Author's Note: Surprise gift fic for MellaTheKnightmare! She mentioned that she liked Kentin/Alexy in some message or another, so I wanted to give her some. A little Rosa/Candy on the side cause I know she likes that too :3
Rating is for pervyness! Beware of pervyness! Sorry it's crap, Mella. Again, fluff is like the hardest thing for my mediocre crapness to write.
Now to get back to that thing you actually requested DX Sorry I posted this first, I was just working on this before I started working on the other thing, so I finished this first and whatnot. Which says how busy I am, cause shit, you asked for the SnK thing in like, March or some shit. Yeah dude, sorry. This and that would've been waaay done by now if I actually had free time as of late u_u
It was on Thursday at exactly 11:37 A.M. that Kentin realized his feelings for Alexy weren't platonic ones. He was poking at a fruit cup with his spork in the courtyard, listening to Armin curse and yell at his game. On the blacktop Alexy was messing around with Kim and Violette. All of them were pretty loud, but Kentin wasn't really paying attention to the conversation. He was trying to figure out what this orange thing in his fruit cup was.
A mandarin orange slice had been his first guess. But looking closer, he didn't think it was that. A nectarine wedge, maybe? Peach?
Definitely something citrus. And very orange. Maybe it wasn't even real. Maybe it was just dyed preservatives with some orange flavoring.
"Ken! Hey Ken, look! I can pick Kim up!"
Kentin glanced over. There was Alexy, giggling and chipper as he held an unamused Kim princess style. The breeze gently ruffled his light blue hair and all the sun's rays could fit in his grin. Jovially perfect. Kentin's heart did a somersault as his blood turned to honey, its rhythm quickening. Uh-oh.
This was that feeling.
Kentin gulped, unable to tear his eyes from his friend's stupidly wonderful giddy face.
He knew it was that feeling because he'd felt it once before for a certain girl at his old school. She wasn't unkind, but that feeling still got stepped on in face of rejection and now he was feeling it all over again.
Love.
Oh crap. Now he was staring. Just great.
"Congratulations?" he vocalized in what he hoped carried the air of indifference. "I don't know when you're ever going to need to pick Kim up."
Alexy started to reply, but the girl in his arms interrupted. "It's called having fun, you should try it some time," and then, to Alexy, "put me down now, it's your turn to be picked up. I bet I can toss you right over my shoulder."
"Just don't hurt me!" Alexy giggled and put her down.
Kentin pointedly turned his attention back to his fruit cup.
Suddenly the orange thing he couldn't identify appeared to be shaped like a heart.
წ
To put it bluntly, Kentin didn't know what to do. He wasn't sure if he should do anything (it's not like confessing worked out last time). But a few days passed and not only did that feeling refuse to wane, but it just seemed to get stronger. He couldn't even look at Alexy without his stomach getting all weird and his pulse racing away from him.
So he had to do something. But he wasn't just going to up and confess. He wanted to get his head together and confess the right way. If he wasn't so frazzled and stammer-y (and creepy, he'll admit, he'd breathily blurted that he'd already had their wedding planned out and what their kids would look like) when he confessed to Candy, maybe she wouldn't have turned him down.
With that thought in mind, he actually decided to ask Candy for advice. Candy was in a relationship, after all. She was friends with Alexy too. She could probably help him with this.
He sought her out after history class, but somehow unloading his dilemma wasn't nearly as easy as it should've been.
"I...um..."
Candy gave him a reassuring smile, her eyes mild and patient.
"You see, I...I..." Damn it! His tongue knotted with every word and his face was flaring hot. If he couldn't even ask for help confessing without getting like this, how the hell was he supposed to actually confess?
"You're really red," Candy stated dubiously.
One could always depend on her to be Captain Obvious.
"I...I like someone," he finally managed. "Not you!" he clarified, seeing her expression. "Well, I like you, but not like, um...You know what I mean..."
"Yeah, I know what you mean." She nodded, features piqued expectantly.
"I was just wondering, how did you...Err, approach Rosalya? When you told her you how you felt?"
"I didn't," Candy answered sheepishly. "I can't help you here; it was Rosa who declared her feelings to me. You should definitely talk to her. She was...Really direct with me. I'm sure she can give you some great tips!" She patted him on the shoulder, either as an apology or a gesture of encouragement.
"I'll ask Rosalya then, thanks." Kentin nodded and departed.
He found Rosalya by her locker after school and hesitantly tapped on her shoulder. She twirled around and gave him a pretty little grin.
"Hey, Kentin. Candy told me you need some guidance in the flirting department."
"Flirting? N-No, not any of that! I mean, I just want to tell him how I feel..." Kentin awkwardly shuffled his feet.
"So it's a him?" Rosalya tittered on. "Let me guess; it's Alexy?"
"Yeah." Kentin blinked, slightly nonplussed. "How'd you know?"
Rosalya giggled. "You guys are together all the time. It isn't exactly hard to figure out." She waved her hand. "Anyway, what you want to do is entice him."
"Entice him?" Kentin repeated, bemused.
"Yep." Rosalya nodded in ascertain and put her hands on her hips. "You're going to declare your feelings for him with the underlaying goal of getting together with him. Make him want to get together with you."
Kentin paused. He did want to get together with Alexy and he really hoped he felt the same way, but making him feel that way...? It sounded manipulative. And how would he do that anyway?
Rosalya noted his puzzled look and sighed through her nose. This boy really needed her guidance.
"Confess with your shirt off, Kentin," she told him. "That way he can see how attractive you are. Tell him reasons why you think you would make a great couple, or how you'd be the best boyfriend he's ever had. Ask him to go on one date with you to give you a chance, and promise you'll take him shopping or something if he agrees. Things like that."
"Okay." Confessing with his shirt off seemed a little weird in his opinion, but Rosalya was the expert here and the rest of her advice seemed sound. "How did you tell Candy how you felt?"
"Hm?" Rosalya tipped her head to the side. "Didn't she tell you?"
"She just said that you were direct."
"I was. Being direct is highly important in these scenarios. If you aren't clear with your feelings, you could easily give someone the wrong impression, and that can lead to even more miscommunication between both parties." Rosalya waggled her finger at him. "When I told Candy how I felt, I didn't ask her out. I told her she was going on a date with me whether she wanted to or not. If she didn't feel a spark, she wouldn't have to go out with me again."
Well, being direct was one thing, but being demanding wasn't really Kentin's style, even if it had worked out for Rosalya. Nonetheless, this had been a very informative conversation. He felt somewhat more confident now, a bit more prepared. He thanked Rosalya and left.
წ
"So what's up?" Alexy asked casually, an easy smile on his oblivious visage.
Okay. This was okay, no big deal. Kentin could do this. He just had to do what Rosalya said, be enticing and direct.
"I...I think..." Damn it! He had the feelings, he had the words! They just wouldn't come out! The letters scrambled and wadded and stuck in the back of his throat like fishbones.
"You think...?" Alexy gave him a mingled look of prompting and curiosity.
"I...Uh, are you doing anything after school?" Kentin managed to articulate.
"Actually yeah. I'm going to the mall with Candy and Violette. Do you wanna come?"
This was not working. This was not working at all. Kentin dejectedly put his face in his hands and just shook his head.
"No, that's okay. I'll see you later." He walked away and left a confused Alexy scratching his head in the middle of the hallway.
The next day Kentin tried again. He found Alexy right after gym class, so it looked like a coincidence that he was shirtless. Yeah. After how bad he'd failed at confessing last time, he was wiling to take that suggestion.
"Hey," he breathed, gently touching Alexy's arm to get his attention.
The blue-haired teen wheeled around. "Oh hey. You know, you look kind of sweaty. Do you wanna borrow my towel?"
Kentin froze. Sweaty? Oh god, did that mean he looked gross!? Or worse, smelled gross!? He'd put on deodorant, but it's not like that stuff always worked. Self-consciousness jabbed him right in the gut. All the words he was going to say curdled and expired on his tongue.
"Uh, Kentin?" A gleam of concern touched Alexy's cerise gaze.
"Never mind," Kentin said abruptly. He retreated to his locker and vainly wished that he could fit inside, pull it shut, and never come out again.
Kentin tried again the following day. Third time's the charm, right? Hopefully the saying rang true.
He took Alexy aside before classes started, when Armin had branched off from them with a PSP in hand, mumbling something about fighting Ophelia the witch.
"Look," Kentin started, his heart suddenly laboring like a too-tight drum. "I like you. I really, really like you! If you're interested, I promise I'll try to be the best boyfriend ever." He was direct enough, he just hoped he didn't sound like some punk in a cheesy chick-flick on the soap opera channel.
A fizzy note of laugher bubbled past Alexy's lips. It turned into a series of light, buoyant giggles. The sounds immediately made Kentin warm with effervescence, but it was exchanged for mortification when the ball dropped.
Alexy was laughing at him.
He just took a chance and confessed his feelings, and instead of bothering to reject him kindly, Alexy was openly scorning him.
An arrow of hurt struck right through Kentin's chest. Embarrassment burned him like chili pepper, all the way to the tips of his ears. He tried to tell him to stop but all that left his mouth was a muted noise from a trembling jaw.
Alexy's sides instantly stilled when he saw Kentin's expression. "I'm sorry! Ken, please!" He took Kentin's hand as if he were scared the brunette was going to bolt. "I'm not laughing at you! I'm just happy! Really happy! You've been trying to tell me something all week and I've been wondering what it was. I was a little nervous it might be something bad, like you were moving away...But instead, you just said everything I always wished you would say to me."
A rose blush dusted Alexy's cheeks, a delighted smile shaping his lips. Overwhelmed with relief and sunbursts of affection, Kentin kissed those lips. Alexy kissed him back, eyes fluttering closed.
They were both late for class and they couldn't have been paid to care less.