Chapter Text
If there was one thing Riddle hasn’t gotten used to it was the way Floyd still remained unpredictable and yet at the same time he was predictable. He’s grasped the idea of what Floyd will try to do to annoy him and why he does it, Floyd gets some sort of strange satisfaction out of making him angry so for the most part he could predict Floyd’s motives but he could never pinpoint exactly what the eel was going to do. He was somewhat close with Jade as he found the elder twin more tolerable and he spent more time with him since Trey started dating the cunning eel. He found Jade to frequent the Heartsylbul dorm when he had free time to show Trey his terrariums or make some with him, even baking with Trey if given the opportunity. It was fascinating to see Jade’s perfect little mask falter around Trey, almost as if he felt physical relief around the man; he'd seen similar faces when he spoke of his brother but they were different reactions. When Jade spoke of his brother his face held that gentle familiar gaze and he spoke in the tone of an amused and fond older brother even though they were twins it was clear to see they had a sort of age dynamic with Jade usually taking the lead in all their interactions. When he saw Jade with Trey it was that fondness of someone who isn’t used to being cared for, a feeling Riddle could understand he was still getting used to others treating him so familiarly.
Though he wondered what the intimacy of a romantic relationship would feel like though he knew it wasn’t intentional to see someone so reserved like Jade to soften and share his interests so freely and to crack jokes it made him wonder what he could be like if he were in a loving relationship. He wasn’t even sure where to begin with that nor did he know who he was interested in nor did he know about what gender he was attracted to for that matter. It was simply never something he had pondered. But now that he saw happy relationships all around him he couldn’t help but be envious of what they had.
If there was anything Floyd knew for certain it was the fact that his beloved Goldfishie was intelligent but terrible at common sense and catching on to small things. Ever since Floyd had met him he’d been trying to flirt with him, get him to like him, he was doing what his brother said to do, he was following the human customs they learned as kids and yet he was the only one unable to get with the person he liked. Jade got with Trey using the methods they learned, Azul got with Idia using methods they learned when spying on the land walkers as children so why didn’t it work for him? It just wasn’t fair! It hadn’t made much sense to them at first but when they aske the adults about it they made it make sense. Some land dwellers used their skills, talents, and accomplishments to impress a possible mate, that is how Azul got to know Idia and found his mate. Some people teased their crushes as a means of flirting or courting so that is what Jade did with Trey and now they were together. Some kids made their crush angry when showing interest, at least that’s what Jade and Floyd saw on a human playground and asked their parents about. Their mother has said some humans do that as a means to flirt with their crush similar to how some eel’s are rough and mean to their crushes while trying to impress them in strength or size. Their mother explained she used similar methods to pursue their father saying that she was impressed by his intellect and thought it would pair well with her larger strong physique so not only would her kids be intelligent they would be strong too.
To Floyd it just didn't seem fair, he put in as much effort as the rest of them did so why hadn't his Goldfish caught on!? Was he not doing it right? His mother said it had worked and while she had been a bit more physically mean to show off her strength she says he has his own silly charm. She suggested he try to be playful when messing with his desired mate as from what she heard from her boys Riddle already seemed easy to anger and strong from what she'd learned of his magical capabilities. To her she thought he was the perfect mate for her little Floyd just like how she was fond of Trey for breaking her precious Jade out of his mask. She wanted only the best for her boys as did their father. He agreed that Floyd may have a tougher time in trying to win over this Rosehearts boy but that was due to the whole family's misinterpretation of human customs.
To Riddle, Floyd was just someone trying to irritate him for fun, never really menacing or violent, but he did enjoy bothering him. To Floyd, Riddle was the optimal mate to bring home to his family. Floyd was impressed by how much control one person could have over so many people, people listened to Azul but he had to use sly tricks and a silver tongue. Riddle was feared and respected for his power and sure Floyd thought the rules were a bit much but for Riddle to be able to memorize all that was impressive.
Perhaps it was simply in his nature as a merperson to view relationships through how well his children would benefit with a mate but all his instincts told him Riddle would be perfect. Plus his parents agreed with his choice so it wasn't like he had to worry about his family criticizing his mate. All he had to worry about was the fact that no matter what he did it seemed inadequate to impress Riddle. He pestered Riddle because he loved the faces he made, sometimes he'd block Riddle's magic if he wasn't in the mood, he'd make Riddle food offerings but they'd be tossed out, Riddle would criticize his behavior and compare him to his brother, he was no longer in a mood to talk with Riddle at that point.
Did Riddle think he was a bad cook? Did he not see that he made all the food in the lounge, people loved his food! Did Riddle not like the faces he made when Floyd loved the ones his Goldfish made so much? Was Floyd's expressions the problem? Was it behavior? He couldn't control his mood swings and his close friends understood that was it because he lacked full control of himself that Riddle didn't like? If he learned to control his face and mood swings better would Riddle be happier with him, would he be a suitable mate then?
Floyd groaned into his pillow, there was too much doubt in his mind for him to think clearly. Maybe his Goldfishie was too stupid to notice the obvious courting Floyd has been doing, maybe it was Riddle's fault not his! Yeah Goldfish just didn't catch on, maybe he needed to be more obvious! But what would catch his attention when everything else had failed? He could ask his brother but it was probably a lot different courting Trey than trying to court Riddle so courting gift ideas from his brother probably wouldn't be as effective. Plus it would look like he's copying his brother. The only person he could think of asking was his mother; she'd given advice so far and all her advice was useful at least on Jade’s part; maybe he just needed something different to win over his desired mate. Lazily reaching his arm out to his bedside drawer he pulled out an enchanted conch shell, for merfolk it worked as an easy long distance communication device since most technology still wasn’t advanced enough for the sea.
“Mama!” He shouted into the conch, his mother was never near the dang thing, always leaving it elsewhere so his best bet was to shout until someone grabbed it and alerted his mother to one of her children’s calling voices. It took a few more tries before he heard clutter falling and someone swearing before picking up the conch on their side.
“Hello my little elvers! How are my babies doing!?” Came his mother’s voice from the conch.
“Jade’s not here it’s just me ma.” Floyd said as he rolled onto his back.
“You don’t sound good, does mama need to come eat up some guppies bothering my baby?” His mom cooed sweetly though he knew her offer to take care of anyone that bothered him was genuine.
“I need advice, Goldfish still won’t catch on and last week Azul got with the Idia guy we were tellin you ‘bout. I’m the last one to get my mate it ain’t fair,” Floyd whined kicking off his shoes as they landed in the messy pile of chaos that was his room. “I tried doing all the subtle things you told me to do but he just shoves my gifts away!”
“How rude! Get your tailfin down here at home we are going to get you the materials to make the greatest gift you could give a mate and we will devise a plan that is certain to win him over! If he says not after all of that then he doesn’t get to have any of my boys!” The woman huffed on the other end calling for her husband to let him know one of their kids would be coming home and hopefully they would finally get him his desired mate. With newfound energy he said goodbye to his mother before practically shoving past people outside his room to make it to the mirror room. He would get Riddle the best courting gift and be more blunt about what he’s been trying to do since their first year. Surely his goldfish wouldn’t be stupid enough to ignore an upfront confession he knew he hadn’t caught on before but surely his beloved wouldn’t be that dense.
Rook watched the eel that fascinated him so run through the halls in excitement, he enjoyed the strange thrill that ran through his body when he saw the eel. He knew very well what he wanted and why, the younger twin was a curiosity to him, unorthodox in many ways and often unpredictable unlike most prey. He prided himself on being able to narrow down his prey to their perfect details but it took him longer than he wanted to find all of Floyd’s interests. Of course he also knew that Riddle was one of said eel’s interests which displeased him greatly. He loathed the idea of putting all this effort into planning to win the eel’s heart only for an ignorant third party to have the opportunity to take him. Of course he also was patient and had a gut feeling he knew what would happen from his own observations of the two’s interactions. He dreaded the idea of seeing the poor eel upset but if he were to be the person to come in and comfort him after such dreaded predictable heartache then surely that would boost his favor. Oh he could picture it now, he’s studied merfolk courting right down to the smallest of deviances based on different species, knew exactly what eel merfolk liked in courting and had made his own preparations to offer Floyd a courting gift. Riddle would get angry because Floyd was bothering him and probably mistreat the eel’s precious courting gift, then when Floyd was upset he would find said eel under the guise of finding him by accident while upset, he’d pull a pretty pearl necklace from his pocket stating he’d been wanting to officially start courting the eel for some time now, which was the truth.
He would use everything he learned about merfolk and Floyd himself to woo the eel into acknowledging him as a suitable mate, hopefully realizing he is much more fitting than Riddle, after all a hunter is both strong and capable for providing for a mate he’s certain he would be a great candidate in the eyes of the twin’s parents as well. He’d pepper the eel in praises and affection, offering him courting gifts, taking him hunting to show off his skills, spending time with him personally, of course he acknowledged that Floyd’s mood swings wouldn’t always work well with his plans directly but that is one fot he reasons he adored Floyd so much, such pretty unpredictable prey would make for a wonderful lover in Rook’s eyes. He felt bad however that he’d have to let Floyd’s heart get broken first before any of that. Sometimes one must suffer for the ultimate reward after all.