Mother of Pearl: A Floyd Leech x OC Fanfiction

Chapter 53

Floyd walked a few paces behind me as we walked down the dimly lit path from the main building.

"So, Floyd," I spoke up in an attempt to make conversation, "what's something you like to do besides basketball?"

He thought for a bit before responding, "I like swimming."

"I would hope so, seeing as you had to as a child," I remarked.

"Oh, but there were these obstacle courses in shipwrecks that we'd play in. Hehehe, those were fun. As long as you didn't get a fin pinned in some floating debris."

I shuddered at the thought, "That sounds...very painful."

"You should come and watch sometime Leafy Sea Dragon!" Floyd offered.

"Hehe, really? Should I now?" I nervously blurted.

"The land-dweller's equivalent is parkour. I tried it out and it's just as fun!" Floyd enthused.

I perked up. "Parkour!? I used to watch that stuff back in my world!" I shared. I added a quick skip to my step at the memories. "I watched an international competition with my dad!"

"You'll love watching me then! We'd just need to get Azul to make you another potion to come to the Coral Sea."

"Oh," I slowed myself. "Yeah, that would need to happen. For the whole...underwater...parkour thing."

We came to a split in the path. The left walkway headed towards Ramshackle while the right one led to the Hall of Mirrors. It was an awkward way to part, but my exhaustion resurfaced at the thought of being done for the day.

"Haa~," I sighed, "well I go this way. See you later, Pool Noodle!" I began walking to my dorm and heard footsteps behind me. I looked over my shoulder to find Floyd still following me. "Uh, last time I checked, you were in the Octavinelle dorm and not Ramshackle."

"Eh~ I don't wanna go back yet. Jade found a new mushroom and he hasn't stopped talking about it," Floyd whined. "Let me hang with you and Shrimpy."

"I don't think the Prefect will be in the mood to hang," I answered.

Floyd drapped himself over me and drawled out, "Leafy Sea Dragon is trying to hide from me~."

"I'm-gah! Not hiding from you," I gasped at his added weight. "Now get off you damp pool noodle!"

"Why? You're comfy,"

"Why?! You are twice my size and covered in sweat! Now get off!" I tried to pry off the clingy eel to no avail. "ARE YOU SURE YOU AREN'T A SUCKERFISH INSTEAD OF AN EEL!?!"

"Hehehe~" Floyd squeezed me tighter. "My Leafy~" I rolled my eyes as I shoved his face away. I punched his chest with my other arm.

"Viv?" a familiar voice came from further down the path. I paused mid-shove of Floyd's face to see Yuu looking on at us. They jogged over and pulled me out of Floyd's grasp. "There you are! I was wondering where you were when club's let out! Ace only said you had to stay overtime as manager. What exactly did they have you do to have you out so late?!"

"Calm down Shrimpy. Leafy Sea Dragon and I were just having fun," Floyd brushed off Yuu's concern.

Yuu pulled me closer to them and glared at our upperclassman. Floyd looked down at Yuu with a bored smiled. I could see the sparks between the two in the cold night air like a static shock. I sucked in a breath before explaining, "Pool- I mean, Floyd came late to practice so I had to stay late to keep records. That's all. He didn't do anything to me."

Yuu let me go. They stepped in between me and Floyd. "Okay then. Well..." they bit back whatever pill they were trying to swallow and got out, "thank you for walking them back, but I will take them from here."

They began to usher me away from the wild upperclassman. I yelled back, "See you Pool- I mean Floyd! Don't go stirring up too much trouble!"

Yuu walked quickly with me in tow. There was a silence between us. I would stare at the back of their head every so often. I opened my mouth to say something, anything, but nothing came. I could only follow my dorm leader back to our makeshift home.