("Don't be shy"? Do you even hear what you're asking me right now??? Do you even know me at all???)
[Idia is honestly too flabbergasted to even speak. It's an uphill battle for him in general, let alone under The Conditions(tm). He allows himself to be maneuvered, mostly because he's stunlocked and, really, what else can he do outside of puny physical resistance?
Frantically, he looks between the rock and the hard place he's caught between. Oh he so hates this.]
Behind-- ha-- Me? That's not--
[This is not a sentence, as you can tell. God his mouth feels dry. Is it hot in here?
He's freaked out, in part because he's historically seen himself as a loyal guy. It would take an army to pry his hands away from his kami oshi and now here he is between his ??? romanceable options ??? in the most confusing position possible. This is doing a number on his sense of self, let alone his already extreme social aversions.]
You're gonna turn the man inside-out at this rate.
[crossing his arms, Leona rolls his eyes, but the look of amusement doesn't leave his face. it's almost like he's seconds from telling Cater to double his efforts.
surprisingly mercifully, though, he adds;]
Relax.
You're not in trouble.
[so very much not in trouble that Leona can't exist—]
[His arm loops around Leona's waist while the Split Card gooses Idia's shoulders playfully. Well, as fun as it was to watch him squirm, Cater didn't actually want to dangle him over the ledge of full mental collapse for too long. And, anyway, it wasn't as if Idia wasn't going to continue having adorably stressed reactions even when they got to the point.
Really, Idia was going to see all of it as unreasonable bullying regardless of what they did here, wouldn't he?]
Soooo, you've probs figured out that we wanted to untangle the whole we're all kissing each other thing.
[Oh this is way, way overstimulating. It's just as it says on the tin-- clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right, here he is. The Split Card's touch at his shoulders has him even more tense. Things can change so quickly-- this was relatively welcome only a few days ago.
Well, if there's one thing that can supersede some of this anxiety, it's petulance. Of course, he's still sweating a little as he says,]
"In trouble"? [Idia scoffs.] What, are you gonna--
[at first, Idia's little face journey is amusing. aaand then all too quickly, the doubt starts to creep in. Leona's not exactly holding Cater by the waist in return, though the fact he hasn't leaned away is indication he's fine with it— it's only the way his slowly waving-tail hugs Cater's ankle while Idia stresses that could indicate any change in Leona's stress. was this a stupid idea? was this a dumb move? he isn't about to let it show on his face, but he's wondering—
Idia finally makes his second statement and Leona puts his fingers to his temple, grumbling as if a blessed with a brand new headache.]
All that brain and not a single thought in your head...
What part of that was hard to understand?
[is it Leona? is Leona the stupid one for kissing stupid people?]
[Really, this level of complete and utter obliviousness was impressive. Cater really had thought he'd laid it out plainly enough. Was this just denial? Had kissing him been so traumatic that Idia had completely blocked it out of his memory or something? What did this mean?! He sputters, blinking.
Okay, okay. Focus. Redirect.]
You know, it's like... if A + B = C and B + C = A then A + C = B. It's basic girl math.
[Or something.]
You and I made out, You and Leona made out, Leona and I have absolutely made out. So...
[Actually, no, maybe he shouldn't leave Idia to try and fill in the blank here.]
[Every observation Cater makes has Idia sinking lower in his seat. Guys his age are supposed to brag about this sort of thing and Idia's always hated those guys. Now he's one of those guys and it's embarrassing!! The whine trapped in his throat is slooowly slipping out. The flames of his hair flicker increasingly more pink.]
You both have-- [Maybe they can say it but Idia can't seem to get the words "made out" to fall off his tongue.] Since when?
[Idia is suddenly very tuned in to Cater's arm around Leona's waist. See, that's the part he was missing. It's-- not an unwelcome image but it has him feeling insane. The thought of the two hottest people he knows (has kissed!!) swapping spit is going to make him combust. It's definitely jealousy he's feeling but he doesn't know which direction it's going. Everything's all tangled up, Cater was right about that much.
And then Cater says that and Idia's hair erupts in a brilliant pink flash.]
You can't just-- say that sort of thing right to my face!! You're jumping to crazy conclusions-- the numbers are off!! Your math makes no sense!!
...am I the only one that was actively imagining a threesome? No? Just me?
[Not everyone can be wildly and unabashedly horny, Cater. Take a cold damn shower and revisit reality.]
Yeah, uh...Leona and I were sorta kinda already...
[There's not really a label for it, so Cater just twists two of his fingers together. Like that totally paints the picture.]
But, I mean, obvi I've always had my eye on you, so when we happened I was kind of over the moon about it, and I had no idea that Leona went after you after that, too...until like, what, a half hour ago? What a day, am I right? #theendingwillshockyou
["Him, you, and me." It sounds so intimate that Idia's not sure he's going to hyperventilate or be sick. His heart is doing something crazy right now, though, so he'll probably be dead soon no matter what. Was bound to happen at some point.
He rolls his eyes.]
Geez, we get it. I'm a loser with a negative CHA stat and for some reason that does it for you. Haven't we been over this enough? If you wanna talk the transitive property, that makes you a loser, too.
[Leona's not the only one who's surprised, but Idia resents being told so.
He also resents having to talk about this. Not sorting out the particulars with either of them has been his saving grace. It's freed up some brainspace to devote to upping his head game (read: learning what to do with that crazy tongue of his).
And then there's Cater, who's seemingly trying to kill him with that "always had my eye on you" line. Idia swallows down that feeling.]
That was only "obvi" to you, actually. Am I on a dialogue loop, now?
[It's no small relief to Idia that they're clearly not mad that he's been fooling around with them both, but it's still a confrontation. Perhaps the most uncomfortable, anti-Idia confrontation imaginable. This could have been a DM....]
[Leona'd already been avoiding looking at either of the others since Cater started speaking again, pushing down his own feelings about it, too. putting words to the fact what was going on between him and Cater was undefined, the implication that perhaps Leona was opportunistic about it all, treating what was Cater's as if it was his as well— without ever calling Cater his, too. like the jealous, spiteful person he really is.
Idia's not wrong to call him a loser, for a lot of reasons. so Leona doesn't contest that bit.
but he has to roll his eyes when Idia mentions it wasn't obvi—]
Sure was obvious to me,
[he grumbles, shaking his head.]
All of it, by the way.
It's tougher than you morons make it out to be to get your scents off each other.
[which is why the convergence did seem smarter, before Leona realized how this conversation was actually going to go.]
Haha...ouch. It's like you're trying to hurt my feelings, or something. Really harshing my vibe.
[No, he should've really known. Idia didn't see himself the way that Cater saw him, and wasn't he always calling him a normie and grumbling about how he didn't get him at all, as if Cater couldn't hear him? As if he wasn't right there, expressing interests in his fandoms. Finding little things that reminded him of Idia and getting them for him. Trying, at every turn, to just spend time with him.
Cater absently draws his arms back to himself, fiddles with a lock of his hair. Man, he really fucked this whole thing up, didn't he? The method with Idia was typically just to brute force your way into his space if you wanted it, but now that they were here and this topic was the way that it was, he was feeling...well, pretty insecure.]
[Oh, so he knew all along. That's fine. That's great. Idia's just been sliding into Leona's lap and kissing him like he's dying and all the while Leona's inner monologue is about how he can smell Cater all over him. Yeah, that's no big deal at all.
... No, it's definitely a huge deal. Idia actively rejects conceptualizing that the people he's fucking (haha god what even is his life) recognize that he wants them. Like, talk about cringe. Now you tell him that Leona's been rotating around the idea of him fooling around with 1-5 versions of the hottest twink on campus... Is a memory wipe still possible?
All of this amounts to a pained and weary groan crawling up Idia's throat.]
And now's when you say something? Does everyone know about my prospects but me? [Sighs.] Come on...
[Cater's wilting by the second but Idia can't imagine why. Although he's grown to recognize that Cater is a multifaceted person who might be more #relatable than previously thought, that doesn't mean he understands what's going on in there. If that was the case, he'd be all too aware that he's a harem protag.]
[Leona's pretty well known for not minding watching others squirm, but the vibe really is harsher than he'd like it to be for this. as it turns out, maybe he isn't so fond of the sight of an insecure Cater as one would think— and perhaps this isn't quite the misery he anticipated putting Idia through, either. he shifts his weight from one foot to the other, rubbing the back of his neck as these two punks wilt before him.]
You sure are bitching a lot for a guy who's gettin' so damn popular.
[This is getting out of control. It was already probably out of control from, like, the minute he dropped the whole "kissing each other" line, but now it was getting really out of hand. Between his own rapidly rising insecurity, Leona's frustration, and Idia's absolute lack of tact, they really needed to find a balance.]
It's fine if you were on a different page from us. I mean, it's not as if any of this we're not already 100% winging, right?
[He tugs on his hair a little harder. C'mon, Cater, choose your words carefully, here.]
The point is, we all need to figure out now that it's all out in the open where to go from here. I didn't know that the two of you had anything going on, either, until literally right before this--but as soon as Leona told me, I texted you to get this all sorted out, Idia.
[Would that soften the blow even a little bit, to know that Cater wasn't just conspiring about this the whole time, or something? He wasn't sure, but, Seven, he hated when he didn't know what the right thing to say was.]
So, what happens next really kind of depends on how you feel about both of us.
[Idia doesn't even have time to be spiteful about being told to lighten up (absolutely impossible advice for a Shroud to take, common sense I fear) before Cater cuts that off at the pass.
Honestly, being told that Cater wasted no time in telling Idia about this feels like being vagueposted about IRL but he's not gonna go down that road. They already veered off of it and he's not going back. Besides, he's got bigger things to be worried about, like--]
... Wait, like-- [hurriedly glancing between the both of them] Like right now?
[Are they.... are they gonna make him confess in front of them and each other???]
[Fuck! That thing hurt when it really nailed you! Cater jolts from the force of Leona's tail, and it absolutely cracks what was remaining of his composure.]
Just think about it! IDK! What would even the point be if we got this far just to waste the rest of the time we have before we graduate, huh? Unless you're totally cool with this just being mental fodder for future fanfic material, later, don't keep us waiting too long.
No! [Shit-- what an embarrassingly swift reply. He visibly cringes before moving on, retreating his hands further into his sleeves. Fussing with the hem is very interesting all of a sudden.] Quit making assumptions! It's just... just...
[He stares at the ground for a minute before whipping out his tablet. Before anyone thinks that he's avoiding the situation entirely by playing the mobage of the week, Idia turns the screen to face the two of them.]
you two literally Know me! i get stage fright in a room with one of you in the dark, how am i supposed to get through something that personal when you're both here? believe it or not, i find the confession scene to be sacred!
i'm not like you guys! i'm not a flirt and i can't just be cool about saying things like that with a straight face! if i was even a little bit like either of you this would be way easier!
[Cater's reaction actually helps to diffuse a little; Leona hadn't actually intended to do that, so the yell startles him out of his griping long enough for him to pump the brakes on the intimidation a little. when Idia's tablet makes an appearance, Leona does roll his eyes— but he also lets Idia use it, settling for leaning over the desk and resting his chin in his hand while he waits, tail unapologetically returning to its more gentle coil around Cater's bare ankle. in that position he consoles himself with the fact that at least the view isn't that bad— Idia Shroud's beautiful lips, the worried curve of his brow, the pink-tipped licks of flame casting a glow on his face.
and then— Idia's message. Leona raises a brow as he reads, quick as ever, and then exchanges a glance with Cater. were he not also at the devil's sacrament, he'd have to make fun of Cater for his taste in abysmally oblivious men.
which would not be ironic in any way.
regardless, Leona keeps his pose the same, waiting before acting this time, watching Cater's reaction closely.]
[And it's complicated, really, Cater's reaction. The spot on his leg that Leona's tail hit him still throbbed, but it was grounding, in a way. Something to keep him from spiraling too poorly as he felt himself beginning to overthink the situation more and more. The way it wraps around him now soothes over the worst of the sting, and Cater's lips pinch together as he reads Idia's text twice over.
Stupid, how big of a mess this all was. How tangled up and knotted all his feelings were. It felt like he was being pulled in too many directions at once--he had been expecting messy, but not at all like this. The kind of messy where they got weird and sexy was in the ballpark he was expecting.
Well, maybe that had been just wishful thinking. That was what was easy. Easy to get into it, easy to break back off again. You put the word confession into the mix, though, and suddenly everything feels a lot more important.]
Yeah, Idia, we know you.
[He could go on about how they know him well enough that this felt like the way it had to go. That it was like pulling teeth to get Idia to confront scary social situations like this so might as well force the issue in the most efficient way possible. That they all deserved to have this conversation together and not separately in three different configurations.
But...for some reason, that's not the part that needles him. And he'll probably walk this back, regret saying anything to express that he was this uncomfortable, himself.]
Do you know us at all? Have you even really tried to?
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effortaverse) wrote2026-01-15 08:34 pm
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[Idia is honestly too flabbergasted to even speak. It's an uphill battle for him in general, let alone under The Conditions(tm). He allows himself to be maneuvered, mostly because he's stunlocked and, really, what else can he do outside of puny physical resistance?
Frantically, he looks between the rock and the hard place he's caught between. Oh he so hates this.]
Behind-- ha-- Me? That's not--
[This is not a sentence, as you can tell. God his mouth feels dry. Is it hot in here?
He's freaked out, in part because he's historically seen himself as a loyal guy. It would take an army to pry his hands away from his kami oshi and now here he is between his ??? romanceable options ??? in the most confusing position possible. This is doing a number on his sense of self, let alone his already extreme social aversions.]
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[crossing his arms, Leona rolls his eyes, but the look of amusement doesn't leave his face. it's almost like he's seconds from telling Cater to double his efforts.
surprisingly mercifully, though, he adds;]
Relax.
You're not in trouble.
[so very much not in trouble that Leona can't exist—]
Well.
This time, anyway.
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[His arm loops around Leona's waist while the Split Card gooses Idia's shoulders playfully. Well, as fun as it was to watch him squirm, Cater didn't actually want to dangle him over the ledge of full mental collapse for too long. And, anyway, it wasn't as if Idia wasn't going to continue having adorably stressed reactions even when they got to the point.
Really, Idia was going to see all of it as unreasonable bullying regardless of what they did here, wouldn't he?]
Soooo, you've probs figured out that we wanted to untangle the whole we're all kissing each other thing.
1/?
Well, if there's one thing that can supersede some of this anxiety, it's petulance. Of course, he's still sweating a little as he says,]
"In trouble"? [Idia scoffs.] What, are you gonna--
...
2/?
3/?
4/?
"All"?
...
"Each other"?]
5/5
What are you talking about?
[He's going to look way stupid for this, probably, but Idia knows he's already way out in the cringe zone as it is. Besides, he's fucking clueless.]
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Idia finally makes his second statement and Leona puts his fingers to his temple, grumbling as if a blessed with a brand new headache.]
All that brain and not a single thought in your head...
What part of that was hard to understand?
[is it Leona? is Leona the stupid one for kissing stupid people?]
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Okay, okay. Focus. Redirect.]
You know, it's like... if A + B = C and B + C = A then A + C = B. It's basic girl math.
[Or something.]
You and I made out, You and Leona made out, Leona and I have absolutely made out. So...
[Actually, no, maybe he shouldn't leave Idia to try and fill in the blank here.]
The natural conclusion then is a threesome.
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You both have-- [Maybe they can say it but Idia can't seem to get the words "made out" to fall off his tongue.] Since when?
[Idia is suddenly very tuned in to Cater's arm around Leona's waist. See, that's the part he was missing. It's-- not an unwelcome image but it has him feeling insane. The thought of the two hottest people he knows (has kissed!!) swapping spit is going to make him combust. It's definitely jealousy he's feeling but he doesn't know which direction it's going. Everything's all tangled up, Cater was right about that much.
And then Cater says that and Idia's hair erupts in a brilliant pink flash.]
You can't just-- say that sort of thing right to my face!! You're jumping to crazy conclusions-- the numbers are off!! Your math makes no sense!!
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yeah, no, he's the biggest idiot here.]
Alright, alright. The conclusion's a few steps shy of that, actually.
[Leona sighs, lowering his hand to his hip.]
The numbers are just what he said, though. Him, you, and me.
[Leona can sooo salvage his own comfort here by being a smug shithead. so he does.]
You're not the only one who's been busy, Shroud. Still surprised you have it in you.
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[Not everyone can be wildly and unabashedly horny, Cater. Take a cold damn shower and revisit reality.]
Yeah, uh...Leona and I were sorta kinda already...
[There's not really a label for it, so Cater just twists two of his fingers together. Like that totally paints the picture.]
But, I mean, obvi I've always had my eye on you, so when we happened I was kind of over the moon about it, and I had no idea that Leona went after you after that, too...until like, what, a half hour ago? What a day, am I right? #theendingwillshockyou
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He rolls his eyes.]
Geez, we get it. I'm a loser with a negative CHA stat and for some reason that does it for you. Haven't we been over this enough? If you wanna talk the transitive property, that makes you a loser, too.
[Leona's not the only one who's surprised, but Idia resents being told so.
He also resents having to talk about this. Not sorting out the particulars with either of them has been his saving grace. It's freed up some brainspace to devote to upping his head game (read: learning what to do with that crazy tongue of his).
And then there's Cater, who's seemingly trying to kill him with that "always had my eye on you" line. Idia swallows down that feeling.]
That was only "obvi" to you, actually. Am I on a dialogue loop, now?
[It's no small relief to Idia that they're clearly not mad that he's been fooling around with them both, but it's still a confrontation. Perhaps the most uncomfortable, anti-Idia confrontation imaginable. This could have been a DM....]
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Idia's not wrong to call him a loser, for a lot of reasons. so Leona doesn't contest that bit.
but he has to roll his eyes when Idia mentions it wasn't obvi—]
Sure was obvious to me,
[he grumbles, shaking his head.]
All of it, by the way.
It's tougher than you morons make it out to be to get your scents off each other.
[which is why the convergence did seem smarter, before Leona realized how this conversation was actually going to go.]
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[No, he should've really known. Idia didn't see himself the way that Cater saw him, and wasn't he always calling him a normie and grumbling about how he didn't get him at all, as if Cater couldn't hear him? As if he wasn't right there, expressing interests in his fandoms. Finding little things that reminded him of Idia and getting them for him. Trying, at every turn, to just spend time with him.
Cater absently draws his arms back to himself, fiddles with a lock of his hair. Man, he really fucked this whole thing up, didn't he? The method with Idia was typically just to brute force your way into his space if you wanted it, but now that they were here and this topic was the way that it was, he was feeling...well, pretty insecure.]
This is hard for me, too, you know?
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... No, it's definitely a huge deal. Idia actively rejects conceptualizing that the people he's fucking
(haha god what even is his life)recognize that he wants them. Like, talk about cringe. Now you tell him that Leona's been rotating around the idea of him fooling around with 1-5 versions of the hottest twink on campus... Is a memory wipe still possible?All of this amounts to a pained and weary groan crawling up Idia's throat.]
And now's when you say something? Does everyone know about my prospects but me? [Sighs.] Come on...
[Cater's wilting by the second but Idia can't imagine why. Although he's grown to recognize that Cater is a multifaceted person who might be more #relatable than previously thought, that doesn't mean he understands what's going on in there. If that was the case, he'd be all too aware that he's a harem protag.]
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You sure are bitching a lot for a guy who's gettin' so damn popular.
Lighten up.
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[This is getting out of control. It was already probably out of control from, like, the minute he dropped the whole "kissing each other" line, but now it was getting really out of hand. Between his own rapidly rising insecurity, Leona's frustration, and Idia's absolute lack of tact, they really needed to find a balance.]
It's fine if you were on a different page from us. I mean, it's not as if any of this we're not already 100% winging, right?
[He tugs on his hair a little harder. C'mon, Cater, choose your words carefully, here.]
The point is, we all need to figure out now that it's all out in the open where to go from here. I didn't know that the two of you had anything going on, either, until literally right before this--but as soon as Leona told me, I texted you to get this all sorted out, Idia.
[Would that soften the blow even a little bit, to know that Cater wasn't just conspiring about this the whole time, or something? He wasn't sure, but, Seven, he hated when he didn't know what the right thing to say was.]
So, what happens next really kind of depends on how you feel about both of us.
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Honestly, being told that Cater wasted no time in telling Idia about this feels like being vagueposted about IRL but he's not gonna go down that road. They already veered off of it and he's not going back. Besides, he's got bigger things to be worried about, like--]
... Wait, like-- [hurriedly glancing between the both of them] Like right now?
[Are they.... are they gonna make him confess in front of them and each other???]
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[unfortunately, Leona is frustrated, and his words are starting to reflect it— alongside of the way his tail smacks against Cater's leg.]
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[Fuck! That thing hurt when it really nailed you! Cater jolts from the force of Leona's tail, and it absolutely cracks what was remaining of his composure.]
Just think about it! IDK! What would even the point be if we got this far just to waste the rest of the time we have before we graduate, huh? Unless you're totally cool with this just being mental fodder for future fanfic material, later, don't keep us waiting too long.
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[He stares at the ground for a minute before whipping out his tablet. Before anyone thinks that he's avoiding the situation entirely by playing the mobage of the week, Idia turns the screen to face the two of them.]
you two literally Know me! i get stage fright in a room with one of you in the dark, how am i supposed to get through something that personal when you're both here? believe it or not, i find the confession scene to be sacred!
i'm not like you guys! i'm not a flirt and i can't just be cool about saying things like that with a straight face! if i was even a little bit like either of you this would be way easier!
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and then— Idia's message. Leona raises a brow as he reads, quick as ever, and then exchanges a glance with Cater. were he not also at the devil's sacrament, he'd have to make fun of Cater for his taste in abysmally oblivious men.
which would not be ironic in any way.
regardless, Leona keeps his pose the same, waiting before acting this time, watching Cater's reaction closely.]
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Stupid, how big of a mess this all was. How tangled up and knotted all his feelings were. It felt like he was being pulled in too many directions at once--he had been expecting messy, but not at all like this. The kind of messy where they got weird and sexy was in the ballpark he was expecting.
Well, maybe that had been just wishful thinking. That was what was easy. Easy to get into it, easy to break back off again. You put the word confession into the mix, though, and suddenly everything feels a lot more important.]
Yeah, Idia, we know you.
[He could go on about how they know him well enough that this felt like the way it had to go. That it was like pulling teeth to get Idia to confront scary social situations like this so might as well force the issue in the most efficient way possible. That they all deserved to have this conversation together and not separately in three different configurations.
But...for some reason, that's not the part that needles him. And he'll probably walk this back, regret saying anything to express that he was this uncomfortable, himself.]
Do you know us at all? Have you even really tried to?
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