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"I'm so close to buying him leashes for kids." Azul lets out a sigh as he retells how earlier that day Floyd decided to throw someone and break a table in the Monstro Lounge.
Idia lets out a slight huff of a laugh as he sets up the board for their game of monopoly.
Azul adjusts his glasses with a smirk, watching Idia fidget with the Monopoly pieces, putting them in place. "Don't think I didn’t see that laugh, Idia."
He taps the dice neatly into place, voice lowering just a notch. "But go on. Roll first. Let’s see if luck favors you today." A teasing glint dances in his lovely blue eyes—sharp, calculating, but warm underneath.
Idia smirks crookedly, his sharp teeth on display. He scoops up the dice, rolling onto Vermont Avenue. He buys the property with a confident look on his face
"Oh? Confident already?" Azul leans forward, placing his fingers under his chin as he watches Idia place the deed in his pile with quiet pride.
"Adorable. Truly." A dry chuckle slips out along with the sarcastic words. As he adjusts his glasses, he speaks once more. "Just remember, Vermont’s rent won’t save you when I own all of the boardwalk."
He rolls smoothly, landing on St. Charles Place. "Now then.. Oh yes, That’ll be mine.”
Idia just fiddles with the dice anxiously, trying to foresee the outcome of the game as Azul takes his turn.
Azul smirks a little as he notices Idia’s anxious fiddling. His gaze flickers between the game and him. "I know that look, Idia. Don’t get yourself worked up just yet.”
Idia lets out a huff and rolls, landing in the jail waiting space. "So, you said Floyd broke a table..? What made him rage quit this time lmao?”
Azul clicks his tongue, shaking his head with a mix of fond irritation. "Floyd being Floyd, as usual. A customer was being difficult and, well, it just set him off. The table became collateral damage. Typical."
"If you do get him a leash, take a photo whee-hee" Idia says with his funny little laugh, sliding the dice over to Azul.
Azul lets out an amused huff, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. There's a glint of a challenge in his eyes as he picks up the dice.
"Oh, I just might. Just for the sheer entertainment value." He rolls the dice, his focus returning to the game.
The dice click against the board, landing on Tennessee Avenue.
"I'm sure you'd be able to use your +10 charisma and make profit too" Idia is more relaxed now, even though anyone can sense the competitive tension in the air - over a kids game at that.
Azul raises an eyebrow at the lighthearted jab, that smirk never leaving his face. "You know me too well, Idia. Anything for a profit."
He takes a moment to think, a hint of smug confidence in his tone. "And speaking of profit.."
With a smooth motion, he buys the property, placing the deed next to his growing pile. "I believe I'm starting to pull ahead.”
"LOLOL As if! It's all about the late game" Idia says cockily, rolling and buying another property as well, Virginia Avenue this time
Azul lets out a soft chuckle, eyeing Idia's moves with a playful glint in his eyes.
"Oh, the late game, you say? I suppose we'll see about that, won't we?"
He leans back in his chair, watching Idia claim his new property with a smug aura. "You do love to live up to the 'gaming genius' reputation, don't you?”
"Heh you're the one who said it. I mean, a noob like you must worship my skills" Idia says with a deranged look of confidence, the tensions building as they play.
Azul's smirk widens at Idia's words, the tension in the air palpable. He leans forward, the competitive fire in his gaze matching Idia's. A light scoff escapes him, more amused than offended.
"A noob, am I? Big words coming from someone who probably spends more time in virtual worlds than the real one."
He takes a beat, adjusting his glasses as he prepares his next move. "Don't underestimate me, Idia. I might surprise you.”
"Hard not to get cocky when you've only won.. oh wait. You haven't won once!”
Azul’s fingers pause mid-air above the dice. His jaw tightens, just slightly, before he slowly pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose, a dangerous glint in his blue eyes.
"Ah. So that’s how it is."
He leans forward, voice dropping to that smooth, razor-edged tone that everyone always hears – the one that means trouble.
"Let me remind you, squid brain, I’ve been letting you win… just to keep your ego afloat."
A beat. Then he rolls – hard – and lands on Free Parking with theatrical flair. "But fine. Since you’re so eager to lose spectacularly…"
His smirk returns, sharp as glass. "Let’s play for real now.”
They two get very intense, trading barbs and insults as they play. Azul watches, silent now, as Idia builds houses with smug satisfaction around the jail space, like a predator circling prey. His fingers tap once against the board, a flicker of something sharp in his eyes behind his glasses.
"Oh please," he mutters, voice low and dry, "you really think you’ve won just because you own that sad little corner?"
He rolls the dice with deliberate calm. They tumble across the board… and land on Pacific Avenue.
"Ah.”
Azul doesn’t smile right away. He lets the moment stretch, then slowly slides the money over to Idia. His face contorted in clear anger.
"Pacific.. already owned." A pause. "With hotels."
Finally, he looks up, one corner of his lips curling into that infuriatingly composed smirk, as if he hadn't just lost tons.
The air sizzles between them—no longer just a game. It’s war.
They keep playing, turn after turn. And just as Azul pulls ahead. He rolls onto Ipro's properties. Twice. Successfully going bankrupt.
The board is silent. Azul stares at his empty hands, then the dice—those traitorous little cubes that just cost him everything. His jaw tightens. Not just once. Twice.
"...Unbelievable."
He pushes his glasses up slowly, the gesture deliberate, as if steadying himself against the humiliation of two fateful rolls undoing a flawless strategy.
Then he looks at Idia—really looks—and lets out a short, clipped laugh. "Congratulations. The Squid finally evolved past aimless drifting."
His voice is dry, but there's no real bite—only the grudging respect of a king dethroned by pure luck. Or bad luck really.
"Enjoy your victory while it lasts." A pause. "Because next time? I'm banning luck-based mechanics entirely."
He stands, straightening his sleeves like a proper noble after defeat—but not before flicking one of Idia’s plastic hotels off the board with a quiet snap.
"Too much of a noob to win with luck lolol? We can play something like clue, maybe you'll manage to scrape by" Idia cackles, loving the look of defeat on the octopuses face
"Oh, absolutely. Clue? How quaint."
Azul smirks, pushing his glasses up with one finger—cool, composed, already three steps ahead. "You can prance around pretending you’ve bested me with 'luck'... but darling Idia?"
He leans in just slightly, voice dropping to a velvet tease. "In Clue, someone always gets caught lying. And we both know how terrible you are at keeping secrets."
A slow blink. A flicker of blue tints his cheeks—not embarrassment. Amusement.
Idia's hair flames red, proving Azul's point. Idias hair has a tendency to give him away. To give away how every brush of their hands sends a thrill through him. How every pet name makes his heart ache.
Azul notices the sudden flush of red in Idia’s hair, bright, betraying – and pauses. Just for a breath. His smirk softens, almost imperceptibly, before he quickly looks down to adjust his sleeve.
"...Your hair's flushed again," he murmurs, voice lower now—less teasing, more knowing. "You really can't help it, can you?"
He doesn’t mention the way their fingers lingered when passing the dice. Doesn’t name the ache behind his own heart when Idia laughs too loud just to cover his nerves.
Instead, he leans back like nothing happened. "Adorable. Truly." But this time… the word doesn’t sound sarcastic at all.
Idia's face matches his hair, as he lets out a sound akin to a squeak. The red of his hair and face make his yellow eyes seem so bright, it's enchanting.
Azul doesn’t move. Doesn’t blink. He stares at Idia — flustered, glowing, absolutely radiant in his embarrassment. And for once, the great Azul Ashengrotto says nothing clever.
No sarcasm. No barb. No smug retreat behind words.
Just a slow, quiet exhale as he pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose — hiding the way his face has gone faintly blue at the tips of his ears.
"...You're impossible," he mutters, voice suddenly rough around the edges. "Utterly impossible." He walks closer abruptly, chair scraping back as he moves.
"Bwhah? Impossible?" Idias brain seems to have short circuited at the closeness. I mean, can you blame him? He had a beautiful purple haired octopus in front of him. One with just the cutest mole he's ever seen..
"Yes, you ridiculous idiot. Impossible," he says — exasperated, fond, almost gentle.
He doesn't close the distance completely, pausing a pace away. Hands behind his back. Chest rising with each controlled breath. Eyes locked on Idia's blushing, flustered face.
"I don't know how the hell you manage to look charming and pathetic at the same time," he mutters, taking another half-step closer. "It's insufferable, and impossible to ignore.”
Idia flinches at that, his mind convincing him it's an insult. It had to be. He called him pathetic after all. "Yea I'm well aware people love to stare at me.. Look at the Otaku shut in, how hilarious.." Idia's voice was shaky, still flustered at the closeness between him and Azul.
Azul’s eyes narrow instantly. The moment shatters like glass.
"No," he cuts in—sharp, firm—stepping fully into Idia’s space now, voice low but unshaking. "No. That's not what I meant and you know it."
He reaches out, just slightly, a gloved finger pressing under Idia's chin —not hard, but enough to make him look up. "I called you impossible because you’re standing here thinking everyone mocks you… when all I see is this… this utter beauty.”
A pause. His voice drops softer. "Me, losing a game because I can’t focus on strategy when your hair keeps flickering like a damn mood ring. Me—the man who doesn’t do flustered—blushing blue like some lovestruck fool."
He exhales through his nose, almost laughing at himself. "You're not the joke, Idia. You’ve never been."
"I'm the one losing my mind over blue hair and stupid yellow eyes that light up every time I say your name.”
Idias breath is shaky. He's at a loss for words. The Azul Ashengrotto. Is praising him. He feels weak in the knees, even though he's sitting.
"You're hopeless, Idia. Completely, utterly hopeless."
Azul watches—almost hungrily—as the words sink in. His gloved fingers twitch, as if fighting the urge to reach out and touch the other's cheeks—to feel that heat in his palms.
"And I might be just as hopeless when it comes to you”
"Uh...oh. Well, i-in that case.." Idia's mind was gone. He was absolutely fumbling and he knew it. If only this was like one of his games. What are the choices here? He's beyond lost.
"In that case... breathe, you Squid."
Azul leans down, just slightly—close enough that his voice hums low and warm between them, a secret meant for no one else.
"This isn’t a game. No menus. No save points." A pause. A smirk—soft, real. "But if it were? You'd already be in the winning route."
He reaches out slowly and caresses Idia’s cheek softly. A loving look in his eyes as he stares at the flame haired man.
"Stay here with me. That's your next move.”
"Okay.. Thank you Azul" Idia murmurs softly.
"Tch. Don't thank me like I did something noble," Azul mutters, straightening up—but not too far. He keeps close, near enough that Idia can still feel the warmth of him.
"Just stating facts."
He adjusts his glasses, the gesture more nervous than composed this time. "And if anyone ever makes you feel like you're not... enough? They answer to me."
Silence. Then, so quiet it’s almost lost, a whisper of confession:
"...You’re my favorite Player, Idia."
His fingers brush against Idia’s for just a second—accidental? No. Definitely not. And then he pulls back, clearing his throat like he didn’t just admit something terrifying.
"Anyway. Rematch?”