Mother of Pearl: A Floyd Leech x OC Fanfiction

Chapter 51

"Year and last name please," I repeated the phrase for what felt like the millionth time. It was the last drill I needed to record, and boredom was engulfing me.

"Viper, second year," Jamil responded with the same lack of enthusiasm.

"What was your time?"

"Thirteen minutes and ten seconds," he reported.

I puckered my lips a bit at his time. I gave him a quick once over to assess his physical condition. While I could see some sweat, he did not look like he just ran two kilometers. I wrote down the time and dismissed him, "You're good. Thank you."

Jamil walked away as I jotted down a few notes. Seems reluctant...to try. His. All. Another set of legs entered my peripheral vision, and I restarted my spiel, "Year and last name please."

"Do you really need my year and name at this point?" Ace complained.

I took a deep sigh, "It helps me put a face to the name and jersey number."

"We've literally fought monsters together. You know who I am," Ace countered.

"No exceptions. Now, year and last name please," I reiterated.

Ace wiped the sweat off his forehead, "Ugh, first year Trappola."

"What was your time?"

"Nine minutes, forty-six seconds," Ace gave me. I looked him over and he looked exhausted. Like an athlete who just ran a mile. As I waved him off and moved on to the last team member, the doors to the gym swung open. In waltzed Floyd. He was already in his gym uniform, but all scuffed up.

"Leech! Glad you could show up!" Vargas sarcastically yelled across the gymnasium. "Eight laps around the court for being late!"

Floyd rolled his eyes at the teacher. "I'm not in the mood for laps," Floyd shuffled to the bleachers like a gangster.

Well, someone woke up on the wrong side of the kelp...

I clicked my tongue as I shut the notebook. Vargas looked absolutely done with the merman. "Just finish the laps and get through the drills so your new manager can get your stats and go!" Vargas ordered as he motioned to me. Floyd followed Coach Vargas' motion to meet my gaze.

"Manager?" Floyd perked up slightly. He still looked grumpy, but curiosity was poking through.

"Yeah, Abiba here is the club's new manager. He'll be in charge of-"

"Doesn't Leafy go by 'they'?" Floyd interrupted. "It's rude to use the wrong terms, Lobster teach."

Everyone stopped. We were all caught off guard at the semi-profound threat that Floyd spouted. Coach Vargas looked to me for confirmation, "That right, Abiba?"

I stuttered, "Uh, I-I mean yeah. I'd, um, prefer you use they/them instead of he/him."

Vargas nodded, "Alright! Well, they oversee things number wise and to keep things running smoothly behind the scenes. Since you, Leech, were late, you have to do all the drills by yourself so that Abiba can record the stats."

Floyd's excitement grew as Vargas explained, "So you're telling me that I have Leafy Sea Dragon all to myself and they have to give me their full, undivided attention?"

Oh lord help me.

I slumped my shoulders at what I knew would be coming. Vargas affirmed, "Yes, so get your laps done so you can get everything wrapped up."

"Okay~!" Floyd jumped to his feet and started to run around the court. When he would pass me, he flashed a smile.

I got flustered and fumbled my words, "But I- You see there's a, um- Do I really...tch. I don't know. I have no clue how to run these drills by myself!"

"I can give you a quick walkthrough and leave the drill sheets with you, if you want," Phoebus offered. He came over and searched in his duffle bag. "You should probably familiarize yourself with the drills anyway, just in case."

"I'm going to be here for a while still, aren't I...," I sighed. Phoebus simply gave a sympathetic nod as he continued his search. The other members trickled out of the gym. I made eye contact with Ace. He just snickered and sent me an apologetic wave as he skedaddled.

I'll never forgive you for this, stupid Ace!

Phoebus gave me the run down for the conditioning drills as Floyd finished his laps. "I'll grab the papers from you later. So, uh, don't die," he gave me a thumbs up before he ran off too.

"'Don't die' he says. That really gives me that boost of confidence I need," I muttered sarcastically under my breath.

"Leafy Sea Dragon~! I'm done running in circles!" Floyd bounded over to me.

"Ah, good job Pool Noodle," I gave him a tired smile. "I guess we should start with the, um, full-court dribbling and layup? It calls for two, 1 ½ minute sets." I explained the drill verbatim from the paper. I sat at the bleachers with a stopwatch Phoebus left for me.

"You're going to have to watch me very closely, Leafy," Floyd said as he stretched at the baseline.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. You better keep count too," I got myself ready. "And...Go!"

And thus, my private drill session with Floyd started. His enthusiasm fluctuated with each drill. Sometimes he decimated everyone else's times, and then he's barely getting a decent score. Like every other time this upperclassman has gotten involved, I had no clue what to make of it. I just wrote multiple question marks for my notes on him. Even the notebook couldn't figure out how to calculate the statistics with all the outliers. He finished the second to last drill as I recorded the number.

"Eh~, Leafy Sea Dragon how much longer do I have to do these stupid games?" Floyd whined from the center of the court.

"Only one more. You have to run a mile as fast as you can," I told him.

"Then we can play together!" Floyd jumped up and ran over to me.

"Nope. No play," I quickly waved my hands in front of my face. "I want to go back to my dorms."

"Aww, but I want to hang out with you Leafy," Floyd sat down next to me.

"Floyd, the sun has set, and I am tired," I pointed out. I could tell winter was getting closer. The days were getting shorter and the air colder.

Floyd pouted, "But this is the longest I've had your full attention. I don't want to let you go."

My cheeks and neck grew warm. I fumbled to change the subject. "I-duh, um- how did you know I preferred gender neutral terms? I never told anyone that."

"Well, Azul mentioned that when you first showed up, the headmaster only used they/them, like with Shrimpy," Floyd shared.

I thought back, "Oh, yeah. Azul was there."

"Plus, every time they used 'he' you'd crinkle you nose and get all stiff. You looked uncomfortable," Floyd seemed to be calm, but he looked at me like I was prey.

"You...are much more observant than I thought..." I was caught off guard. I began tofeel antsy under his gaze. I was as though he was trying to uncover all mysecrets. "Uh, twenty laps around the court, please. Last drill."