talk about the masquerade again, and whatever happens, happens.

But he was never one to leave anything to chance. He even practiced for hours on how to throw dice in a certain way to get the numbers he wanted; Idia had called him insane but now he was able to beat most of the Board Game Club members in any game involving dice.

He couldn't just do nothing about this new development with Jamil. Inaction could be just as bad as making a wrong decision, and he certainly didn't want to mess up so badly that he would end up losing Jamil from his life. He had to make a plan.

However, he had no idea where to start. He couldn't ask Jade or Floyd for help like he often did for his other plans. As much as he hated to admit it, this was a problem that required knowledge on how to deal with emotions, and he'd be hard-pressed to find anyone in this place who had any significant amount of emotional intelligence, himself and the twins included.

It was something that he never thought he would have to tackle, because what good were emotions when it came to business? Unexpectedly, he now had to make a plan where he had to untangle and articulate his emotions, and nobody in NRC was well-versed enough about such things to be helpful.

He stopped in his tracks as realization dawned on him.

Nobody in NRC...

He took out his phone and typed in a quick text.

I may be in need of your assistance. Call me as soon as you are able.

* * *

Jamil double-checked his stuff to make sure he didn't forget anything before leaving the ballroom.

"I still can't do it," Kalim's voice complained from across the room.

"You'll get there, Kalim!" Epel said. "You just gotta shift your weight properly, like this."

"Jamil? Can you help us with this one?" Deuce called him over hesitantly.

Jamil took his backpack and walked over to them. "What is it?"

Kalim averted his eyes, shifting on his feet. Jamil had been hoping to avoid this; his dynamic with Kalim had been awkward ever since his Overblot, and it only seemed to get worse when VDC rehearsals started.