Author's Note: Let the Halloween-y mayhem begin! What better way to kick things off than with a Devon/Ace-centric chapter? And getting to formally introduce another Wisp (one of my favorites, in fact) is pretty awesome too.
Just a quick heads up: There is a tiny bit of horror movie violence mentioned in this chapter. It's not described in much detail, though.
"I'm tellin' ya, you've got it all wrong!" Ace said to his brother as the pair talked on the phone. There was some sort of conspiracy afoot, Ace just knew it. His brother-much like the rest of his dorm, apparently-was convinced he had…feelings for Devon. For the life of him, Ace couldn't figure out why all of them kept jumping to that conclusion. Sure, he talked about her pretty often, but she was his friend. One of his best friends, actually, and one he spent quite a bit of time with. It was only natural that she'd pop up in his stories sometimes.
"And I'm tellin' you that you've brought Devon up more than literally everyone else you've talked about since you started at NRC combined, little bro," his brother replied. "You don't even mention that Deuce kid as often and he's your classmate and one of your roommates. I don't even remember you talking about your ex this much before you guys started dating."
"Yeah, because she wasn't anywhere near as interesting," Ace reasoned. "How many people can say they have a friend that's legit from another world?"
"Probably not many," Ace's brother conceded, though Ace could practically see the smirk on his face as he continued. "And I'm sure those otherworldly friends aren't nearly as funny, pretty, sweet, or badass as you've made Devon out to be. They probably don't have her pretty green eyes either."
Ace couldn't stop himself from bristling at his brother's comments. "Excuse you, Devon is all those things; I'm not "making her out to be" anything she isn't. And her eyes aren't green, they're brown so HA!"
"And you just proved my point so HA!" Ace's brother fired back.
"Oh sure, the fact that I can tell you the eye color of someone I hang out with almost every day is absolute proof that I wish to pledge my undying devotion to her," Ace snarked. "You're grabbin' at straws here, bro."
"Oh yeah? What color are my eyes, then?" his brother challenged.
Ace blinked, taken aback by the question. He tried to stammer out an answer but found himself drawing a blank. "Uhh… That's… I-I mean, they're obviously… Umm…"
"They're the same color as yours, genius," his brother supplied. "See? You've known me your entire life and you have no idea. But I bet you could rattle off Devon's birthday, hobbies, favorite anything, probably her blood type too if someone asked you."
Ace couldn't muster up anything to say in his defense; he knew his brother was right. Instead, he flopped back onto his bed and huffed. He was thankful his dorm room was currently empty. He didn't need his roommates, especially Deuce, getting in on this.
"I'm not makin' fun of you, little bro. I hope you know that," the elder Trappola assured him. "I think it's great that you've met someone you click with so well. Devon sounds like she's quite a catch." His tone turned a little more serious now, no longer teasing. "You should know, though, that you're probably not the only person on that campus that's noticed."
Ace's eyes narrowed into a glare as he remembered those Heartslabyul upperclassmen that tried to interrogate him about Devon's love life. "I mean, I guess. People have working eyes, after all. New York's demiromantic, though, so in order for her to take a special interest in someone, there'd have to be some sort of bond there."
"Yeah, and didn't you say she'd been expanding her social circle recently?" his brother asked. "I'm not trying to persuade you to act on your glaringly obvious feelings if you don't think you're ready yet. I know it's not easy to put yourself out there like that. But you should be aware that if Devon's as amazing as you say she is, someone else will make a move if you take too long." His phone suddenly began beeping. "Ah crap. I gotta go, little bro. My phone's about to die. Look, like I said, you don't have to take action yet if you aren't ready, but at least think about what I said and be honest with yourself."
"Mmm," Ace hummed in response.
"Tell Devon I said hey, okay. And don't get yourselves into too much trouble. I'll talk to ya later, alright?" his brother said.
"Yeah. Talk to ya later," Ace replied before the call disconnected. He tossed the phone down next to him, heaving a sigh as he folded his arms behind his head. 'Be honest with myself? Easier said than done, bro. I can't really be honest about how I feel about Devon because I don't really know what I feel. She's one of my best friends, yeah, but so is Deuce and the way I feel about the two of them couldn't be more different. Devon's warm and fun and I like hanging out with her, but if my feelings are strictly platonic, why does the fact that she finds Jamil attractive bother me so much? At the same time, I've had a girlfriend before. If I do have romantic feelings for Devon, why don't they feel anything like what I felt when I was with her?'
Ace's phone buzzed with a Magicam message, pulling him out of his thoughts. He rolled his eyes, thinking the message was from his brother, only to be pleasantly surprised to see that it was from Devon. "Speak of the devil," Ace muttered as he opened the text.
"Hey, man. Do you have any good recs for horror movies? Asking for myself." Devon's text read, followed by a series of ghost and monster emojis.
Ace blinked. This was a first. "You like horror movies?"
"Heck yeah! I'm in the library right now trying to pick out a few movies to rent, but I don't really know much about the horror flicks in this world and I don't want to waste my time on something that's just meh, y'know?" was Devon's response.
"Do you want me to meet you there and help you pick some out?" Ace typed back.
Devon's reply was immediate: a praying hands emoji followed by, "Yes, please! That would be awesome!"
Ace immediately stood and slipped on his shoes, more aware than ever of the fluttery feeling in his stomach and the sense of eagerness at getting to see Devon again, despite have just spent the day in class with her. "Just hang tight for a sec. I'll be right there."
"You made a smart decision, asking me for help with this," Ace told Devon when he linked up with her at the library.
Devon smirked. "I'm known to have good ideas once in a blue moon."
Ace glanced down to see that Devon was already holding a DVD case in her hands. "Whatcha got there?"
"Oh, this? It's a movie Ortho recommended to me." Devon held up the case to give Ace a better look. "I passed him on my way here and he suggested I check out this Pumpkin Hollow movie. He and Idia are big fans of it, apparently."
"Hmm. I haven't seen it myself, but I've heard it's really…not that great," Ace said.
Devon shrugged. "Maybe it is, maybe it's not. I still wanna give it a try so I can form my own opinion. Besides, Ortho said Pumpkin Hollow is gonna be Ignihyde's stamp rally theme so even if I don't like the movie, I'll at least know what's going on when I stop by during Halloween Week."
"Fair enough," Ace replied, before looking back at the library's movie selection. "Aside from that one, what kinds of horror movies are you into?"
"I'll try anything once," Devon told him, turning to look at the selection herself. ", but as far as I'm concerned, you can't go wrong with a good old-fashioned slasher. The more fake blood, the better. I'm also on board for anything involving possessions or set in some sort of haunted-slash-abandoned hospital or asylum."
"Oh, then do I have a treat for you~!" Ace said. "There's a new horror flick that's insanely popular right now about the ghost of a mad scientist that goes around possessing people so he can experiment on 'em. I wasn't able to see it when it was playing in theatres, but it was just released on DVD. If the library has a copy of it, it sounds like it'd be right up your alley."
"Consider me intrigued, Ace. Lead the way," Devon replied.
Ace steered Devon in the direction of the new releases, deflating slightly when he saw there weren't any copies of the movie left.
"Well, crap," he huffed. "Probably shoulda figured people would be clamorin' to get their hands on it, especially at this time of year."
"Yeah, but it looks like there's a waiting list for it," Devon pointed out, taking a clipboard holding a sheet of paper with some names written on it and jotting her own name down. "Looks like the library's got at least three copies of this thing and there aren't too many people ahead of us. With any luck, we'll be able to borrow it before spooky season's over, but even if we don't, it's not like there's some law that says horror movies can only be watched in October." She set the clipboard back down and paused before glancing back at Ace. "…There isn't a rule like that here, is there?"
Ace snorted. "I see someone's been spending too much time over at Heartslabyul. Not that I'm complaining." He nudged her shoulder gently. "No, there's no rule like that, ya goof." He nodded back toward the other movies. "Now let's try to find you some other stuff to watch."
A while later, Devon and Ace walked out of the library with about a half-dozen horror movies tucked safely inside Devon's messenger bag.
"These oughta tide me over until we can get our hands on that mad scientist flick," Devon said as she patted her bag.
"I'm still a little blown away that you like horror movies at all," Ace remarked. "I was under the impression that girls hated 'em. Figured you'd be more into cutesy or romantic movies."
Devon shrugged. "I mean, I like those kinds of movies too but there's no saying a person can only like one type of…well, anything. I'm sure some girls aren't really into horror movies, but I know plenty of guys back in my world that don't like them either." She chuckled to herself. "People back home always go on about how girls can't handle blood, but just about everyone I know around our age that actually freaks out about it is a guy. Anyone with a-" She gestured to her lower abdomen. "-setup like mine usually gets desensitized to blood pretty quick."
Ace quirked a brow at her. "What do you-" His eyes widened as he realized what she was referring to. "Ah, I get it. I never really thought about it before but I guess that makes sense."
The pair were silent for a while as they walked back to Ramshackle. Ace had wanted to make sure Devon got home safely before he headed back to his own dorm. He always jokingly insisted that it was because he wouldn't put it past her to manage to get into some kind of trouble in the short distance between the main building/school store/library/anywhere else on the campus and Ramshackle, squashing down the little voice in the back of his mind telling him that he was really trying to give himself an excuse to hang around with her for a little bit longer. He kept glancing down at Devon's messenger bag, an idea occurring to him as he thought of the movies he knew were inside.
He cleared his throat to get her attention. "Ya know, about those movies we picked out… I can personally vouch for all of them, but they can be a little intense. I know you've got no issue with the horror movies from your world, but we won't know how they stack up to the ones from this world until you watch 'em."
Devon quirked a brow, a playful smirk on her face. "Are you sayin' you don't think I can handle it, Trappola?"
"Your words, not mine," Ace replied with a shrug as he glanced nonchalantly off to the side. Hopefully Devon would take the bait…
"Then I guess we're just gonna have to have a movie marathon. We'll binge watch as many of these as we can until we pass out and I'll prove to you that I can handle anything Twisted Wonderland's movies have to throw at me. Lucky for us, it's the weekend; we can do this tomorrow night at Ramshackle, if you're good with that," Devon offered.
Ace had to fight to keep the smile off his face. "Fine by me. I'll have to let Trey know what's up so Riddle doesn't blow a gasket if I'm not at the dorm by lights out."
Devon nodded. "Sounds good. I'm gonna text Deuce and see if he wants to join too-"
"NO!" Ace interjected quickly, causing Devon to blink at him in confusion as they both stopped walking. He cleared his throat, grateful that it was too dark for Devon to see how red he was sure his face was. "I-I mean…" Crap. Now he had to think of some kind of excuse to justify not inviting Deuce. He tried to wrack his brain for an idea, but he made the mistake of meeting Devon's curious gaze and words began tumbling out of his mouth before he could stop them. "It's just that we don't really get many chances to hang out, just the two of us. As much fun as it would be to see Grim and Deuce get scared outta their minds, I'd really like a little quality Devon time."
"Oh. O-Okay then," Devon replied, not expecting such an honest answer, let alone for Ace to use her real name for once. She paused for a moment before her playful smirk returned. "You know you could've just said you wanted to have a movie night with me without jumpin' through all those hoops, right?" She tapped her chin. "Though that does beg the question of what we're gonna do about Grim; I can't exactly kick him outta the lounge."
"Don't you worry about Grim. Something tells me he's gonna be pretty busy tomorrow," Ace assured her as they started walking again.
"I feel like I should be concerned," Devon replied.
By this point, Devon and Ace had reached the Ramshackle gate. It opened on its own, courtesy of Regina, and the two were pulled up the steps leading up to the dorm as the Wisp manipulated the steps to angle downwards and become more akin to a ramp.
"All jokes aside, thanks for helping me out today, Ace. I would've been totally lost without you," Devon said with a sincere smile.
Ace shrugged nonchalantly, but his talk with his brother was making him hyper-aware of the fluttery feeling Devon's smile was stirring up in his stomach. "S'not a big deal. Just wanna make sure you don't waste your time on anything lame."
"I still appreciate it," Devon replied.
Devon stepped closer and pulled him into a hug, nuzzling her cheek against his chest. It was something she'd done numerous times-something she'd done to multiple people at the school, in fact-but Ace still felt his brain short-circuit for a moment. His arms felt like lead as he struggled to lift them to hug her back, but thankfully he was able to get himself in gear before Devon got a sense that anything was amiss. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer to him, his cheeks getting even warmer when Devon tightened her hold. Ace's heart was beating so fast in his chest that he was sure there was no way Devon couldn't hear it, so he pressed his cheek against the top of her head and breathed in the familiar strawberry scent he'd come to find grounding.
"I'm really looking forward to tomorrow," Devon said, oblivious to Ace's racing heart and thoughts.
"Yeah. I am too," Ace replied, his voice sounding choked even to his own ears.
Devon pulled back from the hug, leaving Ace both relieved and disappointed. "I'll see you then. Have a good night, Ace." She sent him one last smile before turning around and walking into Ramshackle.
Ace was lost to his thoughts as he slid back down Regina's makeshift ramp and headed back toward the Hall of Mirrors. His heart was racing the entire way, only calming slightly once he stepped through the mirror to Heartslabyul.
The movie night was going better than Ace had anticipated. Not only had he managed to get permission to stay over at Ramshackle from Trey (and pointedly ignore Cater waggling his eyebrows suggestively), but he had also managed to ensure that Grim would be at Heartslabyul for the evening after accidentally/on purpose letting it slip to Riddle that the catlike monster had been the one to scorch one of the rose trees during the last Unbirthday Party (nobody actually saw Grim do it but Ace and Aloe was able to restore the tree to full health, so thankfully no heads were lost at the time), resulting in Riddle ordering Grim to weed the garden as punishment. He and Devon had been enjoying the movies they'd picked out, occasionally making comments and picking apart the classic horror movie clichés. Devon hadn't been joking about how much she enjoyed horror movies; the girl hadn't so much as flinched during the jumpscares or gore. In fact, she almost seemed eager for it which was…slightly concerning. Still, Ace was glad to have at least one person on campus that he could share this particular interest with, even if he was just slightly disappointed that she didn't get scared enough to cuddle up to him.
On the other hand, a part of him was thankful that Devon was so engrossed in these movies. After all, as long as her eyes stayed glued to the screen, she couldn't see how closely Ace was watching her. He tried his hardest to focus on the movie and not stare at his best friend like an absolutely creep but he just couldn't tear his eyes away. He was finding himself absolutely mesmerized by each and every shift in her expression, but he couldn't figure out why. It wasn't like she hadn't made similar expressions before, so what was so special about them now?
'Come on. You know why,' chimed the little voice in the back of his mind. Ace shook his head to clear it, only to be startled by a sudden shout from Devon.
"And boom! Ink axe to the face!" Devon cheered as she grabbed some popcorn from the bowl on the coffee table. They were currently watching a movie about group of college students who decided to break into an abandoned and supposedly haunted film lot on a dare, only to encounter a monster apparently made of ink that, predictably, was none too pleased at the intrusion and proceeding to chase them down, picking them off one by one. Its latest victims had been a couple that decided to stop and make out despite the very real danger they were in.
Ace couldn't help but chuckle himself. "You know we're not supposed to be cheering for the monster, right?"
"Maybe if these people weren't a bunch of absolute morons, I'd be less inclined to root for the thing that's killing them," Devon said with a playful grin. She gestured toward the TV; she'd managed to get it and her DVD player at the Mystery Shop in exchange for working a few shifts. "Those two idiots know they're being chased, they know the monster's hostile and both willing and able to kill them…so they decide now's a great time to suck face. Honestly, I think it would've been immoral for the monster not to kill them."
Ace snorted. "You've got an interesting way of lookin' at things, New York. Not that I didn't already know, but it still blows me away sometimes."
"All I'm sayin' is that justifiable homicide is a thing," Devon replied. She looked over at Ace, only to see him giving her one of the softest smiles she'd ever seen. "Why're you smilin' at me like that?"
Ace's eyes widened for a split-second before he managed to will his features into his usual smug smile. "Heh, you're seein' things, New York."
Devon shrugged. "Fine, be like that."
The presence of one of the Wisps near the entryway to the lounge caught Devon's attention once Ace refocused on the movie. A nearly-transparent orb floated in the doorway, the only obvious sign that it was there being trail of white-grey smoke coiled around it. The Wisp, whom Devon had dubbed Mirage when they first met, urged Devon not to draw Ace's attention to them, saying they had an idea they wanted to test. Devon gave Mirage a subtle nod before turning back toward the TV. She could help but wonder what Mirage had in mind. The Illusion Wisp tended to be one of the more reclusive ones residing in Ramshackle (they preferred to keep their presence concealed given that Illusion magic was far less effective when the people it was cast on were able to guard themselves against it beforehand), but they were also one of the more mischievous and fun-loving ones, always down to use their illusions to cause a little chaos.
Devon stole glances toward Mirage, eager to know what was going to happen next. They appeared to be studying the monster on the screen, from its appearance and vocalizations down to the way it moved. After a moment, Mirage began to fade away; a telltale sign that Devon and Ace were currently caught in one of their illusions. Inky shadows began moving across the room, causing the already dim lights to darken even further.
Ace glanced up from the movie. "Did it get darker in here or somethin'? I mean, I know we dimmed the lights for maximum scare factor but…"
Devon shrugged, feigning ignorance. "Who knows? You know how finicky the lights here can be sometimes."
Ace 'hmm'ed in agreement. "You know, you and the Wisps and ghosts have done a good job of getting this place cleaned up; it's nowhere near the hole it used to be when we first enrolled. But maybe you oughta talk to Crowley about fixin' up some of the bigger stuff. I bet we could persuade him if we not-so-subtly hint at the negative press it'd bring the school that the headmaster placed one of his students in such a run-down dorm. And you know Cater would be more than willing to snap a few-" His voice died in his throat as he turned his attention back toward the TV, an uneasy look settling on his features.
"What is it?" Devon asked as she followed his gaze. The monster on the screen had ceased chasing its victims and now appeared to be staring directly at the two of them. It appeared to narrow its eyes at them and now that it was standing still, Devon noticed that the ink its body was made of was constantly in motion, giving it a sort of waterfall effect down the monster's body despite none of it actually dripping onto the ground. 'Not sure if that a special effect from the actual movie or if that was a throw-in from Mirage, but either way it's a nice touch.' "Ace…? You good?"
"I… I don't remember this happening the first time I saw this movie," Ace told her, gesturing toward the monster and refusing to take his eyes off of it.
"M-Maybe this is some kind of alternate scene?" Devon suggested, hoping she sounded convincingly nervous and shrinking back slightly as the monster started moving closer to the screen.
"I don't think so…," Ace replied, his hand hovering over his magical pen as the monster continued to move closer. "No, this is definitely not how this movie's supposed to go…"
The pair remained frozen in place as the monster slowly reached out with one of its clawed hands, causing the TV screen to ripple and the background to fade into static as said hand managed to come through the screen and into the lounge. A menacing smile broke out on the monster's face at this revelation and the hand that had passed through the screen braced itself on the TV stand as the monster began to haul itself through the screen.
That was enough to snap Ace into action. He jumped to his feet, pulling Devon up with him and urging her around the couch and toward the door. "Okay, I think it's safe to say we're in trouble here." He grabbed his magical pen and pointed it at the monster as it pulled itself even further into the room. He kept his eyes trained on it while pushing Devon toward the door again. "Get outta here, Devon! I'll try to keep this thing from comin' after you."
Devon shook her head. "I'm not leaving without you!" She grabbed onto his arm, her expression pleading. "Come with me!"
"We don't have time to argue about this!" Ace fired back as the monster managed to free itself from the TV entirely, towering over both of them as it stood in the lounge. "Dammit, just go! I'll hold it off for as long as I can!"
Devon looked between the monster and Ace before finally letting go of Ace's arm. "Fine. But you'd better be right behind me!"
Devon barely had the chance to move two paces before the monster lowered itself onto all fours and vaulted over the back of the couch and landed directly in front of her, blocking her way out. That unsettling smile on its face only widened as it raised its arm, warping the appendage into an axe just like it had done in the movie. Despite knowing there was no real danger, Devon still reflexively flinched, only to see Ace suddenly appear in front of her to block the blow. The monster rose back to its full height and let out a deafening roar before bringing the blade down.
Ace braced for impact, keeping himself planted firmly in front of Devon. He had intended to fire off a spell to try and force the monster back so he and Devon could move around, but his feet started moving on their own the second he saw that blade materialize. All he could think about at that point was buying Devon just a little more time to get away. Even if the monster chased after her, he might have been enough of a distraction for her to get out of Ramshackle and over to the Hall of Mirrors. Surely she'd be safe at Heartslabyul or Savanaclaw. Or better yet, she'd mentioned making a few friends in Diasomnia; they could definitely keep her safe.
The blade made contact with Ace's shoulder…or, at least, it should have. Ace's eyes widened as the axe passed harmlessly through him, and he stared at the creature in front of him to try and gauge its reaction or see if it would try to strike again. The monster didn't appear confused or angered by what had happened; in fact, all the aggression seemed to have left its posture and expression and it now stared at the two of them blankly. Ace stared back, trying to figure out what the heck just happened when he heard Devon snort with laughter behind him.
"Pfft, bahahaha~! Oh man, that was great!" Devon laughed as she wiped a tear from her eye. She looked in the direction of the TV. "I gotta tell ya, Mirage, your power blows me away every single time. The monster comin' outta the TV was a great idea!"
"Wha-? Buh?! I…" Ace stammered as he struggled to make sense of everything. "What the heck just happened?!"
"This was all just an illusion, man," Devon supplied. She stepped around him and walked over to the monster, reaching out her hand to touch it. The monster didn't react to Devon's approach and her hand passed directly through it the moment it made contact. With that, the monster began to fade away and the rest of the room returned to its normal state: the lights were brought back to the level of dimness they'd been set to before while the TV was no longer filled with static, instead revealing that the movie had been paused. Once everything was back to the way it was before, Mirage floated over to the two freshmen. "I don't think you two have officially met yet, but Ace, I'd like you to meet Mirage. They're an Illusion Wisp."
"Of course they are," Ace grumbled still trying to piece together both what had just happened and his feelings about what had just happened. In hindsight, he probably should have figured something was up when none of the Wisps, not even Zephyr, appeared when the monster was about to attack Devon. There was a part of him that wanted to be upset-he really thought Devon had been in danger, after all-but he knew the Wisps would never let any real harm come to her, Grim, or anyone they allowed into Ramshackle. There had been no harm done and he knew that Zephyr or Regina would've intervened if something went wrong.
He also had to admit that how quickly he was willing to throw himself into a potentially life-threatening position if it meant protecting Devon. The protectiveness itself was never in doubt, not after he'd punched Riddle in the face for insulting her, but even he had no idea just how far it went. And given the array of confusing feelings just the thought of Devon had managed to stir up, he was having a much harder time convincing himself that what he felt for her was strictly platonic.
A gentle hand on his shoulder pulled Ace back to reality.
"Ace? You okay?" Devon asked, giving him a worried look. "You're not… You're not mad because of the prank, are you?"
"Pssh, are you kiddin'?" Ace answered dismissively. "I mean, yeah, your buddy nearly gave me a heart attack, but it'll take more than that to get me upset with ya." He ruffled Devon's hair. "Halloween's peak prankin' time, after all. Can't really blame Mirage for gettin' into the spirit. They really got that monster down too; the illusion looked and sounded just like it. Heck, they even moved the same way!" He nodded back toward the TV. "Now c'mon. We've got more movies to watch. Just…no more pranks for tonight, okay?"
Devon glanced at Mirage, who pulsed in agreement, before nodding happily. "Deal." She caught Ace's arm before he could walk back over to the couch. "And Ace?"
"Mmm?" Ace hummed.
Devon pulled Ace into a hug, wrapping her arms around his middle and pressing a quick kiss to his cheek. "Thank you for jumping in to protect me back there. I wasn't expecting you to jump in front of me like that."
Ace looked off to the side, grateful that it was too dark for Devon to see the blush spreading across his cheeks as he hugged her back. "D-Don't worry about it…"
Devon yawned and stretched as the last movie's credits began to roll. It was now well past midnight and, while staying up late wasn't exactly uncommon for Devon depending on the amount of work she had to do, she was beginning to feel a little drowsy. "Well, this was a lot of fun. Maybe we should hang out solo more often."
"I'd like that," Ace agreed. "It's nice not havin' to-" Ace felt a sudden weight on his shoulder and looked down to see Devon resting her head against it. His mind went blank for a second and he forgot what the rest of his sentence was going to be. All he could think about was keeping his now racing heart in check.
"I'm listenin'," Devon said, urging him to continue.
Ace blinked, suddenly remembering his train of thought. "I-I was just gonna say that I'm glad we did this too. No offense to Grim and Deuce-" He glanced down again to see Devon sending him a skeptical look. "Okay, some offense to Grim and Deuce, but I can't really see myself hangin' out with either of 'em solo if I had a choice. Deuce and I are roommates so I feel like I see enough of him as it is."
"Mm-hmm," Devon mumbled sleepily as she closed her eyes and pulled her legs up onto the couch.
"And if you think Grim's a handful when you're with him, you have no idea how bad he gets when you're gone," Ace continued, wrapping an arm around Devon and gently rubbing her back. "I swear, I don't know how you do it."
"Mmm…," Devon hummed. She fought valiantly to keep herself awake under Ace's ministrations, but ultimately ended up falling asleep against him, leaning her full body weight against her friend.
Ace couldn't help but chuckle softly, despite his blush returning for an encore performance. He shifted a bit, maneuvering Devon so that she was pinned between him and the back of the couch and her head was resting against his chest instead of his shoulder. Moving carefully so as not to wake her, Ace pulled a blanket off the back of the couch and spread it over the both of them before adjusting one of the throw pillows behind his head and settling in for the night.
He found himself unable to keep from watching Devon as she slept, taking in everything from the subtle shifts in her facial expressions to the unintelligible things she'd mumble in her sleep. At one point, the hand he was keeping on her back still, causing her brow to furrow and a sleepy noise of protest to escape her throat. Once he resumed rubbing her back, however, her expression shifted back to a peaceful one as a content sigh left her lips, drawing a soft chuckle out of Ace.
'You're lucky I'm so nice, New York. I could easily take my phone and snap a quick pic of that goofy sleeping face of yours,' Ace thought. 'Too bad I don't really wanna share it with anyone else.' He continued to watch over her, not feeling the slightest bit drowsy, and soon enough he found his thoughts wandering. He couldn't stop himself from thinking what it would be like if they could do this all the time or what it would feel like to be able to hold her hand as they walked around together both on and off campus. He felt his cheeks heat up as he imagined stealing quick kisses with her between classes or at Unbirthday Parties; she and Grim had a standing invitation to any and all Heartslabyul functions and everyone knew Grim wasn't one to turn down food.
Ace studied Devon's face a bit longer, gently brushing back some stray curls. 'Guess I finally have to be honest with myself; I've got a crush on my best friend.' He sighed inwardly as he thought what to do next. Obviously, he wasn't about to say anything to Devon about it. It was just a crush, after all, so it was entirely possible that his feelings for her would go away on their own if given enough time. Besides, if he did tell her how he felt and she turned him down or if they did get together but broke up further on down the line, he was worried about what that might do to their friendship. Crush or no crush, Devon was still one of the coolest people he'd ever met. They'd barely known each other for two months, but he already couldn't imagine his life without her in it in some form.
A sleepy mumble pulled the redhead out of his thoughts. Devon shifted in her sleep, pulling him closer and wrapping one of her legs around his.
Ace let out another soft chuckle. 'Count on you to help keep me grounded even when you're unconscious. Classic New York, huh?' He settled back and closed his eyes, resting his chin on the top of Devon's head as he finally began to feel tired. 'I'm overthinking it. There's no need to worry about any of that just yet. For now, I'll just enjoy what we've got goin' on as things stand. We'll cross the feelings bridge when we come to it.'
Not long after that, Ace finally fell asleep as well.
Ending Notes: Devon is 100% a sleep-talker and nothing will convince me otherwise. She doesn't do it all the time, but if someone else happens to be in the room when she starts, they could probably have an entire conversation with her while she's asleep. Whether or not it'll make any sense at all varies and Devon typically doesn't remember these conversations when she wakes up, but it's still pretty fun.
Ace finally admits his feelings! Only to himself, but progress is progress!
I've always really enjoyed reading/watching/writing characters with crushes because it's always fun to see how differently they gradually start to act around the person they're crushing on. Given how close Ace is with Devon from the start, I can't really see him acting too drastically different from how he normally does; he still teases her and gets pretty touchy-feely with her (as long as she's comfortable with it), but his teasing doesn't have nearly as much bite as it can with pretty much anyone else and his touches will tend to linger a little bit.
Malleus is probably pretty similar, actually; he's the crown prince of Briar Valley so he probably has to keep a lid on his emotions-especially his anger-due to the potential diplomatic backlash his kingdom could face if he ever really let loose on someone. I think Rook comments in one of his vignettes that he can tell there's quite a bit of anger in Malleus that he never really lets out. Outwardly, I think other people would be able to see how fond Malleus is of Devon easily enough, but Lilia would likely be the only one to grasp just how deeply Malleus feels for her.
Leona and Jamil are a little bit more obvious about their feelings, but for them, actions speak much louder than words. I have a personal headcanon that Leona's love language-much like Devon's-is physical touch, so he figures out ways to be in physical contact with Devon at least once when they're around each other or to insert himself into her space; he complains that he can't get any peace and quiet with her around, but then invites himself over to Ramshackle in practically the same breath. I also have it in my head that his tail and ears give him away sometimes too: whenever he hears Devon's voice, his ears will automatically flick toward the sound, no matter how crowded or loud the area is, or his tail will twitch or sway contentedly when she's with him or wrap around her wrist or drape itself across her lap. I'm not really sure how much control beastmen have over their tails, but at least some movements seem to be involuntary (namely whenever Jack's tail starts wagging). Meanwhile, Jamil tends to go out of his way for Devon once he starts to catch feelings (bringing her food if he knows she's strapped for cash, making sure at least one of her favorite foods is served at Scarabia's parties, offering to help her study despite being busy himself, etc.) as well as looking visibly happier when she's around (something Kalim, Azul and the tweels pick up on).
Thank you all so much for reading! As always, feedback and constructive criticism are welcome. Geekinthepink, out!