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duckduckgoosebutitsinatrench · 1 month

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Déjà Rěvé

Chapter 2: Chaotic Mornings and Messy Romance

CW: 80s Au, Aces messy ass relationship with his girlfriend, Deuce is slow when it comes to feelings including his own

Yuu woke up way too squished and way too warm for their liking. The late spring moving into early summer season made it so the mornings were stupidly hot, but that didn’t mean Yuu appreciated waking up drenched in sweat first thing in the morning.

They slowly blinked themself awake, groggily wiping the sleep from their eyes and running their fingers through their uneven strands of hair. They felt an arm around them tightened at the motion, and they looked down.

While Ace had gone home in the early hours of the morning for once, Deuce had stayed behind and slept over. There was no way in hell that Yuu was ever going to make him sleep on the couch, or God forbid the ground, so they just slept in the same bed. It was nothing new, nor was Deuce being cuddly in his sleep. There was just something about waking up to your best friends’ face buried in your stomach with his arms thrown around your hips that made Yuus heart flutter.

Their fingers find themselves in Deuces hair before they know it, and Yuu smiles and whispers a “Good morning” as they listen to Deuce grumble about how it’s “too early”.

Speaking of early… There was a lot of sunlight in their room right now. Especially for it being only half past six. Didn’t the sun usually only rise around seven or so?

Their fingers paused their ministrations. Shit.

It wasn’t six thirty, was it?

Yuu looked at the old clock that hung on the wall, the hands telling a time of just past seven in the morning, a whole half hour past the time they usually wake up. Taking in a deep breath, they stamped down their rising panic and reasoned with themselves. Half an hour. They had only lost half an hour. They still had time. Ace never got here till about seven thirty-five. They had time. The three of them could make it to school on time! It’ll all work out!

They should probably wake up Deuce though.

Yuu grips his shoulder and lightly shakes, “Deuce, wake up.”

The arm around their hips tightened even more as Deuce groans, burying his face further into Yuus’ body.

Yuu shakes him harder, until his eyes snap open from the force, looking at them in confusion.

“Hey. Eh! Deuce! Wake up! Wakey wakey, we slept in.”

“…Shit”, and just like that he was up. Throwing the tangled covers off him and tripping out of bed. Yuu too climbed out of bed and started walking towards their bedroom door, speaking all the while.

“Shit indeed! Get dressed. I’ll make you some eggs. You like eggs, right?”, and unfortunately, Yuu made the mistake of turning back around, just in time to catch deuce taking off his shirt.

They whipped their head back around so fast they heard their neck crack. Deuce slurred out a raspy “thank you” that definitely wasn’t doing their heart any favors.

“Yeah. No problem.”, Yuu took several deep breathes as they walked down the stairs to the kitchen, the last one sounding much more frustrated than the former ones. Yuu sighed, running their fingers through their hair as they reached the bottom of the stairs. They really had to get over… whatever this was. And fast. Before it fucks everything up.

Cracking some eggs and putting a pan on a stove that somehow worked, Yuu tries their best to make an omelet with what they had around them. They (Epel) had built a garden in the back yard, and there were a few pepper plants around the house, so vegetables weren’t too much of a concern. Seasonings were expensive though. Even when they found the small boxes where seasonings came in packets rather than fancy glass jars, they often had other things to spend money on, so they were running low.

Yuu looked at the small packet of paprika. It had expired a little over two weeks ago…

They dumped it in. Never hurt them before! They had chili flakes in the pantry that went bad last year, and they still sprinkled it on shit!

Yuu closed their eyes sigh. They really needed to just start stealing shit again.

“What’s wrong?”

Yuu jumped, “Holy shit! Deuce! The hell?”, there stood Deuce Spade. In all his sleepy glory.

The bastard giggled, “Sorry!” He did not sound sorry at all.

“Mhm”, they hummed, “Don’t worry about it. It’s nothing”. Yuu flipped the half decent omelet they managed to make.

Deuce hummed, walking closer the lean on the counter next to the stove. “If you say so…”

“I say so! Now go get a plate to put this thing on before I burn it”, He did as told, setting it down with a clink as they put the omelet down and shut off the stove. Yuu took a knife and cut it in half, pushing one half towards Deuce and taking the other for themselves. “Thanks”.

“You too”. Yuu raised an eyebrow at him, and Deuce looked a bit embarrassed.

“For the... For the food. Thanks for the food”

“ah”

Yuu walked over to the silverware drawer and pulled out two of the very few forks they had, handing one to Deuce. “No problem, ya gotta eat. I think there’s some juice in the mini fridge if you want some”, they pointed behind them with their thumb, somewhere vaguely in the living room area, and cut a piece of omelet for themselves with their fork.

Deuce cringed. “Nah. No thanks. I’ll just get something from the café later… or something… do you want anything? I can buy you a latte?”, his voice turned softer towards the end and Yuu had to suck in a sharp breath. They closed their eyes for a few seconds. Getting themselves together just enough to face the world (who was still looking at them), and then turned and raised an eyebrow at Deuce.

“You’re not thirsty?”

Deuce sighs, “Nah, it’s not that. I just don’t want to give Ace any more ammunition”.

Yuu nods in understanding. If Ace saw absolutely anything that he could tease either of them for, that was it. They weren’t gonna live it down for at least the next decade. “…Yeah, I’ll take a latte. I can pay you back later”, they trailed off as they try to remember when their next pay day was.

Deuce just shook his head. “Don’t worry about it, I got you”. Yuu only stared at him for a good minute, deciding to just nod even as they make plans of slipping the money into one of the jackets that Deuce had left at Ramshackle.

Not much more happens after that. Yuu occasionally asking about how Mrs. Spade was, him happily talking about his mom and Yuu happily listening, The occasional complaint about tests, how they could never seem to find the albums they wanted at the music store, etc. Just small conversations, and mostly bitching, to pass the time as they slowly woke up.

Honk Honk

Deuce falls silent and Yuus eyes snap to his, finally looking up from their food. Welp, looks like they passed the time alright.

Honk Honk

“…”

“… Shit!”, Yuu threw their fork down and it clanked against the plate as they left the kitchen.

“When did it get this late? We weren’t running this late a few minutes ago!”, Deuce said, totally not sounding increasingly panicked.

Yuu was already running up the stairs. “Dude I’m not even dressed yet! Dammit!”

“You better hurry!”, Deuce said as he ran into the bathroom, not waiting for an answer.

Yuu got to the top of the stairs and was about to run to their room when they suddenly thought of something. Turning and running back to the rail, the yelled: “Don’t let Ace eat the rest of my omelet!”, then turned on their heel and hauled ass to their room.

Slamming the door behind them, Yuu opens their dresser drawer and tries to shimmy their way out of their pajama sweatpants at the same time, feeling around their clothes for something half way decent. Picking out a pair of fading green cargo pants and a dark blue sweater that Yuu was about ninety-nine percent sure was Deuces and finally got dressed.

Yuu pulled the end of the sweater the rest of the way over their stomach and paused. They take a deep breath and examines the tattered ends of the sweater sleeves and the various safety pins that were pinned into the fabric, all with a lingering scent of pine.

Yuu really. Had to stop doing this to themselves.

Rushing back downstairs and quickly moving towards the now empty bathroom, Yuu catches a quick glimpse into the living room. Ace was standing with his arms crossed, keys in hand, listening judgmentally to Deuce as he tried to explain why they weren’t ready yet. Ace shifts his weight from one leg to the other in impatience, and then he looks up. His and Yuus’ eyes meet for a single second before Yuu rounds around the corner and opens the bathroom door.

“yo hurry up! We got places to be!”, Ace shouts from the living room, annoyance clear in his tone.

“I know, I know! Shut up!”, they were already rushing around and stressed as it was, and Aces’ heckling wasn’t helping.

They rummaged through the drawer under the bathroom sink that they kept their (and everyone else’s) toothbrush in. When they finally caught onto it they took it out and just. Stared at it.

They didn’t have time for this. Yuu threw the toothbrush back in the drawer and grabbed the mouthwash, filling up the cap and swishing it around in their mouth.

It was better than nothing! They’d steal a piece of gum from Aces’ car for an extra measure. Maybe they’ll even actually floss tonight to make up for it. Trey would be so proud!

They leaned down to spit, and almost choked as they saw something flash in the mirror.

Yuu snapped their head back to their reflection, a bit of drool drippling down their chin as they watched the mirror in front of them.

“…”

It wasn’t the weirdest thing in the world for someone to see something in the corner of their eye, especially Yuu, especially in this house. Sometimes they’d see a shadow or a silhouette that would disappear as soon as they turned to look. They’d hear strange laughter at night and try to convince themselves it was just the wind, or a product of living in an old (breaking down) house as Grim cuddled closer to them. Sometimes things would wind up missing only to be returned a few days later. Sometimes Grim would growl at nothing. Grim growled at nothing a lot actually… Especially mirrors.

…Grim really hated mirrors.

“…”

Knock Knock Knock

“Yuu? Yuuuu?”

Yuu blinked and shook their head. Seeing nothing in the mirror but their own disheveled appearance and crazed looking eyes. They sighed and grabbed the big water bottle on the sink, pouring it into a smaller cup right next to it and finally rinsing out the lingering mouthwash as they once again wished for running water. They grabbed a towel from the rack and looked at themselves in the mirror again.

They were going fucking crazy.

Knock Knock

“Yuuuuu? Are you taking a shit? Please don’t be! We gotta go!”, Goddammit Ace.

Yuu rolled their eyes and wiped their face, listening to Ace whine outside the door and trying not to crack a smile at some of the things he said. Yuu roughly grips the door handle and slams it open, pushing Ace back behind it and making him slam into a wall, which he winces at.

Yuu laughs at his misery like the good friend they are before reaching for his hand and dragging him towards the front door, where Deuce is waiting not patiently. They hear Ace laugh, his apparent pain short lived.

“sorry”, Yuu giggles out as the three of them walk out to Aces’ car, with Deuce lingering a bit behind looking that he wanted to say something.

“Are you not gonna finish eating?”, oh, that’s what he wanted to say? Ok.

Yuu purses their lips and shakes their head. “Nah. The rest’s for Grim. He can have it”.

Ace straightens up, suddenly interested, “There was an omelet up for grabs? Shit, hold on!”, Ace tries to make a break for it back inside, but Yuu tightened their grip and yanked him back.

“For grim!”, they scold. Much to Aces despair as he dramatically droops in disappointment.

He recovers quickly, however. Shrugging as soon as the dramatic effect runs it course, “whatever. I’ll just buy myself something later… also, don’t worry about it making us late, you’re good”, Ace comforted, returning them to their original conversation.

“Worry a little. School starts in fifteen minutes”, Deuce helpfully adds, and Yuu can hear some part of the peaceful atmosphere crack.

They can get to school in a little under ten, if they were lucky and the traffic was light. But that was unlikely for the morning rush hour. And to add salt to the wounds, their first class was on the other side of the building.

Everyone increased their walking speed a little more. Well, Yuu and Deuce increased their speed, Ace was still pretty much getting dragged.

Yuu lets go of Aces hand as they get in the back seat, Ace getting behind the wheel and Deuce riding shotgun. Their standard arrangement. The engine rumbled to life as Ace turned the key and pulled out from beside the tree where he was parked, going down the driveway and through the unlocked gate. Yuu wasn’t worried. The only person who they could think would break into a house in shambles, besides maybe a crackhead, was that one guy with who liked to wear horns on his head, but he was a dear friend.

Yuu thinks he was a dear friend at least. They still don’t know his name, and he had been weirdly sad when they asked, but he also laughed at them when they asked if the horns were a costume. So, Yuu thinks he was just a weird guy. A fun guy! But weird nonetheless.

They drove in anxious silence for a few minutes, Ace trying his best to weave in and out of traffic and take as many shortcuts as possible, before he finally broke the silence.

“I still think we should just skip first period and go hang out somewhere else”, when the hell did he ever say that?

“I already told you! We can’t miss first period today!”, Deuce yelled, weirdly set on getting to class on time today.

Yuu looked out the window and watched the sun finish rising and the undercaffeinated masses go to their jobs, figuring that whatever sparked this conversation happened while they were upstairs or in the bathroom, and not really paying attention.

“Why? You skip at least a class like every other day! Why is today any different?”, Ace has a point, but deuce looks like he’s about to start yelling at him. Oh Great.

Then he just looks surprised, and just stares at Ace for a second before continuing, “I… Ace. We have a chemistry test today. You know that right?”

“what.”, Yuus head snaps to Deuce. Distantly, they heard what remained of the previously cracked peaceful atmosphere completely shatter.

“… oh fuck”. Damn. Yuu didn’t know Aces eyes could get that big. You learn something new everyday!

“You both forgot? I’m the one who remembered?”, Deuce sounded like even the suggestion was impossible, which was fair enough. Up until this moment, they’d all figured it was.

“oh my God”, yuu leaned forward in their seat and put their face in their hands.

“we’re fucked”, Ace sounded panicked.

“What is it even on?”, Yuu looked at Deuce, equally as panicked.

“….”

Ace raised in eyebrow in his direction.

“…uhhh”, oh God bless him. Deuce. You perfect idiot.

Yuu smacks their forehead and rubs their eyes, trading a look with Ace in the rear-view mirror as Deuce flushes, “We’re fucked”.

Ace nods back with an air of finality, swerving around yet another slow car, “We’re fucked”.

---

Deuce barrels in through the classroom door with about thirty seconds to spare, making everyone in said room either sleepily perk up or snap to attention. Deuce, however, doesn’t notice this, as he is instantly running back out the door after noticing his two hussies are not, in fact, at his side. Fear not though, for he comes back in the room, just as dramatic as before, but this time with a panting Ace and an even heavier panting Yuu. Someone should probably check on them because they look like they’re about to kneel over.

Mr Crewel looks at them in a type of annoyance that is only brought out by being tested by overactive and irresponsible teenagers first thing in the morning. He snaps the ruler into his palm as the bell rings. It’s a jarring sound, serving only to piss Crewel off more, something that quickly becomes apparent by his sharp tone, “Ace, Deuce, Yuu. Detention”.

Yuu groans, the urge to actually flop down to the tiled floor like a worthless fish only growing stronger- and oh! Oh, there they go! On the floor and still panting! Good for them, Good for them! Bad for Ace though, he is having a really tough time trying to pick them back up, not used to the whole dead weight act Yuu is putting on.

Ace, finally just deciding to let Yuu live out their corpse fantasy act and letting them fall back to the ground with a thud, finally looks back at his teacher to question the injustice of it all, “what? We’re not late! We were in here before the bell rang!”

Deuce furrows his brows just behind Ace, and mutters under his breath, “I can’t go today, I have track…”

And Ace, much louder and with his hand on his hips, declared, “yeah, and I have practice!”

Yuu looked at the ceiling with a dead eyed stare, their breathing finally leveling out as they tried to think of their own responsibilities, “… I have a cat”

Crewel glared snapped the ruler into his hand once again and Yuu wonders how thick the callouses on his hand are because that one actually sounded like it hurt, “looks like you’re all going to have to miss it then. How disappointing. Detention.”, and he turns around with a final weird look to Yuu, looking elegant but everyone could feel the general air of mania around him. Mr Crewel was very clearly not willing to tolerate bullshit today. Maybe his dogs are sick or something…

Yuu speed walks to the back of the classroom where their desk was, perking up with relief at the sight of their desk partner, Silver, who was going absolutely ham on that coffee. Sitting down, they look to their fellow victims. Deuce was trying to explain his newfound sentence to Jack, who looked so disappointed it hurt Yuus’ feelings. Ace was sitting next to Ruggie, who Yuu shared a nod with before turning back to Silver, who was slow blinking up at them like a cat.

“good morning…”

“morning” Yuu absentmindedly played with the sleeve of their borrowed shirt before remembering something, “oh yeah”, they perked up, tugging on Silvers sleeves, “did you know Sebek has a sword in his locker?”

Silver looked vaguely surprised. Vaguely. “no…but it’s good to be prepared. I should probably bring mine… I need to ask father…”, he trailed off, rubbing his eyes and pulling out a strand of hair that had somehow gotten into his mouth. Casual. Like what he said was the most normal thing ever stated…

Yuu leaned over just enough to read Silvers coffee order, and the five extra shots of expresso.

Yuu sat back up.

Then immediately leaned back over. Yep! Five shots of espresso! Shit.

Crewel snapped his ruler and somehow Yuu knew he was looking straight at them, which was confirmed as they straightened up and looked to the front of the room where the teacher stood with a stack of paper in his hand.

“…when you get your test (“shit” “shut up Ace”) keep it flipped on the back side. You will all start at the same time. Do not flip it over until I say so”, and with one last glare, he began passing out everyone’s death sentence.

You could feel the tension in the room slowly rise, especially as Yuu saw Deuces panicked expression. Ace looked at them with what can only be described as a final goodbye at the gallows before they were both hung.

“you have forty-five minutes. Begin”, and with that, their fates were sealed.

Yuu flipped over their test, fully expecting to face nothing less than their impending doom, only to relax as they recognized the topic. It was just a recap of all the experiments they’d done so far, along with a few question on how to handle certain materials.

Yuu looked up, Ace was already writing something down, looking relieved. Deuce on the other hand, had gone completely pale, and was just squinting at his paper, like the words would change if he just stared at them hard enough.

Good luck buddy! Yuu can already tell he was gonna need it!

Yuu had always worked fast. They didn’t have a lot going for them in terms of money or resources, but their memory had always been their trump card. So it was no real surprise to them that they had finished in about thirty minutes. They smiled to themselves with a smug satisfaction as they looked over to Ace, who was now dramatically blinking at a certain question towards the end, and to Deuce, who was still panicking but trying to bullshit his way through the questions.

They yawned, and blinked sleepily, looking to their side as Silver yawned in response, Silver looked like he was fighting hard to stay awake. The completely quiet classroom clearly not helping.

Yuu tapped their fingers against the desk. Not knowing what to do now that they’ve finished. Yuu already knew they didn’t have a book in their bag, speaking of which, they should probably return all their overdue books to the library soon, before the school stops threatening fees and actually delivers one.

Yuu sighed and rested their face on one of their hands, grabbing a pencil and drawing random scribbled on the back of their paper. The scribbles eventually turning into sketches of Grim and random things they could see along the classroom, and a significantly shittier drawing of what looked like three cartoonish ghosts in top hats that made Yuu quietly giggle.

They laid their head down on the table, getting more tired as more time passed, and tried to refine one of the better drawings of Grim. Yuu yawned again, their eyes drooping and their blinks getting longer.

Yuu set down their pencil. This was probably the only time they’d have to nap today, They had to work today and God knows Azul wouldn’t let them take one, even on their break. So, without further ado, Yuu closed their eyes and went to sleep.

Only to be snapped awake by a crop on their desk.

“Yuu? Yuu! Wake up right this instant!”

Yuu grumbled and buried their head further into their folded arms, trying to block out the noise, and ignore the poking of the waistcoat of their uniform.

The crop snapped against their desk once again, this time much closer to their head, and they sat up immediately, any remaining sleepiness leaving their body almost instantly.

Mr Crewel was looking down at them with apprehension, his black and white fur coat making him look much bigger, and more intimidating than he probably actually was. He was tapping his crop against his palm, and Yuu flushed as they realized that their desk was the only one with a piece of paper on it. Everyone else’s tests had been passed up already.

They looked down and muttered an apology, tugging on the sleeves of their blazer and handing their test to Crewel.

He took it, and Yuu looked up to find almost everyone staring at them, most of them blank faced, their friends looking worried, and Ruggie looking at them with pity. His hyena ears twitching as he tries to silently ask if they were ok. Yuu nods, and he nods back, and that was the end of it.

Crewel was still there, and he begun scolding them, “I know you’re probably busy”, Crewel knows exactly how busy they were “but you know I don’t appreciate students sleeping through my lectures.”

Apparently, Crewel had started lecturing after collecting everyone’s tests back. It made since, Crewel had never cared when students fell asleep after a test, or spent the rest of their time sleeping or something after completing a potion, but if you were caught sleeping while he was lecturing? You were done for.

Crewel was still talking, still scolding them, and Yuu could only be grateful that he liked them enough to do it calmly.

Yuu could see Grim right next to them, looking embarrassed, like he was the one being scolded simply because of association. Yuus eyes were getting heavier though, and their body was getting warm.

They could distantly hear Crewel’s voice getting louder, and his crop snap against their desk again, but they couldn’t hear, or they just couldn’t care to hear.

They felt Grim tug on their sleeve, and felt themself start to lean over, and they braced themselves for the pain that would come with slamming their head down on their desk.

Only to be snapped awake by a ruler on their desk.

“Yuu? Yuu! Wake up right this instant!”

And they were up, disoriented and confused.

Mr Crewel was looking down at them again, the same apprehension on his face as he tapped his ruler against his hand. He wasn’t wearing a fur coat, and Yuu could feel paper under their fingertips. They still had their test.

“I know you’re probably busy”, Yuu looked around the room, only to find almost everyone looking at them. Ruggie looked at them with pity.

Ruggie was wearing a beanie. He didn’t have hyena ears.

“but you know I don’t appreciate students sleeping through my lectures.”, Yuu looked to their side. Grim wasn’t there. Why would Grim be there? Silver was staring at them, his eyes were half asleep and dropping, just like always.

Yuu tugged at their sleeves. Their sweater sleeves. They were wearing a sweater, not a waist coat or a blazer, Yuu didn’t even own either pieces of clothing, they were wearing Deuces sweater.

Crewel was still scolding them. Yuu didn’t care to hear what he was saying, even as he snatched the test off their desk and walked away.

They didn’t fall asleep again.

---

Ace walked slowly to his next class. Shifting his hands in and out of his jacket pockets and fiddling with his necklace. He sighed.

The class itself was… fine? Not that hard, more boring than anything, but fine. It was who was in the class that he really didn’t want to see.

He reached the door and opened it, his girlfriend, Emilia, perking up and giving him a small smile, which he returned.

They had been dating a few months at this point, and Ace could honestly say he was getting bored. It was harsh, but true. He and Emilia had barely been acquaintances when she had asked him out. He said yes without much though, she was cute enough, and reasonably sweet, but that was it. She was just nice, a pushover, really. She never talked about any friends or complained about any family, she didn’t talk about hobbies, probably because she didn’t have any, no interest in music, no classes that she liked or didn’t like more than the others, she didn’t play sports, she wasn’t in any clubs, and she hardly ever picked any of their date spots.

It was like dating a wall, is what Ace is trying to say. But it was his wall nonetheless, so he sat down next to her and kissed her, and she giggled and kissed him back.

“So! How have you been?”, she asked, in a voice that went higher in pitch the more she talked.

Ace groaned, “My friends didn’t wake up in time and almost made us late. We got here in time but we got a detention anyway because the teacher had a massive stick up his-“,Ace was cut off as the bell rang. Which was probably for the best to be honest. Emilia looked at him with pursed lips, like his answer was somehow wrong. How? He didn’t know.

“Well, my morning was good.”

“Nothing exciting happen?”, He already knew the answer to this, but he asked anyway.

“No”, yep, knew it.

“are you doing anything later today?”, Ace regrated his question as soon as it left his mouth.

Emilia straightened up and looked at him with a smile, “No. Why? Do you want to take me somewhere?”

Ace smiled apologetically, “No, I’m sorry, I can’t. Detention remember?”, he tried to say this as gently as he could. Did he feel a little bit like shit for trying to find every excuse he could not to be with her? Yeah, but he genuinely dreaded seeing her each day. He could probably make it work, somehow, he just needed to find something they both liked, something they could both have fun with. He really needed to stop avoiding her though, or that wasn’t going to work.

Ace took Emilias hand in his, playing with her fingers the way that Yuu would always play with his and Deuces when they were zoned out, and said, “I’ll figure something out soon, ok? We can hang out together or go on a date soon. Where do you want to go?”

She smiled a, bit disappointed but didn’t seem to take it to heart. “I don’t know, where do you want to go”, and just like Ace knew where this conversation was headed.

“I chose last time. Where do you want to go?”

“I don’t really care where”, please, make a decision Emilia.

Ace took a deep breath, ok.

“Are there any restaurants you want to go to?”

“Eh, not really.”

“Any movies you want to see? I can take you to a drive in?”

“I don’t really like movies”, you don’t really like anything it seems.

“Do you want to go to an arcade? Or see a concert? Tickets are a little expensive and I don’t know who’s in town but I’m sure I could find-”

“I don’t really listen to a lot of music…”

Ace was starting to remember why avoided her so much in the first place.

“What do you want to do then?”

“Oh, I don’t care what we do!”

“Ok, then do you just want to hang out? We can go to my house?”

She shrugged, “Eh.”

“…”

Ace looked at the clock on the wall, and then at the teacher, who only now looked like he was actually ready to start teaching and sighed.

Ace took a deep breath.

He was going to finish his classes, go to basketball practice (he was NOT going to detention, fuck that), and then he was going to drive Yuu to work and then crash at Deuces house for the night. He’ll drag Yuu there too, but he was not gonna be home to answer the phone and have another call that inevitably lead to awkward silence and on the brink of a fight. Ace would stop avoiding her eventually, but not today.

Today was for being sent on errands with Deuce by Mama Spade (a name affectionately given by Yuu) and playing card games with his friends and run the risk of getting ganged up on if they catch him cheating. Ace smiled to himself as the teacher finally started talking, content with his new plans for the day.

He and Emilia didn’t talk for the rest of the period.

---

“Where the hell is Ace?”, Yuu was tired as they leaned back in their seat, stretching and popping their back as they pretended they couldn’t see Deuces horrified expression at the noise. Honestly, Yuu looked a bit scared at the noise themselves, which made sense considering it sounded like dry rice being thrown around in a cold wok but that was besides the point.

When deuce had recovered, he sighed and said, “probably basketball… either that or he went home”.

Yuu sat up and looked straight at him, and Deuce began to regret his statement when he saw how mad his friend was. Their anger didn’t seem to be directed at him though, so he wasn’t running for the hills or anything, just sweating. “He better not. He’s still gotta drive me to work! I’ll be late if I walk today!” oh, that was the problem.

“can’t you just call in again?”, Deuce weakly suggested.

Yuu gave him an unimpressed stare, before dramatically gesturing around the classroom, trying to make a point of the lack of landline inside a classroom, “do you see any phones in here?”

“Ah.” Well, Deuce just felt stupid now.

They kept his gaze for another second or so, before leaning back and sighing a sad little sigh that made Deuce regret this entire conversation. “Besides, Azul would have my head if I called in two days in a row for no reason. I’m lucky enough that he let it slide once! Anyone else would’ve been fired! Or at least threatened.”

“Trust me I know”, Deuce muttered.

Yuu snorts. “Yeah, I know you know.”, their tone turned teasing and Deuce gripped to edge of his desk, “But Deuce”, they spoke slowly, and he gripped the desk harder. Did he know why he liked hearing his name in that tone so much? Nope! But Yuu wasn’t Ace so he guessed it had something to do with that. “Didn’t you get fired for trying to fight a customer?”, and just like that the atmosphere flipped.

“Hey! That guy tried to fight me!”, Deuce stammered.

Yuu let out a teasing “Mhm”, still staring at him.

“And you know that I never wanted to work there in the first place! Bastard blackmailed me…” Deuce defended himself before trailing off.

“Ay, Ay, easy! That my bastard that blackmailed you!”, Yuu giggled, and Deuce didn’t know what to think about that.

“…”

He door makes a click sound and swings open, making Yuu jump, and in walks Ace, looking pissed off, with a flush on his cheeks and slightly sweaty. His beloved varsity jacket was tied around his waist and over he looked like he had just been at the gym. Deuce followed a bead of sweat cascade down his throat. He didn’t even really acknowledge the teacher that walked in behind Ace.

He stomped over to the desk between him and Yuu and roughly pulled out the chair before sitting down, seemingly trying to make a show of how pissed he was.

Yuu was unaffected.

“And where have you been?”, they asked with that same smooth, teasing tone that they had had just a minute ago.

“Oh shut up!... Basketball.” Ace looks down.

Deuce snorts. Looks like he was right about that. Ace glared at him but didn’t say anything.

“Alright! All of you stop it and sit down! This is going to be a long afternoon for all of us…”, the teacher, Deuce didn’t recognize the guy, thumped down behind his own desk and started shuffling through the drawers for, whatever he was looking for. Deuce eyed Yuu as they took out a piece of paper and a pen, and realization struck him when they wrote something down and then passed both to Ace.

Eventually, the paper and pen come to him, and he quickly reads through the existing messages.

Did you seriously think you could just skip? – Y

Like you haven’t done the exact same thing? – A

Oh I have! But I’m not a student ;) – Y

And they weren’t a student. Not technically. Deuce always forgets that. Yuu had started working here as a janitor, probably back when they first started sticking it out on the streets. They were young though, a few months younger than Deuce himself in fact, so teachers mistook them for a student enough times, that when Yuu actually started following him and Ace to their classes, no one had said a thing. He didn’t know if anyone had noticed and just not said anything yet, but Yuu was still here. And as far as Deuce was concerned? That was all that mattered.

Deuce went back to reading the note. Frowning at the last addition.

Well lucky you then huh – A

Aww I thought you guys liked me here with you? :( - Y

Deuce quickly wrote back and passed it to Yuu, who smiled but said nothing, and passed it to Ace. Ace wrote something down, folded the paper, and just threw it at him.

We do! don’t worry ace is just stupid – D

Why do you always have to take their side? Come on juice! We’re friends too! – A

Deuce felt his annoyance surge once again, and quickly jot down his reply before throwing the paper back. After Ace was finished writing, he saw Yuu reach over and grab the paper from Aces hand before he could throw it.

Then the teacher looked up and Yuu had to quickly fold their arms and tuck the piece of paper under them in an effort to hide them. The teacher stared at all three of them, one by one, before shaking his head and returned to reading his book- oh look he had a book.

Ace mouthed a “He know” to him. He didn’t have any time to reply or roll his eye before Yuu was gently placing the folded paper on the edge of his desk.

How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that - D

I have no idea what you’re talking about – A

Deuce, didn’t you have track? Haven’t you missing too much lately? – Y

Deuce smiled. Yuu was so nice.

Yeah jack was disappointed – D

Ace reached over and snatch the paper from Yuus hand when he handed it back.

Oh my God you sound like his mom – A

Mama spade is a nice lady! – Y

Something in his chest just felt like it fluttered. Was that healthy? He should go to a doctor? Did his mom have enough money for him to go to the doctor?

She’d like hearing that you like her that much – D

The paper was back to Ace, then Yuu, then him.

I mean. It would be hard not to. She makes really good food. Oh yeah, can me and Yuu crash tonight?”- A

When did I say I want to go? – Y

Deuce frowned, writing slower than usual, a bit disappointed. Who was going to keep Ace from eating all his snacks and calling him “juice” then?

You don’t want to? – D

Back to Ace.

You look like you’re about to cry oh my gosh – A

Shut up Ace – D

Back to Yuu.

Can I bring Grim? – Y

Deuce thought for a moment. He liked Grim enough. He thinks? It was funny the way that the cat hated Ace and everything Ace stood for.

Of course – D

…I forgot about that fucking cat – A

Suck it – Y

Deuce smiled.

“Ok. Put the note away”, Yuu jumped again. Ace gave them a look. “- Yes, I see you! Put it away or give it to me”.

Nobody moved. And they sat in silence the rest of the detention period, trying to play bad charades to continue their conversation while the teacher pretended that he couldn’t see them embarrassing themselves.

Deuce found himself smiling. Not the worst detention he’s ever been to.

#Déjà Rěvé #ace trappola #ace trappola x yuu #deuce spade #deuce spade x yuu #ace trappola x deuce spade #disneys twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland #twst yuu #Mentioned epel #ruggie bucchi #ace trappola x reader #deuce spade x reader #twst ace #twst deuce

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duckduckgoosebutitsinatrench · 2 months

Text

Déjà Rěvè

Chapter 1: This Fucking Cat

The door shut behind ace with a soft click as he looked about the room where detentions for the day were held. More specifically, he looked at the people in said room. More specifically, he looked at the two only two faces in the room that he recognized. Honing in on a certain choppy haircut that looked to be cut with a kitchen knife, probably cause it was cut with a kitchen knife. Ace would know. He’s the one who cut it.

“ok”, he began. “I can probably guess why he’s here”, ace pointed at Deuce, who looked a bit guilty for getting into trouble yet again, but more peeved that Ace was the one calling him out on it, “but why are you?”, his finger turned to Yuu, who seemed very determined to look anywhere but at him.

Ace watches Yuu as they fiddle with the bracelets on their wrists, probably the most expensive thing they have on them at the moment, judging from the torn and dirtied jeans, old flannel, and worn-out denim bomber jacket, all the way down to their beat up sneakers. And of course, the atrocity that was their haircut, which was actually starting to look halfway decent now that it had time to grow out a little. Surprisingly.

It was quickly becoming apparent that Yuu was just pretending to not have heard him, but when ace, now annoyed, was about to repeat his question, he found he didn’t have to. He was answered in the form of a, somehow, equally as annoyed sounding meow, as Grim came out from behind Yuus’ desk.

All annoyance immediately vanishes as Aces’ shoulders dropped and he hunched over in disbelief. No way. He looked from Yuu to their little shit, and back again.

There was no way.

“You brought your cat?”

Yuus’ eyes shot towards him in a deadpan stare.

“No Ace. I brought Leona”, they pointed behind them with their thumb, gaze still trained on him as he craned his neck and stood on his tiptoes to look behind the desks and- Yep! There was Leona! In all his glory, passed out on the floor behind a few desks. The perfect blind spot.

Ace stood back normally to face Yuu, shoving his hands in the pockets of his varsity jacket and accepting his friends’ stupidity with a nod. “You brought your cat.”

Yuu leaned back in their seat and glared, defensive of their oh so beloved cat.

“I had to bring him! He wouldn’t let me go this morning! Just kept followin’ me around everywhere!”

“I still feel like there’d be a way to make him stay home though”, Deuce chimed in, his head in his hands as he lazily rubbed at his eyes, obviously tired, and also kind of beat up now that ace looked at him.

Welp. Now he knows why Deuce was in detention. Ace smirked. He had a point though.

“Yeah, listen to Juice, you could’a just slammed the door in his face or something”, Ace leaned down to be on a lower level and match Grims lower intelligence as he said this, something the cat seemed to take instant offense to as he jumped on Yuus’ desk and hissed. Ace moved to sit on a desk that was vaguely in between Yuu and Deuce. He’s pretty sure that Deuce had glared at him for messing up his name, but judging from the defeated sigh that came shortly after, Ace thinks he might just be accepting that he has two names now and one of them just happens to be a drink.

Yuu relaxes a bit, crossing their arms and looking at their fingernails, trying to pick the dirt out from underneath them while speaking in an obvious tone, “…Yeah, I think we all know that something like a door wouldn’t stop Grim from following me to hell, much less school.”

Deuce stretched in his desk, legs extending out from underneath it and himself leaned back in his seat, sort of sinking into it as he watched a grown teenager argue with a cat. “…Rember when we went downtown that one time? Like a few months ago? You left Grim at home and-“

“- and we get to the restaurant, we’re halfway through eating, and then in walks this fucker. My point exactly”, Yuu says with affection as they give Grim a few pets. Grim turns to Yuu and gives them a single soft meow that bleeds into a purr before turning around to raise a paw and hiss at Ace. Yuu lets him, contend to twist and play with the ring that they stole from deuce that was currently on their index finger.

Ace, seemingly satisfied with his daily spit with Grim, joined back into the conversation.

“How did he even know where we were? Forget that! How did he get there? That restaurant was far. I had to drive us there”, Ace shot a suspicious look at Grim, it wasn’t very serious, Ace was mostly just weirded out. That cat was weird in the first place though, so Ace let it slide.

Grim could clearly care less about what Ace thought of him at the moment, too busy trying to get more of Yuus’ attention now that he was no longer pre-occupied with Ace.

“I know right? I didn’t even know it was Grim at first. Just thought it was a random stray that had gotten into the restaurant… At least, I thought it was a stray until it started scratching at Ace”, Deuces voice turned smug towards the end, clearly happy to be reliving the memory of his friend not passing the divine judgement given by his other friends’ pet cat.

Ace make a noise that was somewhere between embarrassed and offended, protests and comebacks at the ready, which were all ignored by Yuu happily continuing the conversation, “Right? I’m just glad he had his tags on. I would’ve left his there if he didn’t”, they smiled as they listened to the purrs, enjoying the peace for once. Grim had always been an odd cat: being instantly protective over Yuu when they found him last year, and having almost human like reactions to everything that was done and said when he was around. Yuu was just happy that their cat got to just act like a cat sometimes.

The mood instantly changes into a panicked one as the door clicks open once again and the unfortunate teacher who had had detention duty this evening walks in. Ace slipped off the desktop into his chair, Grim slipped off yuus lap to hide behind their desk, and deuce instantly straitens up. The other students, which Ace had either never seen or never bothered to remember, straightened up in a similar fashion. It was like clockwork.

The only one who didn’t seem to react was Leona, who, as if on cue, rolled over onto his back and let out a loud snore, seemingly just to spite any present authority. Deuce took a deep breath and Ace made a face trying to keep his laughter in while Yuu gripped the edge of their desk as hard as they could.

This was going to be a long evening.

---

When everyone was finally dismissed, Ace had sprinted out of that building like a man on a mission, with Yuu and Deuce not too far behind. The three of them trying to race each other to random street signs and traffic lights, with one of them always changing the finish line to something else whenever someone else was about to win. Becoming out of breath with their running and their shared laughter.

Now, the street lights had come on and the sun was setting. Everything has calmed down a bit, and the three were walking in the middle of a rarely driven street, kicking rocks and dragging their feet as they walked to Yuus’ house.

Ace let out a big sigh, likely one he’d kept in all day. Before deciding that wasn’t dramatic enough and throwing his head back with a groan, “Man that suuccckkkeddd!”

Deuce scoffed, “you were the one who kept trying to do trick shots into the trashcan in history, Ace. Trying”

Ace glared at Deuce before Yuu spoke up “No yeah, getting detention was your own fault this time Ace- and don’t try to blame it on Floyd! He skipped today to chase Riddle around…”

Deuce winced, “poor Riddle.”

“yeah, poor Riddle-”

Ace threw his hands up and sped up so he was a few steps ahead, turning around and walking backwards to look at them, “Jeez, why are you both ganging up on me all the sudden? Ok! Sure! But you know what I didn’t do?”, Ace pointed at Yuu, who was carrying a sleeping grim in their arms, “bring that menace to school cause he wanted to act a little clingy, and I definitely didn’t get into a brawl with two seniors!”, He looked pointedly at deuce, who looked away at the ground.

“it wasn’t a brawl”, deuce muttered.

Yuu rolled their eyes, “ok. Sure, but you’re the only one whining and complaining about it. Honestly Ace, with how often you’ve been getting into trouble lately, I’m starting to think you’re doing it on purpose…”, Yuu trailed off, before their eyes snapped towards Ace.

Ace was saying nothing. He had turned back around and slowed to match his friends paces and was quietly fiddling with his necklace. The necklace that he had gotten from his girlfriend for his birthday…

Yuu stared at him as they walked on, and a few steps later, Deuce seemed to catch up, and groaned.

“your girlfriend? Is it your girlfriend? Seriously? Are you avoiding your girlfriend again?”

Aces’ head snapped towards Deuce, rushing to defend himself, “hey man, you can’t blame me for not wanting to be around her!”, Yuu, having looked away at this point, shot him a side eye, “she doesn’t have any hobbies! Or taste! Not in music, sports, nothing! I even asked her what her favorite class was, nothing!”

Deuce sighed, “still. I don’t see how avoiding her is doing you any favors…”

Yuu listened to Ace and Deuce bicker and watched them push each other around. The sun was almost set now, and the street lights seemed to be getting brighter. Yuu watched as the road in front of them slowly gained more and more plot hole. Small breezes work their ways through their hair, a contrast from the warm, sleeping cat in their arms. Yuu smiled and sighed. They were getting tired of walking.

They were also getting really tired of the feeling that they were being watched all day. It had gone away during the early afternoon, but now it was back full force, and Yuu felt a shiver go down their spine.

Just ignore it. Just ignore it. Just ignore it. It’ll go away soon.

“Ok but guess what I caught Sebek with!”

“I swear if you’re making a big deal out of nothing…”

Yuu smiled. They could ignore this. They would be fine.

“You’re always so suspicious! But no, so I was following him around cause our lockers are like. Right next to each other and…”, yuus hearing slowly went out. Slowly being replaced with ringing. Everything felt off kilter now. Everything felt weird.

And someone was behind them.

They turned on their heel and stares at the desolate road full of potholes and decrepit houses. They distantly realized that their hearing had returned, and that Ace and Deuce had stopped and were looking back at them.

There was nothing there.

“…uhhh. Yuu? You good?”, it was just Ace. It was just Ace and Deuce. Just Ace and Deuce.

Yuu took a deep breath.

“…Yeah…. Yeah, I just thought…”, they looked back at the other two, who were looking at them with familiar concern.

They shook their head. “Never mind”

“You sure?”

“Yeah.”

“…ok”

They kept walking, Yuus’ house was getting closer, and the quite and the weird atmosphere between the three of them didn’t last long at all, with Deuce telling Ace about how Epel was trying to learn parkour to avoid Vil and Rook better. Yuu said that even Floyd “climbs everything” Leech couldn’t avoid Rook, so it might all be for not. Ace laughed at Epel’s misfortune. Yuu smiled.

---

By the time Yuus’ house was in sight, Yuu themself was exhausted.

“Why did we walk to school today”, all they wanted to do was collapse in the middle of the road and just lay there.

“well”, Ace sure did have a lot of attitude for someone who looked just as done with this trek as they did, “it was because a certain someone wanted to “get some fresh air for a change”, and “enjoy the weather a little””

They groaned. “Ace”, it’s honestly a miracle they weren’t panting at this point. Distances seem a lot shorter when you weren’t walking them. “never let me make a decision before 10 am ever again. Ever. Please.”

Ace giggled with a mock salute, “Aye Aye Captain! Now come on! The faster we get to Ramshackle the faster I can finish telling you about what I found in Sebek’s locker!”

“oh yeah I forgot about that”, Deuce muttered as Yuu shook Grim awake and let him jump out of their arms hen he saw they were home.

Yuu squinted. “why were you in Sebeks’- you know what? Don’t answer that. The less I know, the better”, They tugged their shirt forward and took out a necklace that had an old skeleton key attached to it. With the key they unlock a mildly rusted padlock gate and push it open, all of them cringing as it creaked and shrieked open.

Grim and Ace seem to spontaneously gain all their former energy back as they race each other inside the rickety old house. Deuce and Yuu were content to walk.

Yuu was tired. Deuce tapped their hand and leaned in when he had their attention, “you good”, Yuu was grateful that deuce had a softer voice. Usually. They wordlessly smiled and nodded.

Deuce nodded back at them, satisfied, and he too ran into Ramshackle. Oh. He was just walking with them to make sure they were alright how nice of him. Yuu cursed their lack of stamina, only walking a bit faster despite themselves.

Ramshackle was the name given to the house by Yuu. It was old and falling apart and most definitely not up to any sort of safety code, but it was all they had. Plus, it was still more stable than being bounced around homes who only wanted you for the money.

The lounge had seen better days. The whole house had, for that matter, of course. Yuu made it work though. There wasn’t electricity, but there was a fireplace, and they cleaned up what they could, fixing furniture, not very well, but enough. They could mend what old clothes they could find, they themselves never really wore them, but Yuu very quickly found that that thing about trash and treasure was more than true.

The lounge was probably their favorite, besides their own room of course. There were two couches that they had attempted, somewhat successfully, to fix and restuff. Jack had given them a minifridge that was now stocked with drinks, and there was a box full of almost every type of comic book you can imagine.

Deuce was cracking open a can of soda when Yuu walked in, “you found a what in his locker?”

Ace was already splayed out on the couch, drinking a can of coke, “a sword. I found a fucking sword! He just. Has a sword.”

“In his locker?”, said Yuu, no quite in disbelief.

Ace grabbed the unopened water bottle that Yuu now realized he had beside him, and tossed it to Yuu, who gratefully took it and chugged a little less than half of it immediately. “In his locker”, Ace confirmed.

Deuce combed his hair back with his fingers, he squatted down to the box of comic books and was now idly flipping through them, “I’m not even surprised at this point. I don’t even think it could faze me if he had an entire medieval armor collection in his closet.”

Ace nearly did a spit take. Yuu was really glad that he didn’t. He let out a shocked sounding “Oh my God!”

“what?”

“Juice! You know what the medieval period is? Oh look how far you’ve come! Why I never thought I’d see-“, Ace was hit square in the face with an Amazing Spider-Man comic, causing him to spill a bit of coke on himself. Yuu giggled.

“Dude!”, Another comic to the face, Deuce truly had amazing aim. Yuu full on laughed, this time with deuce joining in.

Grim jumped into their lap, and just like that the moment was perfect.

It’s really too bad that everything went downhill from here.

________________________________

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