#mirabilis jalapa | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

yunarim · 1 year

Text

we make eye contact, having the same feeling is enough

❤︎ summary : due to the nrc panks' prank, you can say nothing but harsh & toxic words to your adored ones ❤︎ tags : female reader ('her' is mentioned in riddle's part, in other parts can be read as a gn reader), unwilling toxicity from reader, sfw, slight mentions of blood in azul's part, reader is referred to as 'prefect'. ❤︎ chatacters : riddle, kalim, ruggie, azul ❤︎ author's note : see the end of the post!

You thought that nothing would get worse. After all, it's not every day that you, an absolutely ordinary magicless person, get isekaied to a world that you used to read about only in children's fairy tales or colorful comics, where bursts of magic were indicated by all sorts of funny signatures in the form of “boom!”, “bang!” sounds when a fancy potion was bubbling in the cauldron.

Maybe me being here is also a kind of bizarre joke, you thought, surrounded by students in branded uniforms. No matter how you look at it, they are still students just like you, and even teachers aren’t devoid of their typical quirks and oddities, their sometimes demanding behavior isn't out of ordinary. It's all the same, with the only difference that in front of you is a questionable quality boiling consistency of eye-popping color with alternately bursting large bubbles.

Well, it's actually creepy.

“Prefect, be a good pup, help your classmates!” teacher Crewel commanded delicately, using the pointer to indicate to a group of students in lab coats, their actions are far from safe to say at least. Although what exactly is security in the context of this world?

Without further immersion in your philosophical reflections, you approached the other first-years.

“Hello… Do you need any help?”

What a pity that Ace and Deuce were recruited to another team today. Sly smiles on unfamiliar faces didn’t inspire confidence at all.

“Yes, please give me the Mirabilis Jalapa root," said one of the students, vaguely pointing with a wave of his hand somewhere in the direction of the shelves.

Turning around, you pulled up a bottle with a sticker with the correct name and handed it to the group. The rest of the class was held in a calm way, and you even cheered up, since the preparation of potions did not necessarily involve magic, and teacher Crewel even dwelled on reorganizing the curriculum for you, thanks to which you took an active part in the process. In fact, you even fell in love with potionology.

What you didn't expect from the end of this lesson was a test of knowledge in practice. The end of the semester was approaching, just right when you managed to forget that in addition to the test papers there are also several practical ones which you are able to pass without magic. And potionology fell under that category.

“Our group is going to present...” You hurriedly leaned into your classmate's ear, asking what you were doing just now. “A potion that recolors hair. In modern reality, it’s unprofitable to spend a lot of time in hairdressers, so we would like to save time, and it's especially useful for magicless people. I will demonstrate the effect of the potion on myself.”

Doubtfully twisting the bottle in your hands, you took a deep breath and swallowed. Purple dye was used for the potion, and your hair has acquired a similar shade. Having received the approval of the teacher, you exhaled with calmness - you didn't have to worry about the final grade now!

“Thanks for the help, Prefect. Here's a potion that will restore your hair color.” One of the participants in this whole venture gave you a bottle with a liquid indistinguishable from your own hair color, and you thanked him, smiling quite happily and not even noticing a suspicious glint in his eyes at all.

Everything was fine until you bumped into him.

You ran into Riddle on your way to the library, where you intended to catch your breath after class and prepare for the next one. Thinking about how nice it was that there were no side effects after using the potion, you stopped abruptly against your will, not noticing the flashes of something red in front of your eyes.

“Oh, Prefect,” you instantly recognized Riddle's voice. His sweet voice were echoing in your head every so often you visited his dorm and attended unbirthday parties. The corners of your lips instantly lifted up. “Be careful, according to the rules you need to look where you are going.”

Riddle still had his hands on your shoulders, which were placed there in an attempt to prevent a collision of the foreheads. You raised your head and nodded, thinking whether you should thank him, but suddenly your lips twitched ambiguously.

“Who do you think you are, telling me what to do?!”

Riddle's eye twitched nervously, while you blinked vaguely, realizing that maybe you misheard yourself somehow.

“Huh?! What makes you think you have the right to raise your voice at me?!” scarlet hue appeared on his face. Your rude tone struck a chord with him in the first place. It's been a long time since he went overblotted, and he tried very hard to restrain his malicious impulses. But your unflattering comment was completely out of line.

“No, really, who the hell do you think you are? The Ruler of this college? Ha! Do you really think you're so smart that you can throw your poor rules right and left?” Your heart was pounding wildly under your ribs, and the expression on your face couldn’t be compared with what you were shouting at all. Could it be that this is a side effect of the potion?.. In this case, it’s necessary to try to warn Riddle before anything happens that could lead to an out-of-control situation.

“In the name of Great Sevens!! Trying so hard so it's just off with your head?! Wonderful, I'm in the right mood for this!” Riddle's anger grew more and more, and out of fright you waved your hands, showing that he needs to stop. You didn’t actually know whether he should stop himself or you, though.

“Riddle, I!..” you blurted out this phrase on emotion, still not understanding what needs to be done to make the effect of the potion to dispel. You looked straight into Riddle's steely eyes, where small vessels burst with rage. “You're just ridiculous! Don’t you have enough brains at all to deal with me in a different way? Worthless!”

The conflict of emotions and the divergence of actions with your real feelings brought you to the point that you impulsively pressed your mouth with your palms in order not to say anything at all. Tears rolled down your cheeks briefly decreasing Riddle's vigilance to some extent. His blood was boiling in his veins, and he was ready for any measures, but your reaction seemed to sober him up. And the students who had gathered in the corridor didn’t facilitate him at all.

“... Hey, Prefect.” Riddle approached you with a gloomy expression on his face, and you took a step back accordingly, aggressively waving your hands to push him away from you. “Hmm... try texting me something with your phone.”

Frantically fishing the phone out of your pocket and barely hitting the buttons with a terribly trembling fingers you managed to explain the situation. As he read, Riddle began to blush more and more again. Pulling you into his arms, he turned to the crowd in the hallway.

“It’s off with your heads right now if you don't tell me where the students who were in the group with Prefect at potionology today are!!” The crowd scattered in search, and Riddle sighed heavily.

“I'm sorry I cursed at you, I didn't know… So the potion works in such a way that you just start being rude when you open your mouth?” Riddle made a guess, but you can’t help but shrug your shoulders.

When Riddle found the students who did this to you, he thoroughly interrogated them, not forgetting to drive in a bit of common sense and promising that the next step after his unique spell will be expulsion, he returned to you with a bunch of thoughts in his head.

“The potion makes her say the opposite of what she feels.” The students explained it to him, and Riddle had no choice but to think about what you do feel in the first place.

"Just try to get one damn millimeter closer to her next time, and it’s off with your heads forever." Riddle warned your classmates silently, not making any fuss, and then quickly returned to the position where you were staying for quite a while.

“Prefect, I'm back. Well, will you try to talk?”

“MY GOD, I'm sorry for what happened a couple of hours ago, I sincerely apologize, I didn't mean any of what happened, and!..” Riddle chuckled without malice, stopping you with a gesture.

“It's okay, it wasn't your fault.”

Mumbling thanks, you smiled, and a thin layer of blush covered your cheeks. Riddle wondered what you actually feel towards him, but he would prefer to find out later, without the effects of any muddy potions.

You went outside to get some fresh air. The smell of potions got into your nose and seemed to haunt you for some time, making you sniff and wince.

While sitting down near the fountain, you threw your head back and sighed. There was still enough time before the next class, so you were relaxing under the sun when suddenly a familiar voice reached you from the other side of the yard.

“Prefect!!!” You lazily opened your eyes, recognizing Kalim by his voice, and waved him in a friendly way.

Kalim approached and out of habit you spread your arms, welcoming Scarabia dorm leader in an embrace. Kalim explained it as a “welcoming gesture in his native country” and before everything he himself was an extremely extroverted and very friendly person, so hugging was considered as a normal procedure between you two. For you these hugs were a daily dose of serotonin and also perhaps something more, but you quickly brushed off those thoughts and welcomed your not-so-platonic friend with a warm smile.

“Prefect, good morning!! Was it potionology class just now? How did everything go? I'm sure you did a great job! Even if you don't, it’s okay!” You laughed sweetly at him praising you for your very existing, amazed at the radiance of your friend. “Well, tell me, how are you?”

“God, will you shut up already? You talk so much, it's annoying.”

Kalim blinked a couple of times, his mouth open in perplexity. You didn't even realize what you said right away, because Kalim was a person who smiles even when it's incredibly hard, and even now his reaction was not disapproving you. Rather, he was puzzled and you involuntarily pressed your fingers to your lips, as if it could help you figure out what just happened.

Kalim, after taking some time to reflect, returned the smile to his face and gave you a little nod, urging you to continue. Frowning, you opened your mouth to proceed talking.

“Finally learned to keep quiet when asked? What an obedient boy you are, I'm amazed. Maybe you'll stop smiling too, since you're so helpless?”

Kalim's amber eyes flashed with suspicion. Okay, it no longer looked like just an awkward burts of emotions or some kind of ridiculous coincidence with anything. Both you and Kalim abruptly stopped talking, but you frowned heavily until he continued to speak.

“Prefect, listen. If that's what's been getting you all this time, then you could have told me earlier. We are friends, I think we need to tackle issues the instant they arise, aren't we?.. You sound like you've been accumulating it for a very long time...”

You wanted to scream and howl in helplessness but quickly realized that it was probably the potion that your classmates gave you. Turning your head negatively from side to side, you shyly lowered your gaze and fell completely silent.

“Prefect… I don't quite understand why you told me all this if you don't want to discuss it in detail now?..” Kalim seemed to be asking himself more than you, trying to figure out what had happened. “Tell me, are you okay? You don't look well.”

“Oh, believe me, I look just fine, hell to your worries. And am I being interrogated now?!”

You were shaking. There was no trace of the ever-splashing happiness in Kalim's eyes. His gaze became firm, focused and attentive but in rather concerned way. It was impossible to pretend that he was full of worry and discouraged, because you could get even more scared. What could he do for you now? Should he call Jamil? No, he's taking an elective classes at the moment… Run to the nearest classroom and call for the teacher? But leaving you alone with these depressing thoughts is a much worse idea. In fact, his own feelings were driving him into a dead end, anxiety permeated his entire body. Kalim rubbed his temples with his fingers.

“Well... let's try this. I know it's not in your nature to say that! Don't worry, Prefect, I'll figure out what to do!”

You smiled, which went against your words literally half a minute ago, and Kalim only confirmed his guesses.

“Listen, I have an idea, let's try checking it out…” Kalim stretched out his open hand to you, and you blinked with an incomprehension in response to this gesture. “Try to write with your finger what happened with you on my hand! Hehe, it might work, right?”

Chuckling softly, you put his hand on your lap and ran your finger over the soft skin, seeming a little embarrassed by your own actions. Kalim giggled sweetly at the ticklish feeling of your fingers pressing on his skin. You poked him lightly on the shoulder, as if completing the story, and he nodded eagerly.

“So that's what happened! Oh, Prefect, to be honest, I was terrified at first! But it's good that the effect only applies to your speech. I wonder how long it takes to subside… Let's find your classmates and find out everything from them.”

After your classmates explained the situation to Kalim, he still warned them with a smile that they would definitely take responsibility for what they did. Although this suspicious smile was obviously different from the one he gave you every day.

“Don't worry! You'll be back to normal in a couple of hours. Although I'm happy to know that your rude words are the opposite of what you really think. That makes us amazing friends, doesn't it?” Kalim put his arm around your shoulder as you both walked back to the courtyard.

You've wondered what the real nature of your warm feelings was...

You decided to go to the botanical garden to clear your mind. A gentle calming atmosphere was something you really needed at the moment. A great option to take a break after the test.

“Leona-san, good morning! Oh would ya be so kind and honor the audience with your all-mighty presence? My plans didn't really include part-time working as your secretary.”

You heard Ruggie’s speech, who obviously tried again to put a little responsibility and a sense of time into the dorm leader, but all in vain as usual. You saw Leona scowl at Ruggie when you came inside.

“Spare me your sentimental speeches, Ruggie." Leona retorted. "Now that the herbivore is here, you're forcing me to get out. I can't even sleep peacefully anymore.”

Leona, nodding to you in greeting, walked lazily out of the garden. Ruggie turned around, waving his hand, and waited for you to come closer. Making yourself sit down on the bench where Leona usually sleeps, you smiled back.

“Have the first-years already finished their classes? Unless you're skipping, shyehehe,” Ruggie didn't bother to sit down next to you. He throwed his hands behind his head in a signature gesture of his and laughed. You rolled your eyes without any malice in them.

“None of your business. Besides, I'm not such a stupid idiot, unlike you.”

Frowning, you didn't realize what just happened. Ruggie, despite your rudeness, didn’t even raise an eyebrow and continued the conversation.

“I'll look at you when your the second year! You have no idea how meticulous Trein can be, such a pain in the ass.”

“Sure, sure, make excuses, you stupid thing. It's better to admit right away that you are an empty-headed fool without any traces of gray matter in your brain. Why don't you just make Trein fall down the stairs, Mr.-I-have-the-coolest-unique-magic?”

This time Ruggie lowered his arms and leaned right over you, resting his hand on the back of the bench. If you were joking, then the joke was absolutely not funny, even for a sarcastic one. Lowering his eyebrows to the bridge of his nose, he silently studied your terrified look. Maybe Leona-san is right when he calls you a herbivore? Maybe all you can do is just make sharp lunges and then run away with a tail between your legs?

To be honest, Ruggie didn't want such thoughts running through his head. But if what you said to him just now was your sincere feelings, then his reaction was absolutely justified.

“Ya know, it's not like I asked you for taking this on a personal level,” Ruggie pressed his palm harder into the bench, which made you shrink even more from fear. You were sure that Ruggie wouldn't do anything to you. You were scared of your own actions.

“Really? So, the fact that you mock me for not having magic is normal, but when I tell you the truth, you can't accept it anymore? Ha, this is just ridiculous!” Ruggie’s stern expression wavered for a second. You spoke such cruel words with an extremely frightened face and with trembling pupils in your huge eyes.

No matter how you look at it, the situation was absolutely strange. How foreign for you was to say such things to him when you clearly didn't want to feel him undeserving or something.

“Hey, Prefect. Even if I annoy you so much, try to shut your mouth for a second. I hope your not going to knock my teeth out.” Ruggie grinned with an inexplicable heaviness on his heart and pulled out a magic pen.

Nodding obediently, you fell silent. Ruggie moved closer to your face, causing the blood to rush to your cheeks. You looked away in embarrassment, pursing your lips. You wanted to say that he was very close, to play along with his jokes, but at that second everything went wrong so much that a strength left you.

Ruggie wasn't stupid. Free-thinking, carefree at times - yes, and this personality helped him overcome life difficulties with an enviable success. This situation was no exception. Would you, who constantly took care of him and sometimes brought food you did yourself, now scold him so cruelly?

“Listen, I’m sorry, but I need to check something. Come on, get up.” Obeying, you stood up.

“Hmm... can you come to the flower bed?” Not quite understanding what he wanted, you nodded weakly and complied with the request. “Okay, so you're not acting against your will. Can you type what happened?” You shook your head. You left your phone in the dorm at a very bad time. However, you came up with another way out.

Making yourself near the flower bed, you took a dry branch and began scratching out letters on the slightly moist after watering flowers soil. Ruggie peered at the resulting text and gasped.

“Well, what a terrible handwriting you have.” You pretended to sulk, sticking a branch into the ground.

“Okay, okay. The potion, huh… Don't worry, I'll figure it out. Even though I should attend a lesson now, leaving you in this state could be considered as a danger to society, shyehehe.”

Hastily finding your classmates and finding out what was the matter, Ruggie shushed at them and returned with you to the botanical garden. He had already made a mental reminder that after class several first-years would magically find their jackets in the mud… But you don't have to know about that.

“Actually now I think that nothing would have happened if you had gone to attend class. If the potion only works with those who are close to you, then I’m the only one to be afraid in this entire college, shyehehe!”

You jolted at the surprise of his words. He had no idea how right he was.

The lessons were over for today, and you decided to celebrate getting an excellent mark in the Mostro Lounge. It was nice to realize you had brought enough accumulated money to allow yourself to try a new drink on the menu. Why else would Jade boast off his new ingredientscombination he happened to found deep in the mountains, right?

Once there, you sat down at an empty table for two. There were surprisingly many people today, including your classmates. It seems that many people have the same idea as you. Jade and Floyd maneuvered between tables with several trays on their hands, barely keeping up with deliver orders. Azul will be very happy with the income received by the end of the day, that is for sure. Smiling at your thoughts, you didn't notice how Azul appeared in front of you with a menu in his hand.

“Prefect,” Azul smiled charmingly out of his entrepreneurial habit. “Have you decided to honor Mostro Lounge with your presence and increase our profit three times? Considering your popularity and the fact that today you shine especially bright on the pedestal of the most outstanding personalities of our college. Floyd has already told me about your progress in the potionology class. I heartily congratulate you! Well, getting to the point. What would you like to taste, dear visitor?”

You smiled radiantly. Of course, his inner entrepreneur spoke in him, but you still preferred to think that you were at least a little more special to him. Come to think of it, such a long dialogue with such a huge number of visitors probably hinted to you that Azul mixed professional ethics with personal feelings for you.

“Yeah, sure thing. Unlike a useless loser like you, I can make money with my presence alone. Are you envious? And don't even think about deluding yourself. To consume your mediocre garbage from the menu… Who do you take me for?”

Azul thought for a split second that maybe his hearing had let him down. No, mermen had much more acute hearing than humans… So the probability of him making a mistake was minimized. Maybe it was some kind of strange human way of making a profitable marketing move?

While Azul was thinking hard about what you just said, you were seized with horror. Out of all the tender and affectionate words that were in your head, did you actually choose THOSE? It can't be, even in the most disturbing nightmare, you wouldn't dare to insult Azul like that…

“Ha, just look at your face. How pathetic you are, it's getting unbearable to witness.”

Azul could have sworn that something agonizingly stirred in his chest at the moment. A feeling of resentment, almost the same as when he went overblotted, gripped his heart. Now your words no longer seemed like a strange joke or a misunderstanding. You hit those points that you knew were extremely painful for Azul.

Throwing the menu on the table, Azul wanted to order you to get out of here. Turning around, he himself intended to go to the staff room, but you grabbed his arm. The genuine fright on your face made him flinch for a second, but your sarcastic voice echoed in his ears. If he hadn't been overwhelmed by bitterness, he would have heard caustic chuckles at the next table.

“I...” You tried to squeeze something out of yourself, but the tongue moved as if by itself, so you bit it hard. A bitter metallic taste spread in your mouth, and a thin scarlet trickle seeped out, trickling down your lip. Azul tensed, pushing all his thoughts aside for a split second. Something strange was happening to you.

“What is it?” Anxiety took over him as he relaxed his arm in your grip.

You shook your head, refusing to speak. Fortunately for you, Azul wasn’t a fool and was able to put together a logical chain in his head.

“I don't like your trembling and that scared look, Prefect. Let's take you to the infirmary.”

You shook your head again. Physically wise, you were absolutely healthy, even though pretty much panicked. Something told you that a doctor wouldn't help here. After all, anything could happen to a magicless person.

“Okay, then… Can you write?” Azul pulled out a pen from his breast pocket on his uniform and a small piece of paper for notes.

Having tried to write something on a piece of paper denoting your true thoughts, you breathed a sigh of relief when no causticness was found in the words. After explaining everything in detail and apologizing at the end, you raised an awkward look at Azul. Adjusting his glasses, he nodded and pulled on his gloves.

“Thank you for your detailed feedback, dear customer. Your wish is my command,” Azul smiled slyly, finally shifting his gaze to the next table, where your potion-making partners were no longer laughing as eagerly as a few minutes ago.

When Azul held out the familiar gilded sheet, you realized that something obviously unprofitable was waiting for your classmates, and you laughed at the thought. After everything was settled, Azul came back to you.

“As expected, there is no need to worry, although frankly speaking, I was stung by your words. However, it was interesting to find out that all the rudeness you said is a converted version of warm feelings towards me. Well, should we sign a contract so that I can personally serve you in the Mostro Lounge? I am generous enough to accept such a favor in return for your feelings.” A sly smile shone on his face.

You looked away in embarrassment, not sure how much truth there was in Azul's words. However, you also left your true feelings behind a mysterious veil.

❤︎ notes : i'm not really satisfied with this one, but in any case... it was a request from an anon on my previous acc (ayavielle) which got shadowbanned and i wasn't in the mood for restoring it so i'm just posting this again lol i like ruggie and azul parts but as for riddle and kalim ones... idk maybe i'll rewrite this work but we'll see since i'm occupied with a lot of uni tasks but anyway i hope you enjoyed!

#twst #riddle x reader #kalim x reader #ruggie x reader #azul x reader #twisted wonderland

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