Chapter Text
"Char, do you have any idea how ridiculous you sound right now? You mean to tell me that some guy's been mysteriously gifting flowers to random people? What's the big deal?" Your voice carries a certain tiredness that could only be caused by hearing your drama-loving friend ramble on about that Snezhevich boy with way too many rumors.
"You don't understand, man. There are, like, dozens of flowers. Where would he even get that many? It's kinda freaky when you think about it," your friend responds.
"Yeah, I guess you have a point... I wonder if this has anything to do with the upcoming magic show? It would be pretty funny if this was just some prank, across, like, the entirety of Teyvat Uni, y'know."
"I wish I was joking, dude. I guess we should be on the lookout, though. You know how Dean Snezhevna gets when stuff like this happens... I really don't want another campus-wide assembly about academic integrals or whatever the hell she was going on about."
"Academic integrity, not integrals," you correct her. "And whatever, it'll be fine. Just be sure to stay out of the way of Snezhevna's lapdogs, and you should be fine."
"Change of subject, then: what do you think of the rise in dorm fees?" Charlotte asks you, her tone mildly agitated.
"The WHAT in dorm fees?!" You almost scream before taking a sharp breath. "Gods, this whole thing is so stupid. Why should we even have to pay for that in the first place? The Sumeru branch of TU has free tuition and free living arrangements. Meanwhile we have literal aquabus lines, the most advanced security systems, and the highest level of natural disaster protection... and we still have to pay to live here? That's gotta be some sort of student exploitation."
Charlotte twirls her pencil before opening her mouth, and you cut her off.
"No, that is not a headline. Yes, you have my consent to use that sentence on your Streambird blog. No, you should not tag me because no, I am not updating my account."
She immediately closes her lips, impressed that you answered all of her rapid fire questions so quickly. "Well, that's gotta be record time..." Flipping through her notebook, she struggles to find the page of all of your fastest responses.
You walk away, sitting down at her desk and opening your laptop to find a gig. You hear Charlotte continue talking as if she hasn't noticed you aren't in there with her.
"Char, I'm gonna look for some way to make some quick money, but you can get me if you need something."
You find yourself scrolling on your school's forum page for a while until you see it.
@roses4lyney: guys if anyone axtually understands tje forensics 101 content from dr emilie’s class PLEASEEEE hlp me 🙏🙏
“What’s the harm in offering this person some help?” You find yourself wondering this exact question, pulling up the private message tab.
@teyvatenthusiast26: hey! i saw your post and was wondering if you still need help? i’d be happy to do that if so.
Your cursor hovers over the send button for a moment, and the moment you press it, his profile pops up on your screen along with the “you can only send this person one message until they accept your request” message. It’s him. That Snezhevich boy. The boy with the lilting voice and eyes like lumidouce bells. His profile is just about as put together as he is, with his bio set to some Inazuma-pop group lyric you can pronounce but can’t understand. A candid yet charming photo of him eating a croissant sits at the top of his page as his profile picture, and his pinned posts form a cutesy banner of some character from a show you’ve never watched.
Muttering to yourself for a moment, your eyes go wide in shock. Holy shit. Did you actually just send a private message to him?
You’re quickly snapped out of your spiral, though, as a response pops up on your screen. And another. And another?
@roses4lyney: THANK YOU SO MUCH oh my gods.
@roses4lyney: youre actually a life saver
@roses4lyney: i love you teyvat enthusiast.
@roses4lyney: well not love love ykwim
@roses4lyney: unless… ;)
@roses4lyney: anywasy what times work for you?
Woah. Six messages within a minute… you’re honestly impressed that you can decipher his typos.
Wait, what’s with the winky face? What's with him?? You don't even know this Lyney person. Well, you do technically know him; it's impossible not to know the most charismatic and popular boy in your school. As sizable as Teyvat University is, Lyney Snezhevich's ego is somehow big enough to seep through the walls and into nearly every aspect of your life. Your study group? One of the girls has a younger sister who's dating Lyney's sister, and this fact is somehow important enough to be brought up at every single meeting. Pride Club? Every boy (and girl, somehow) swoons at the sight of him. (You're still not sure how that works, but the fact that it does bothers you a little too much.) Even one of the teachers at the swim school you work at for a bit of extra cash is his brother. Hell, the dean of the college is his Father, for crying out loud.
You hesitate to respond, not knowing how to proceed.
“Charlotte,” you call. “I’m gonna head back to my dorm… something came up, and I’m just gonna… yeah, all good.”
Before she has time to respond, you’re already out the door and speed walking to your room. You pull up a note to draft responses, but in the time it takes you to finally come up with a simple “whenever works, i’m flexible”, you’ve already made it back.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gods, why are your hands all clammy? He’s just a boy, you think to yourself. You know that’s not true, but you try to convince yourself otherwise.
@teyvatenthusiast26: i’m free whenever; no worries
His stupid heart reaction to your message pops up almost instantly, and you feel your own stupid heart beating twice as fast as you wait for him to correct it to the thumbs up. He doesn’t.
@roses4lyney: sounds good
@roses4lyney: does liek
@roses4lyney: 15 mins from now work..???
Fifteen minutes?! That’s barely enough time to brush your hair and bind and get dressed and pack up your things and rehearse your introduction and chew your gum so your breath doesn’t smell like that damn popcorn Charlotte’s girlfriend left out that’s so easily accessible in her dorm.
@teyvatenthusiast: yep! would the library or a study room work better for you?
While your left hand frantically tries to smooth out your hair, your right hand digs through your top drawer in a desperate attempt to find your binder.
By the time you find it and get it on, your notifications have been flooded. Does this guy not know how to text?
@roses4lyney: so um
@roses4lyney: i lowkey dont feel like getting rwady
@roses4lyney: do you think you could come to my dorm instead 🥹🙏
@roses4lyney: ill like
@roses4lyney: pay you extra idk
@roses4lyney: i promise im not a freak
@roses4lyney: well i mean.
@roses4lyney: heh
@roses4lyney: JOKING
@roses4lyney: not really jokign
@roses4lyney: anywyas.
@roses4lyney: dorm 202 in the epiclese wing
@roses4lyney: thank yoi SO MUCH again
This is going to be… interesting, to say the least.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Whatever you were expecting from that “I don’t want to get ready” text, nothing could have prepared you for this. The person you’re greeted by when you knock is somehow even more charming than any description or selfie or any photo ever could describe. His hair is damp, like he just got out of the shower. The towel lazily tossed over his shoulder draws your attention to his slim figure, the cropped shirt sitting just so on his body to show off his perfect waist. It’s almost as if he was made to be looked at--
Gods, what is your problem? What has this man done to your mind? You’re here to teach him about forensics, for Celestia’s sake.
“Um, hi. I’m here to, uh, help with, um…” You trail off as you feel your face heat up in embarrassment. What is up with you? “Science.”
“Relax, sweetie. I don’t bite.” He lilts, his voice curling through the air and into your ears in a way so smooth you wouldn’t mind melting into the floor right here, right now. “Well, that is, unless you’re into that~”
WHAT. You fully expect to die from the mix of shock and some other feeling you don’t know how to put into words.
Actually, you do know how to put it into words. Two of them: turned on. Your face turns beet red as you simply stare at him in disbelief for a moment, mouth agape.
"You alright there, hon?" He asks you, his tone a mix of his signature flirty teasing and a hint of amusement. He checks his nails, examining them before looking you up and down a few times. "I would promise to tone it down, but I don't like lying."
Not knowing how to respond, you just let out a forced chuckle. What in Teyvat was that?! You find your eyes darting from side to side looking for any sign of something wrong, but no, this is his normal.
"Um. y-yeah, aha. Ha." You just awkwardly stand in his doorway, waiting for the "just kidding haha come in let's do forensics now" that you know will never come. He's way too... Lyney for that.
"Sooo, you gonna come in, or...?"
You internally sigh a breath of relief. Finally, we can get to the important stuff. Following him into his dorm, you get a good look at how much room there is. You find yourself wondering, is this why fees are going up? It would make sense given his position; he is the dean's son, after all.
"Um, yeah." You sit down in the chair he pulls out for you, his slim fingers lingering near yours for just a moment too long to be accidental. "So, you said you were having trouble with the forensics material? Where would you like to start on that?"
"Like, the whole thing, I guess."
Sigh. Remember, you’re getting paid for this…