Chapter Text
Night Raven College was bustling with tension. Exams were soon, and these were the most important exams since they were nearing the end of the year. The halls crowded with students shoulder to shoulder, and the library was now the new hot spot- thoroughly competing with Mostro Lounge.
“I can’t focus.” Epels voice spoke up, breaking through the deafening silence of the library.
They’d been trying to study, it clearly wasn’t going very well. The air was thick with tension and their body heat at the crammed table. Ace and Deuce were to his right, with Jack, Sebek, and a wandering Ortho across from them. The sun was beginning to dim through the windows, casting a soft glow on the group.
Ace dramatically flopped back in his seat, wrapping his arm around Deuce. “Yea, I vote we leave. This is boring.”
Jack sighed. “We have to finish our studying.” His tail thumped impatiently.
“We cannot abandon our studies when tests are tomorrow! Have you no respect for you performance? These are midterms!” Sebek shouted, much too loudly. But that was normal for them.
Ace shrugged, scooting closer to Deuce and smirking. “Hard to focus when this handsome devil is sitting next to me.~”
Deuce blushed but rolled his eyes, playfully pushing Ace off. “So much for ‘we’re not a married couple’, you’re basically proving Trey right.”
Earlier in the day during classes, Trey had insisted they were practically married since they were always together. Ace had laughed it off while Deuce ran straight out the door in embarrassment. It'd been an ongoing string of comments from their Heartslabyul upperclassmen, though recently it seemed like Ace was enjoying it more than them.
Epel laughed a little, like a soft queak. “It’s like watching one of them dumb dramas with bad actors.”
“We can make it realistic.” Ace agreed, leaning in for a fake kiss to Deuce, who promptly shoved him away again.
Sebek slammed his hand on the table. “You two need to act appropriately! We’re in a library!”
The noise turned the few heads still left in the library, but they quickly turned away and began packing to leave. It was late anyway.
Ace just laughed, Deuce was red to his ears and looking down, and Epel was still smirking. Jack was silently “reading”, but his ears were perked up. The conversation had drifted enough for him to want to listen in.
Ortho zoomed over, returning with books he had previously set out to get. “I found these cool books on alchemy potions! They’re rare kinds- hardest to make. They don’t teach em until your last year!” He sounded so excited, completely oblivious to the previous conversation. His gold eyes were glowing.
“Hey Ortho,” Ace said, wrapping his other arm around Epel now and Deuce again. “Who do I look better with? Epel or Deuce?”
“What do you mean?” Ortho chimed. “You could be a throuple.”
Ace burst out into laughter. Epel could hardly contain himself.
“W-What?!” Deuce shouted. “That’s not- what?!”
Sebek looked personally offended. “They can’t be in a throuple! It’s preposterous!” The blush on his face betrayed him.
“Statistically speaking,” Ortho continued, “healthy polyamorous couples have better and more fulfilling relationships than the average couple.”
His tone sounded completely serious. Ace was still laughing, Epel had stopped. Even Deuce and Jack were stone-faced. Sebek looked over at their humanoid companion in pure shock.
“Dude,” Ace said, his eyes watering, “We totally could come up with some sick name for it! Like- the First Years First Boyfriends.”
“That’s lame.” Epel smirked. “It’s gotta be something cooler.”
“WHAT?!” Deuce and Sebek shouted in unison. They both looked at Jack to take their side, but his head was down. He looked deep in thought.
“Just sayin.” Ace leaned back, hands behind his head now. “If we told everyone we were all datin' it would be hilarious.”
“That’s not how that stuff works!” Deuce replied. “Plus! Do you KNOW how bad we would look? People would think we were crazy.”
Ortho laughed. “It’s not crazy! They aren’t as common, but like I stated, they tend to be more healthy and fulfilling when done correctly- with proper communication and set boundaries!”
“Don’t say that like we’re considering it!” Sebek hissed. He turned to Jack next to him, nudging his shoulder with an elbow press. “Jack, say something!”
Jack finally looked up. His tone was quiet. “Back at home, there were beastmen who would mate in packs. Like, one man with multiple women, or the latter. It was considered traditional.” When nobody replied, he gruffed. “I-I’m not saying that to encourage it. I just.. whatever.”
Ace laughed again. “See? Even Jack thinks we’d be cute together. We can be a.. uh.. a quintet! Ortho can be our honorary kiddo.”
“Oh, great!” Ortho said. “Five parents to replace my two absent ones!”
He said it so genuinely that it sent everyone into a little fit of laughter- even Sebek let out a small puff of air.
The sharp sound of the bell rang, signaling the night hours for NRC. It was time for everyone to head back to their dorms, which was more disappointing then they wanted o admit. They all stood up promptly.
“Welp, good luck on yer exams.” Epel said, giving a small smile.
“I’ll walk you back.” Jack offered, then blushed. “Just cuz.. you know. I always do.”
Ace smirked and linked his arm with Deuce’s. “Hey Deucey~ I’ll walk you back too.”
Deuce face-palmed and mouthed to Epel ‘save me’, to which both of them giggled.
Sebek said a quick goodbye and dashed out, and even Ortho chimed a bit before speeding away back to his brother. It was an awkward walk home.
----
Exams that week were torture.
So bad, in fact, that Ace decided the group should sneak off to Ramshackle that Friday night and relax after their horrible week. So they did just that.
Sebek had asked Malleus ahead of time, since he enjoyed wandering around there and the whole school knew it as 'his' spot. The group was given permission, but Malleus warned them not to destroy anything. Sebek made sure everyone knew.
Epel brought blankets, the fuzziest ones he had. He didn’t tell Vil where he was going, and Rook could probably already guess. He still said nothing, just packed a small bag and headed over.
Ace and Deuce met up with Ortho, and the three of them got food and some movies for the night. Ace insisted on mostly junk food, and Ortho wanted to rent a cheesy romance movie about two lovers reunited after one supposedly died.
Jack was the last one to arrive. He didn’t admit it, but he’d been thinking about what Ortho had said while they were studying. It consumed his thoughts- and it became worse when he received the text about the get together that night. Did they even realize what they were doing?
When he opened the door, they were all already curled up on the couch. Ace and Deuce on the right, Epel in the center with Sebek on the left edge- Ortho sitting on his lap. Sebek was mindlessly playing with Ortho’s hair, and getting teased about it being ‘dad behavior’. Ace had a huge blanket wrapped around the five of them.
“Jack!” Epel shouted, patting the middle between him and Deuce.”Come sit! We’re gonna start the movie!”
A soft smile curved on his lips, and he squirmed between the two, resting his arms on the top on the couch. Epel leaned into his bicep, and Deuce scooted closer, Ace leaning on his shoulder. Sebek was also extremely close, though he tried not to lean into the touch.
The movie lit up on the screen. Reunited Across Time. Ace let out a loud groan and everyone laughed.
“This is gonna be the worlds cheesiest love story.” Ace said. “Get ready to barf.”
Midway through, everyone was getting kind of bored. Ortho had wandered off to do something else, leaving Sebek and Epel together. They both ended up falling asleep. Ace was drooling on Deuce’s shoulder, his eyelids shut tight.
Deuce sighed, looking around. “Guess everyone was exhausted, huh?”
Jack met his gaze, smiling. “Exams really kicked us in the guts.”
“You think you passed?”
“I’m sure.” Jack said confidently. “I studied and knew pretty much all the content- struggled a bit on alchemy, though.”
“Same,” Deuce chuckled, “I really tried to study, Ace was being a menace though.”
“Same as always.” Jack stated. They both laughed.
Deuce, without thinking, laid on Jack’s shoulder. The wolf boy didn’t dare move him, he just wrapped his shoulder more firmly around his shoulder. They laid there, but Jack couldn’t focus.
His tail was wagging against Epel under the covers, and thoughts of what Ortho said came rushing back. Deuce’s breath was washing against Jack’s neck, leaving a strange feeling he couldn’t place, but it drove him crazy.
The movie continued. Ace had eventually shifted in his sleep to Deuce’s chest, laying firm against him. Epel was still leaned against Jack, but now more firmly. Sebek was on Epel’s lap, and one of the Pomefiore boy’s hands still caught in his hair.
The tension was so thick you could slice it with words- which is exactly what Deuce did.
“I’ve been thinking,” Deuce said, “about what Ortho said.”
Jack looked down. Their eyes met, their gazes locked tight on each other now.
Deuce then blushed, a deep red filling his face. “N-Not like!!! I-I’m not, like, saying I have feelings for you guys! Or, like, maybe I do. I don’t know! I’ve been way too confused lately.”
“I get it.” Jack replied, not looking away. “You can’t tell if you’re just really comfortable, or if you actually feel something?”
“Exactly!” Deuce whisper-shouted, trying not to wake the others. “Don’t you dare tell Ortho I said this. Or Ace, they’ll kill me.”
Jack let out a soft laugh, his hand absentmindedly moving to Deuce’s head and ruffling his hair. “You have my word.”
They were both quiet for another moment, and just as Deuce turned away, Jack spoke up again.
“You know, you all have already accidentally courted me already.”
Deuce immediately whipped back around, shouting a bit too loudly, “WE HAVE?!”
He nervously looked around- people stirred, but nobody woke up, so he whispered. “When?!”
“We all have slept together, and cuddled,” Jack said, nudging his head to show their current situation, “also, we spend almost all of our free time together, do most things as a group, and we even made that promise to always stick together.”
Deuce was silent. “Holy crap we have..”
Jack laughed. “It’s not that serious, you’re not all beastmen. Just found it funny.”
“A-Are you saying you have feelings for us?!”
“I don’t know,” Jack continued, “I’m just as confused as you are.”
They both stood silent, gazing at each other again. Jack’s eyes made a quick flicker to Deuce’s lips, which he definitely noticed. Neither of them moved, and everyone was still sleeping around them.
“Jack?” Deuce asked, barely audible. “Can I kiss you? Just as like, a test or something, I dunno.”
“More exams?” Jack teased, lighting up his spade companion’s face in flames.
“N-No, I just!” Deuce looked down. “I don’t know why I asked that, I’m sorry.”
Jack gripped his chin, forcing his face up to look at him again. His voice was dangerously low. “Will it be your first kiss?”
“W-What? I, uhm, y-yes but-”
Before he could finish, his lips were met with warmth. Deuce squeaked, but he didn’t pull away, and Jack held him firm against him.
One kiss turned into two, then a longer third, then four and five. They were breathless. Jack’s hand had moved down to Deuce’s waist now, removing any space between them. Deuce clung to his chest, blushing furiously and trying so hard not to make any embarrassing noises. He failed.
Time slipped away, they weren’t thinking anymore. Deuce could feel his heart in his throat, and Jack didn’t even notice the others starting to move. All he was thinking about was this moment.
“Jack..? Deuce..?”
They both froze. Deuce pulled away as fast as possible, his face now a pale white. Jack’s ear twitched, and they both looked around.
Epel was staring at them, Ace was in shock, Sebek was still processing.. and worst of all.
Ortho had come back with the biggest grin on his face.