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As always, Dante couldn’t say no to Bobby.
That’s why, despite his better judgement and all the evidence supporting it (exhibit A: their left curtain was still charred from last time), he agreed to allow the King’s Row fencing team back into their dorm for yet another midnight feast.
He would admit that this one was already going significantly better than the last one, maybe because this time Kally was here. Kally not only brought his own snacks to share, but was capable of holding a discussion about something other than fencing, making him a welcome guest in Dante’s eyes. Then again, he had brought Tanner with him, who was sword-minded and rambunctious enough for the two of them, effectively canceling out Kally’s soothingly normal nature.
Perhaps, then, it was going better because Harvard and Aiden had finally gotten their shit together and started dating. They were more relaxed around each other this time, if a bit too intimate. Dante averted his gaze as the captain handfed his partner yet another marshmallow.
“Is something wrong?” Bobby asked, turning to face him with bright and inquisitive eyes. Bobby was always very perceptive of Dante’s emotions.
Dante shook his head. Everything was fine, for now. Seiji was discussing some technique with the reserves, who were tired enough to listen attentively. The chocolate fountain had Tanner’s full attention, and for the moment, things were almost… peaceful?
“You’re right. It’s too quiet in here,” Bobby affirmed. Before Dante could protest, the manager declared, “Everyone, listen up! We’re playing a party game!”
“Game? What game?” Tanner said through a mouthful of chocolate strawberry. Kally handed him a napkin.
Nicholas leaned into Seiji. “I bet I can beat you at the party game.”
“We don’t even know what game it is,” he replied sharply, “plus if it’s fencing-related I will definitely win.”
Eugene thought to himself that party games don’t usually have a winner, but decided not to ruin his teammates’ fun.
“How about we play Paranoia?” Bobby offered.
Harvard shook his head. “Sorry, but the King’s Row fencing team is not allowed to play Paranoia. Not after Centrepoint last year.”
“If you didn’t want me to freak out, then why did you all keep saying my name?!” Kally protested.
Aiden smirked. “They call it ‘paranoia’ for a reason, Kal. Plus, when there’s only three people…”
“Okay, so not Paranoia,” Bobby decided. “Then what about… Ooh! Let’s play FMK!”
“FMK?” Nicholas asked. “Does that stand for… Full… Metal…”
“It stands for F, Marry, Kill,” Eugene explained. “You’re given a group of people, and of them, you need to pick one to kill, one to marry, and one to, you know, 'F'.”
“But what if there’s no one in the group that I want to marry or kill?”
Bobby shrugged. “You just need to pick someone! It’s not really about wanting to. It’s just if you had to pick someone, you know?”
“I think I understand,” Seiji nodded. Nicholas was surprised that Seiji caught on so fast, but was not about to be left behind. “So, who’s the group that we’re picking from?”
Bobby thought for a moment, then grinned. “Let’s do the current King’s Row fencing team! So your options are Harvard, Aiden, Seiji, Eugene, and Nicholas. Who wants to go first?”
Aiden nonchalantly raised a hand. “Harvard, Harvard, Eugene – next!”
Kally gave an unsurprised eyeroll. “You can’t just say Harvard twice.”
“Not only can, but did, thank you.”
Harvard sighed. “Aiden, I love you, but play by the rules please.”
“Why should I? I gave my honest answer. If the rules don’t like it, that’s their problem.”
“Is anybrody gonna talk about how he just said he’d kill me with zero hesitation?” Eugene mumbled, “‘Cause I’m honestly feeling a little bit threatened right now.”
Harvard offered him a sympathetic glance. “You have a point, Eugene. I think I’m gonna have to sit this game out. As captain of the team, I can’t tell one of my teammates that I’d kill them, even hypothetically.”
“Plus we all know who you’d pick for the other two,” Kally finished.
“Exactly.”
Aiden grinned.
Seiji leaned into Nicholas, confused. “Who would Harvard pick for the other two?”
Aiden immediately frowned and glared at them.
“I have no idea,” Nicholas loudly whispered back.
“Aiden, my dudes, Aiden,” Eugene provided. “You know, they’re kind of dating?”
“Oh. Right, of course,” Nicholas nodded. “It makes sense that if they had to marry someone else on the team, it would be each other. They’ve probably been fencing together for longer, too.”
“Right, sure.”
After a moment, Seiji nodded. “I supposed that makes sense.”
“I’ll go next,” Kally offered. “I’m going to have to say Aiden, Harvard, Seiji.”
“Word,” Tanner seconded. “That’s the only right answer.”
Nicholas frowned. “Why would you kill Seiji?”
“It’s okay, Nicholas,” Seiji insisted. “I am the freshman who took their spot on the fencing team. It only makes sense that they would be intimidated by my vastly superior skill, and would want to take the easier way to the top by killing me rather than actually practicing their fencing.”
Kally put a hand on Tanner’s shoulder to hold him back from charging across the room, casually noting, “That’s why.”
Missing the point, Seiji nodded. “In that case, I believe the score is 1-1, Nicholas.”
“Huh?”
“You understood why the captain and Aiden would marry each other before I did, so you won a point there. I was able to see why Kally and Tanner would want to kill me. That’s my point.”
“It’s not that we want to kill you,” Kally amended. “It’s only if we had to kill someone on the team; we would never actually wish you any harm."
“Speak for yourself,” Tanner muttered. Kally nudged him.
“I’ll go next!” Bobby intervened, drawing all eyes in the room to him. He paused. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t actually think about who I’d pick ahead of time, um, give me a minute…”
“I’ll go while you’re thinking,” Dante offered quietly. Everyone was shocked that he was even participating. Still, he muttered, “Aiden, Nicholas, Seiji.”
Aiden barked out a laugh.
“Dante!” Bobby scolded, slapping his arm. “How dare you kill Seiji!”
“Oh hey,” Nicholas perked up, “I think that’s the first time my name’s been said. It was the second one, so that’s, uh…”
“Marry,” Eugene provided.
“Nice! Um,” Nicholas looked awkwardly at Dante. “I didn’t know you-”
“I don’t,” Dante shut down immediately.
Aiden bit his lip. “It’s probably just the closest he could get to-”
Dante shot him a death glare and Harvard gently nudged him in the side. He stopped talking.
“Why Seiji? What has he ever done to you?” Bobby persisted obliviously.
“Maybe it’s 'cause Seiji’s the popular kill answer tonight,” Nicholas provided, hoping to score a point. He glanced over to Seiji, who looked slightly distressed, probably because he didn’t want Nicholas to pull ahead in their game.
Bobby only scowled. “Well, I wouldn’t kill Seiji. I would…” He stopped abruptly as he and Seiji made eye contact.
“Yes?” Seiji said, probably surrounded by sparkles and roses from Bobby’s perspective. “What would you do to me?”
Bobby squeaked, face flushed red, and buried his face in his knees.
Seiji frowned. Apparently, Bobby was mortified after being caught in the lie that he wouldn’t choose to kill Seiji. It was strange, since everyone already knew that Bobby hated Seiji. It didn’t make sense for him to continue to lie about it.
Persuaded to power through his answer by Dante’s soothing back pats, Bobby raised his head. “I’d probably marry Nicholas. Just like, as a friend though. I think it’d be fun.”
Nicholas nodded. “Yeah, that would be kind of fun. We could hang out together all the time and go to Seiji’s fencing matches together!”
“That would be awesome!” Bobby agreed.
Aiden facepalmed. Dante looked like he might be reconsidering his ‘kill’ decision.
Kally prompted, “And for kill?”
“What do you mean, for kill?” Seiji asked. “He already said-”
“Probably Aiden,” Bobby admitted. “It’s just if I had to choose. Sorry.”
“Don’t be,” Aiden dismissed. “We can’t all have good taste.”
Nicholas seconded, “I’d probably kill Aiden, too. If I did, then I could have a full-time spot on the team. I could never hurt the captain, though.”
“Of course not,” Tanner agreed. “Anyone who would choose Harvard for kill is a psychopath.”
“Hey, wait, who says you would get a full-time spot on the team?” Eugene slugged Nicholas playfully. “Last time we fenced, I beat you, so I think that means you’d be a full-time reserve, freshman!”
“Either way, it would be a terrible disaster,” Seiji noted. “Aiden is an objectively better fencer than both of you. Although he neglects his training and often behaves in strange and unpredictable ways, I am still forced to respect his talent with the blade, having faced him as an opponent. More importantly, think of how Aiden’s death would affect the captain. Grief can delay one’s reaction speed and make them prone to more errors on the piste. Harvard already has enough difficulty with high-level fencing due to his problems with his low lines, but imagine how much more he would struggle if Aiden died. Killing Aiden would inhibit not only one, but two of the team’s core fencers, making it an obvious blunder.”
“…Are you implying that the worst part of Aiden’s hypothetical death would be the effect it has on Harvard’s fencing?” Kally wondered, shaking his head.
Tanner shook his head too, more aggressively, although he wasn’t quite sure what “imply” meant.
Aiden simply raised an eyebrow at Harvard. “Babe? If you’re not using your ‘kill’ slot, can I have it?”
Harvard ran his fingers through Aiden’s hair and clicked his tongue. “No.”
Eugene offered, “You could always change your answer.”
“Not happening.”
“Bro-kay, just clarifying,” Eugene raised his hands in surrender.
Nicholas continued, “And if I had to marry someone on the team, I guess I’d want it to be like a friend-marriage, like with Bobby, so I’d probably pick Eugene.”
Eugene gave a thumbs up. “Aw, thanks, dude! I’m always down for a bit of longterm bromance.”
“Well, it’d be between you and the captain. I think he’d make a nice husband, too.”
“I’d treat you right, Nicholas,” Harvard grinned jokingly. Beside him, Aiden pouted, to which Harvard replied, “Please tell me you’re not getting jealous of a freshman, especially after I’ve politely sat and listened to half the people in this room choose you for ‘F’.”
“Marrying someone is different than that,” Aiden insisted.
“And I do seem to recall choosing you for my ‘marry’ option,” Harvard countered.
“Actually, you decided to ‘sit this one out as captain’.”
“It was implied.”
Tanner whispered to Kally, “What does ‘imply’ mean?”
“If you bros are done being an old married couple,” Eugene grinned, “I think it’s my turn next.”
“Wait!” Bobby said, “Nicholas still hasn’t said his ‘F’ yet!”
“Oh, you’re right! Sorry bro, I think I got too excited by the idea of finding a life partner, in gains and in strains.”
Nicholas waved him off. “Don’t worry bro, I forgot about it, too. I mean, I thought my answer would be obvious. I clearly want to f Seiji.”
Tanner choked on a grape, but everyone else was silent.
Nicholas continued uncertainly, “I mean, we’re rivals? It’s kind of what we do?”
“Wait,” Eugene said, “You mean that you two are already…”
“Yes,” Seiji confirmed, slightly baffled. “We do it every day.”
“At the same time,” Nicholas continued. “He’s always strangely punctual about it.”
“Okay, I really don’t need to know the details,” Eugene interrupted.
“I do!” Bobby squealed, “Nicholas, why didn’t you tell me?”
Before Nicholas could insist that he’d definitely already told Bobby about this, Eugene remarked, “Man, I appreciate you picking me for ‘marry’, but if you two are already like that, then wouldn’t it make more sense to pick Seiji?”
“What are you talking about?” Nicholas said, “I can marry you and still f Seiji!”
Tanner spit out the water that Kally had given him to help with the choked-on grape.
“I’m not sure I would be into that, bro,” Eugene muttered awkwardly.
“I wouldn’t interfere,” Seiji assured. “I’d just meet with Nicholas on the piste, as usual, then we-”
“You’re doing it on the piste?!” Harvard interjected, outraged. “Boys! I expected-”
“Now, now, Captain, no need to get so worked up,” spoke Aiden, who had previously been sitting back and enjoying the shitshow while sipping a fizzy beverage. “I believe I can explain.”
Harvard was deeply troubled. “Aiden, if you’ve been encouraging this, then-”
“Nicholas, Seiji, what does the ‘F’ in FMK stand for?” Aiden asked.
Nicholas paused. “Is this a trick question?”
“It is not.”
After another moment of silence, Kally said, “If you don’t feel comfortable saying it, you don’t have to.”
“Fence,” Nicholas answered finally. “It’s fence, marry, kill. Right?”
Seiji nodded in agreement.
Expressions around the room changed from shocked to understanding. Aiden gave a faux-sympathetic smile.
“No, it is not.”
Eugene, taking the opportunity to help his bro in need, whispered directly into Nicholas’s ear, “It means…”
“…What?” Nicholas asked, still confused.
Blushing, Eugene continued, whispering a few more explanatory words. Aiden smiled and nodded from across the room.
“…Ohhhhh!” Nicholas shouted suddenly. “Oh, shit! I thought, um, well...”
“Well, what does it mean, Nicholas?” Seiji demanded.
“I, um… We should go!” he started, grabbing Seiji by the wrist and pulling him out of the room.
“Nicholas! What-”
“Thank you so much for having us, Bobby, Dante! We’ll have to do it again sometime.”
“You two aren’t invited back,” Dante whispered to his cup of water as Bobby smiled and waved them goodbye.
Aiden laid back and rested his head in Harvard’s lap, chuckling. “You actually thought they were doing it on the piste.”
Harvard blushed. “It was a misunderstanding.”
“Uh-huh. I hear that Seiji is pretty good at taking the blade-”
“Aiden!” A scandalized Harvard smacked his lover in the stomach. “That’s it. We’re headed out too. You’ve caused enough of a scene for one night.”
“I hardly see how any of this was my fault, but if you insist.” Aiden rose to his feet with a wink. “If you need us, the two of us’ll be in the salle d’arms, if you know what I mean.”
Harvard forcibly dragged him from the room.
Bobby turned to Dante. “I feel bad. I should have been clearer with the rules at the start.”
“It’s okay,” Dante assured. “I think it went fine.”
“I didn’t even get to go,” Eugene lamented.
Tanner perked up, ready to right this apparent wrong. “Go now, then!”
“None of the other team members are here, though,” Kally reminded.
“Even better! That means he can tell us his honest thoughts without worrying what anyone thinks. Go on!”
Eugene considered for a moment, concluding, “My choices would probably be…”
“I don’t like this at all, Nicholas. Tell me what ‘F’ stands for at once!” Seiji demanded.
“Okay, okay, it’s just a little awkward,” Nicholas started, before pausing. He had rarely seen Seiji so upset before, so he tried his best to comfort him. “This doesn’t count as a point since I didn’t understand either. We ended the night on a tie.”
That comment only seemed to upset Seiji more. “I don’t understand. I don’t like not understanding.”
“It means ‘fuck’, Seiji,” Nicholas finally shared.
Seiji furrowed his brow. “Watch your profanity.”
“I mean ‘F’ literally stands for ‘fuck’, as in fucking. Like, sex and stuff.”
“Sex?” Seiji wondered. “As in male or female?”
“No, like, the touchy thing that girls and guys do. Or guys and guys. Or sometimes girls and girls, although I’m still not really sure how that one works.”
Seiji still looked confused, so Nicholas continued. “I learned about it at one of my old schools. It’s like, you’re naked, and there’s usually a lot of kissing involved.”
“Why would anyone want to do that?” Seiji scoffed. “It sounds like a waste of time.”
Nicholas thought for a moment. “Well… it’s fun, I think? For some people, not everyone, though. It’s perfectly okay if you don’t like it, or maybe you just don’t like it yet – that’s what my middle school teacher said. Anyway, I guess it’s just something people do to show that they really care about each other.”
Seiji considered this. He figured that if sex truly was a couple’s activity, then maybe his parents would know about it. He’d have to ask his father during their next phone call. In the meantime, he could be satisfied with Nicholas’s answer.
“So the reason you were embarrassed was because you accidentally declared that we were in an intimate relationship?” Seiji clarified.
Nicholas’s cheeks grew pink. “Yeah, I guess. It was more awkward than embarrassing, since I just really don’t know about that stuff at all.”
“Neither do I,” Seiji confessed. He still sounded troubled, though. “I should clarify the matter with the others at breakfast tomorrow. If the idea of ‘fucking’ me, as you put it, makes you uncomfortable, then I shall ensure that no one mentions tonight’s incident again.”
“Nah, no one’s gonna talk about it. What happens at the midnight feast stays at the midnight feast, remember? Even Eugene swore that he’d keep his lips closed… or did he say ‘bros-ed’? Anyway, it’s not that I don’t like the idea of fucking you. It’s just that I was worried about you. I didn’t know if you’d be into that type of relationship, y’know? I didn’t want to make things weird between us.”
“You were worried about me?” Seiji echoed softly.
“Yeah, I was.”
Seiji sat down on his bed, contemplating. “I’d fuck you, Nicholas.”
“What?!”
“You said it’s something people do to show that they really care about each other, right?” he elaborated, flustered, “And that it’s ‘fun’. So if it’s something that you’d like to do, I would be willing to try it with you.”
“Oh, um… wow, Seiji, I…”
When Nicholas finally managed to get a sentence out, it was, “Thanks. I care a lot about you, too.”
Nicholas bit his lip. “I’d rather focus on fencing for right now, though. Like, I’ve heard the whole sex thing takes time and practice, and I’m really focused on training for the state tournament. On top of that, I have a long way to go before I can be your proper rival, right? So that needs to be my first priority. Is that cool with you?”
“Nicholas,” Seiji smiled, “that makes far more sense than anything else that’s been said tonight.”
Suddenly, Seiji appeared startled. “What has the world come to? To think that I was the one suggesting we try something other than fencing and you had to steer me back on track.”
“Yeah, I think this is the longest conversation we’ve had about something other than fencing,” Nicholas said. “Guess we’ll have to talk about it twice as much tomorrow to make up for it.”
Seiji continued to stare ahead blankly, bewildered. “For a moment, I wasn’t thinking about fencing. I wasn’t thinking about the Olympics, or Jesse. I was thinking about…” Seiji cut himself off, glancing over at Nicholas’s wide eyes. Clearing his throat, he ordered, “Nicholas, you will not mention this ‘fucking’ to me again! It is clearly a grave distraction and a threat to my progress as a fencer.”
“Fine, sure, whatever,” Nicholas grinned. He’d probably tease Seiji about it at some point later. In the meantime, he was positively thrilled.
I made it so that Seiji forgot about Jesse.
That night, Nicholas slept for all of three hours before Seiji dragged him out of bed to do their morning practice together. They were the three best hours of sleep in his entire life.