Chapter Text
Why the hell was he here?
Well, Idia knew why. He had agreed to this partially because his therapist had started getting concerned at the lack of “fun things” (read: turbo-normie things) Idia did, and his roommate, Cater, was starting to get on his nerves with his constant invitations out. Plus it was the first week of the new semester, and it wasn’t like there was much else going on anyway. So, Idia had relented, just for one night, and gone with Cater and his “group” to- of all the things he could have possibly gone out to- a bar.
A bar wouldn’t have been the biggest deal, right? At least for a well-adjusted person it probably wasn’t. But, 1.Idia was not a well-adjusted person and 2. It was a gay bar.
Idia felt tipsy- No,not tipsy unless he was that much of a light-weight that the overpriced cocktail he had begrudgingly gotten since he had refused Cater’s invitation to pre-game was affecting him that much.
No.
Idia felt restless.
Idia felt intimidated.
People were scary. Men were scary. Gay men were scary. And the fact that this was a gay bar was driving him insane.
It’s not like he didn’t know he was gay. That was well-established canon for Idia’s 28 years on Earth. But, being surrounded by people-normal people- that he could so easily compare himself to did not sit well with him.
“Cater, I-I’m going to use t-the washroom.”
“Okay,” came the uninterested reply, Cater too obviously engrossed in the conversation he was having about one of his colleagues or classes or something, Idia had only been half-listening to it anyway, with the rest of the group.
The “okay” must have been like a “go” signal for Idia’s nervous system because he nearly sprinted to the restroom, almost feeling like he was able to locate it through some sixth get-me-the-hell-out-of-here sense.
Pushing through the washroom door and Idia felt like he was entirely made of jelly. He couldn’t feel anything he was stepping on. Had he momentarily gotten flying powers? Was he just awkwardly hovering above the floor? Can real life glitch? Wait feathers? Idia didn’t really feel like he was going-BAM-
When he awoke he was greeted by two strangers looking at him. One had the most polite smile- wait no-grimace? Idia was sure there was a look of disgust somewhere there. The other must have been the explanation for the feathers he saw before he had collapsed.
“Are you alright?” asked the feathered one, with the now noticeably elaborate made-up face.
“Did I pass out?” mumbled Idia to himself.
“Very astute.” said the polite grimacing one.
“You weren’t supposed to respond to that dialogue.” Idia grumbled back without thinking.
A chuckle came out of Polite Grimace.
“Jade.” Snapped the feathered one in a tone that Idia could have almost guessed was playful. “Help me pick him up?”
Polite Grimace- now known as Jade- helped the other pick him up holding onto his arms while Feathers lifted him from behind.
“Here we are,” muttered Feathers, recovering from lifting up the deadweight Idia had just been seconds ago.
“Vanessa!” a shock of red hair peaked through the washroom door.
“Riddle, we’re busy,” replied Feathers–Vanessa.
“Vanessa! Now’s not the time for whatever ménage à trois you seem to have started!” the redhead whisper-yelled at the trio. What the hell sort of cut-scene was this? Thought Idia.
“Riddle, darling, I can’t use the washroom before a performance?” asked Vanessa.
“Who is this?” Riddle asked, now looking down at Idia.
“Well he was sprawled on the ground when I turned around,” replied Vanessa and then with quiet concern added “He seems to be alright.” Idia stared up at Vanessa at that last sentence.
Making eye contact with Idia- And what pretty eyes had initiated that eye contact, such a unique deep blue- Vanessa bent down to meet Idia where he currently sat.
“Will you be alright with Riddle?” Vanessa said in a tone that sounded like you would speak to a pet or something. Not that Idia really minded, making the most of it by eyeing those plump lips and that delicious little mole below them just barely concealed by make-up. It was the most attention he had gotten that evening-or any evening- for quite a while, anyway.
“Why me?!” shouted Riddle interrupting Idia’s thoughts.
“Because you decided you wanted to be difficult tonight,” replied Vanessa casually, now having gotten up.
“I am not some baby-sitting service for drunks.” Snapped back Riddle through a now very red face and gritted teeth looking like he was going to leap onto Vanessa and explode like a grenade on top of him- er- her- Idia wasn’t very familiar with drag queen vernacular.
“Well, as you said, Riddle , I am on soon,” Vanessa replied now up and walking towards the door with Jade in tow.
“FUCK!” exclaimed Riddle as the door Vanessa and Jade had just exited through swung closed.
Idia tried to get up to avoid more of Riddle’s ire but only managed to maneuver himself into some awkward dog-like position.
“How much have you had?” mumbled Riddle while rolling his eyes.
“Hi-hi-hi ummm some,” replied Idia earning him another eye roll from the redhead. He couldn’t let Riddle know what had actually happened. Anxiety attack at the gay bar? He couldn’t admit to that to some normie- Normie with anger issues- What sort of loser he actually was. Better pretend he was some messy alcoholic like Riddle probably thought he was.
Idia tried to pick himself up again and out of the awkward yoga position he seemed to have just invented. Riddle, seemingly out of character (or at least just the character Idia had seen), was grabbing onto his arms helping gently adjust Idia so that he wouldn’t fall over again while he regained feeling in his legs.
Just then the washroom door re-opened with a very wide-eyed Cater behind it.
“Idia!” he exclaimed, relieved.
“You know him?” Riddle asked Idia. Idia side-eyed Cater and nodded, mumbling a “yes”.
“Yeah, he was with my group and I guess he just dashed out,” replied Cater as if speaking for Idia.
“Well, alright. At least I’m not on any baby-sitting duty anymore.” Riddle sighed, which now earned him an eye-roll from Idia.
Cater replaced Riddle as the former began to make for the door.
“Idia, are you okay? You were gone a while and I know you don’t use Magicam so it’snotlikeyouweretakingbathroomselfiesoranythingsoIgotworried–”
“I’m fine.” interrupted Idia, meeting Cater’s gaze.
“Okay. Are you sure, though?”
“Y-yeah,”
“I can get an uber for you or something? You seem really freaked out still and I know this isn’t really your scene and–.”
“I can sit.” mumbled Idia. He wasn’t going to leave just after he got there, as much as he wanted to. His curiosity was piqued by Vanessa and he was curious as to what the show was all about. Would he catch another look at that enigmatic face?
“Oh okay, sure. Sure!” Cater said as he reanimated back to his usual self.
Music started blaring again as they walked back slowly to the table Cater and his party were situated.
Idia settling back in his old seat, managed to take a few deep breaths before his attention turned towards the front of the bar where… there she was! Vanessa. Lip synching to what he guessed was some 80s power ballad- not that those were Idia’s style of music anyway- and moving her way towards the back of the bar. Idia was transfixed. Vanessa slowly continued her sway, elegantly grabbing whatever bills were thrust in her direction.
Could someone have a crush on an act- an elaborate persona? Did this even count as gay? Because Idia felt his heart racing as he watched Vanessa saunter on. Well pretty is pretty. Really pretty. Man, this was starting to affect his vocabulary.
It was all too much. Idia needed air or another drink. Not wanting to leave he settled on grabbing something.
“Hi-Uuuhi–One mai tai?”
The music made a sudden change into what was now a much faster electro-pop song causing Idia to stop watching his drink being made and turn his head around to see Vanessa shrugging off a portion of her costume, ready to jump into the faster tempo.
This is what’s going to kill me, thought Idia as he snapped his head back towards the bar and grabbed his drink.
“Stay cool, stay cool, stay cool,” Idia mouthed to himself in the rhythm of the song that was playing. He sat back down and continued watching the performance.
Cater turned towards him and a smirk quickly rose to his lips almost as if he was able to read whatever delusional thoughts Idia had in his mind about Vanessa at that moment.
“Glad you’re having a good time, Idia.”
Idia hoped Cater had meant that in a more wholesome way than what he felt Cater really had meant. Idia pretended not to get flustered and continued watching on.
Soon the performance came to an end and another queen had taken Vanessa’s place doing a new routine.The night moved on in a flurry of drinks, occasional small talk, and music with Idia glad he had stayed if only to fixate on that enigmatic face.
****
The semester had just started and Idia, like clockwork, had found himself walking towards Professor Crowley’s office in the furthest wing of the campus. The January wind swept at his long bedraggled hair as he made his way inside the building, using the exit door nearest to the hallway which led him to the computer science wing of the building. As he walked, his mind swirled with thoughts of the break and all the progress he needed to make on his graduate thesis. The second year of his PhD was really gearing up to kick his ass even harder than he had thought possible.
The door to Crowley’s office was slightly ajar. Office hours, Idia thought while making a tentative knock at the door.
“Hello?” Crowley seemed to have been in conversation with someone else.
“Oh--Professor!” Idia nervously responded, Crowley’s simple “Hello?” having taken him by surprise.
“Oh, it’s you Idia. You can come in if you’d like. It’s just Azul and I here. I was telling him all about you, actually.”
“Yes,” Idia bowed his head quickly like some overly polite anime school girl (curse all those slice of life anime). Wait a second. Who was “Azul”?
Idia picked up his head and glanced at the seat across from Crowley’s desk. The unfamiliar man Idia assumed was Azul had wavy, silvery-grey coloured hair that looked carefully styled with silver framed glasses and…
The wind was knocked out of Idia. Those eyes seemed familiar. Idia began racking his brain until he remembered the night out with Cater. How could he forget?
“Idia, are you alright?” asked Crowley, sincerely concerned.
“Ohihihi- Y-yes, just new faces, hehehe,” Idia grimaced at his pathetic attempt at a save, quickly slumping down into the seat beside Azul, almost as if performing a full body facepalm.
“Okay, moving on,” Crowley leaned over his sticky-note-covered computer set-up for a second, quickly adjusting something on the monitor. “I wanted to introduce you to Azul. He is a sophomore here at Night Raven and will be joining our research group this semester as a study assistant. Maybe you would like to share a bit about yourself, Azul?”
“Pleasure to meet you, Idia.” Azul gracefully met Idia’s eyes with a polite smile, extending his hand from where he was seated. A sophomore! Idia did not think he was a cradle robber but apparently he had misjudged that part of himself. How old could Azul even be? 19? 20 at most? Fuck. He prayed to whatever fates or gods existed that this wasn’t actually the case. Afterall, People start college at all sorts of ages. But, Azul looked young so Idia didn’t really feel like that was the case.
“N-nice tomeetyoutoo,” Idia quickly squeaked out, giving a Azul’s hand a quick, limp shake before letting it go. Azul didn’t seem fazed by the cringe he just witnessed, so Idia figured he might not have thought anything of it? Science is full of weirdos anyway. Though, the thought of the night out had hit Idia hard and he was still recovering.
“Well, as you might have already guessed, I’m Azul Ashengrotto, and I will be working as a study assistant in this research group. I am currently majoring in computer science and minoring in business and music…And very glad to be a part of this group.” Azul said, lips parting into a smile.Those same lips, with that lovely mole just underneath, now even more noticeable without all the makeup hiding it. Azul really must have been that drag queen Idia had bumped (read: stumbled) into in the bar washroom. Oh God. Oh God. Idia shifted around in his seat as if trying to dodge the memory. Idia get a hold of yourself. Idia get a hold of yourself. Idia.
“Very nice! Welcome to our little robotics research group Azul. I think you will get on swimmingly with Idia and the rest of the group once you meet them.” Smiled Crowley.
“Thank you, professor! I am excited to meet the rest of the group as well,” replied Azul with a now more practiced, careful smile, while adjusting his glasses. Idia could see a light dusting of blush settle on his delicate features. Azul was going to kill Idia for real at this rate.
“I would love to stay and chat with the both of you, but I do have class in a few minutes.” Azul reached for the grey coat strewn behind his chair and grabbed the black bag underneath it as he began making his way towards the door.
Idia turned back from facing the chair Azul had occupied and tried his best to ignore his swirling thoughts and the sweat he was beginning to feel under his hoodie and sweater.
“I have … some parts that might need to be ordered soon that I was wondering if we could discuss the parameters of?” asked Idia, a little bit too cautiously to sound natural.
“Yes, of course,” Crowley, indifferent to Idia’s tone just then. The professor shifted himself to better face Idia and so their usual talks of circuitry and wiring began. Idia began feeling like himself again as their conversation became more technical. However, the back of his mind prayed he didn’t have to interact with Azul too much this semester. For his own sanity.