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Sethos is running late. This is the worst possible day (out of every day he has ever lived in his entire life) to be running late. If he's late today, he won't have enough time to unpack his stuff, which means he won't get a full eight hours of sleep, which means he'll be grumpy and tired for his 8am lecture tomorrow. His first lecture. On his first day of college. How is he going to start his college career tired and grumpy? That is so not the tone he wants to set for this year. This is his year, and he's going to crush it.
"Next!"
"Hi, my name is Sethos, I'm in room 413-"
"Whoa, whoa, slow down," the girl says immediately, holding up her hands. "Say it at the speed of a normal human, please."
Sethos takes a deep breath and repeats himself. He waits (patiently) for her to find his name in the list and then (not so patiently) snatches the key out of her hand and sprints off to his dorm. This is somewhat difficult to do considering the amount of luggage he's currently carrying, but Sethos didn't get a hockey scholarship for nothing. He's just athletic enough to pull off something this stupid.
His face is red by the time he gets to the fourth floor (stairs are always faster than the elevator). He's panting and sweating as he arrives at his dorm and unlocks the door. He doesn't even think about the kind of impression this is going to make on his new roommate until the door bangs open, and there's a short, blue-haired boy looking up at him with an alarmed expression.
"Sorry," Sethos says immediately. He's still breathing heavily as he goes on, "My plane was late… turbulence… and there was a problem… with the rental car… and then traffic… you know, like… traffic, man."
The boy rears back slightly, not looking any less concerned.
Sethos laughs. "Sorry," he says again. "You don't need to hear all that."
He lugs his suitcases into the room, and with one last heave, throws them unceremoniously onto the unoccupied bed. He turns around and smiles brightly, the expression falling just a little as his roommate continues to regard him as though he has two heads. Sethos lets out a breathless, nervous laugh.
"Sorry," he says for a third time. "I'm Sethos. You must be Scaramouche?"
"No," says his roommate (or not…?).
Sethos' eyes widen. "Oh. Shit. Did I get the wrong room?"
"413?" the boy asks him. Sethos nods. "It's the right room."
"Oh." Sethos sends him a confused look. He stares back with the same aggrieved expression. "The… system… thingy said my roommate's name was Scaramouche," he explains.
"That's weird," says his roommate (maybe??). "My name is James."
"Oh. Well." He shakes himself, reaching a hand out. "My name is Sethos. Nice to meet you."
The boy glances at his hand, then back up to his face. He doesn't move.
Sethos huffs, awkwardly withdrawing his hand. "Okay," he says. "Good talk, buddy."
They don't speak again for the rest of the day.
***
Sethos is tired for his morning lecture, but he's not grumpy. He's a little excited, actually. This is a biology class. Biology is cool, right? But during the course of the 50-minute lecture, his enthusiasm dims somewhat. This class sounds hard. He doesn't want to take a hard class right off the bat. Sethos is smart enough, but he's not a genius or anything! He should've definitely started with an easier class.
He becomes increasingly demoralized as the day goes on. He starts to think he can't do this at all. He shouldn't have even gone to college. His classes are too hard, his roommate thinks he's a freak, and he's going to fuck up in practice and make the entire team hate him, too.
He quietly changes into his gear. James is sitting at his desk, facing away from Sethos. Sethos hesitates before getting ready to leave. He bites his lower lip. Maybe he should try again? There's still a chance this can be a good day, right?
"Hey, James," he calls out. His roommate doesn't even twitch. "James? Hello?"
James turns around in his chair, looking confused. "Are you talking to me?" he asks.
"Um… yes?" says Sethos. "Did I say your name wrong?"
James gives him that same look from yesterday and says, "Dude, my name is Ben."
Sethos cocks his head. "Huh?"
"My name is Ben," says Ben (apparently).
"Uh-huh." Sethos examines his face carefully. It doesn't seem like he's joking, but… he has to be, right? He said his name was James just yesterday. "Did you change it?" he asks.
"No," says Ben (??) in an annoyed tone. "My name has been Ben since the day I was born."
Sethos isn't sure what's going on here. The guy has to be messing with him. Can he tell Sethos is gay? Is that what this is? He knows Sethos thinks he's cute, and he's trying to tell him he's not interested. That has to be it.
(He is cute. Sethos blushes under his stare.)
"Um, okay," he says. "Ben. How were your classes today?"
Ben (his name is totally not Ben) gives him a confused, faintly disgusted look. Sethos' face falls. He does know, doesn't he? And he thinks Sethos is a gross pervert.
"I'm not hitting on you," Sethos says quickly.
His roommate's face screws up even further. Shit. Sethos had it wrong. Ben didn't even know he was gay, but he sure knows now. Of course, Sethos does what he always does when he's nervous, which is babble and start sweating.
"I mean, I am gay," he says, then cringes. That was pretty fucking obvious. "But I don't think you're cute. I mean… not like, I don't think you're cute, you're cute, I'm just not attracted to you. So you don't have to worry about me, like, being weird or anything." He then laughs, because he's being super weird. "Anyway, I have to go to practice now, so… bye!" He quickly slithers out the door, his cheeks burning.
That was a disaster. Fuck. Now his roommate thinks he's some crazy pervert. Only a pervert would insist he's not a pervert! Not that Sethos should have told him he was a pervert, that probably wouldn't have helped-
Sethos turns and flees, hoping that someone at practice knocks into him hard.
***
The next day, 'Ben' tells Sethos that his name is Noah. Sethos is pretty sure this is a prank by now, but he just plays along. Every day he asks his roommate what his name is today, and every day there's a different answer. Sethos starts to wonder where he's pulling all these random names from.
A week into his college career, Sethos confesses to Cyno that he thinks this was all a huge mistake. His cousin claps him on the back and says, "It'll be okay, dude. You're still getting used to everything. Give it time."
"Okay," says Sethos sullenly, dragging his feet across the quad. He suddenly perks up and says, "Oh, do you still want to see the new limited-edition card I got?"
Cyno's eyes gleam. "Absolutely."
Sethos grins. He takes Cyno over to his dorm. His roommate is there, and he looks up at Sethos from the bed. Sethos waves at him and says, "Hey. This is my cousin, Cyno. Cyno, this is my roommate, John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt."
His roommate snorts. He tries to cover it with his hand. He's perfectly composed in an instant, saying imperiously, "My name is Sam."
"Don't mind him," says Sethos. "He's a compulsive liar."
Cyno gives him a curious look. He oohs and ahhs over Sethos' new TCG card, and they talk about the game for awhile before Cyno leaves.
Sethos does a little homework before deciding he needs a break. He looks over at his roommate and says, "I'm gonna take a shower."
"Do what you want," comes the reply. He looks up briefly, and Sethos gives him a little smile. He narrows his eyes and returns to his book, unimpressed.
Sethos showers and goes to change into his clothes, except he realizes the shirt he brought with him is too small. His mom packed some of his clothes, and there are a few shirts that don't fit anymore. He shrugs and slings it over his shoulder, returning to his room sans shirt. The AC actually feels good on his damp skin, so he thinks maybe he'll leave it off for a little bit. He puts his shower things away and sits back down at his desk, resuming his homework.
A few minutes later he hears a quiet, "Aren't you missing something?"
Sethos turns his head, looking up. "Huh?"
His roommate's pretty blue eyes flick briefly up and down his bare torso. He gives Sethos a pointed raise of the eyebrows.
"Oh. You want me to put on a shirt?"
His eyes travel southward again, lingering longer this time. This time, when he meets Sethos' eyes there's a clouded look to them. "Do what you want."
Sethos cocks his head. Is he misreading this? He probably is. He's probably just making his roommate uncomfortable. But… what if he isn't? What if Sam (or whatever the fuck his name is today) wants him to keep his shirt off?
"Okay," Sethos says slowly. "How about… you tell me what you want, mystery roommate whose name I still don't know?"
His roommate rolls his eyes and says, "Isn't it obvious?"
"Mm… not really," Sethos points out. "You kind of lie to me every single day, so I honestly have no idea what you want."
A little smirk twists his lips. "Let me know when you figure it out," he says before going back to his book.
Sethos ponders that for quite some time. Is he flirting? Sethos is notoriously bad at telling when people are flirting with him.
In the end, he decides to keep his shirt off.
***
The first time his roommate scares the absolute bejeezus out of him, Sethos screams like five-year-old girl.
He's just going to grab his brush out of his cupboard to run through his hair real quick when a shrieking bat suddenly jumps out at him. Sethos leaps back several feet and lets out a high-pitched yelp. He even falls onto his ass because he's so desperate to get away from it. He doesn't realize what's happened until his roommate starts cackling.
"Oh my God, your face," he says between peals of laughter.
Sethos looks from the cupboard to his roommate and back again. It's… a Halloween decoration. His roommate put a motion-activated Halloween decoration in his cupboard. Sethos sighs in relief, placing a hand to his chest. His pulse is going crazy.
"You scared the shit out of me," he complains.
"So worth it," his roommate laughs. "God, that was so fucking funny."
"It was not," Sethos argues, but he can't help laughing, too.
His roommate's eyes are bright when he laughs. Sethos' heart starts to race for a different reason. He's really cute. Damn.
***
The second time, he hides behind the door with the light off and jump-scares Sethos when he comes inside. Sethos screams again.
"Dude, stop it!" he demands, smacking his roommate on the arm as he laughs.
"You're so easy to spook," he returns.
Sethos sighs, trying to catch his breath. "I know. Cyno used to do it to me all the time." He grins. "You've got to stop, man."
His roommate smirks and crosses over to his side of the room. Sethos tries not to stare. That fucking laugh, his smile-
Sethos quickly distracts himself, taking deep breaths.
***
His roommate starts to play other pranks on him. He leaves cinnamon-flavored gummy bears in random places all over Sethos' side of the room. He folds up tiny paper cranes and sneaks them into Sethos' pockets. He puts up a sign that says 'This room has gone 0 days without Sethos screaming like a girl.'
It's cute. It's really, really cute. Every time Sethos finds one of his paper cranes, he gets a goofy little smile on his face.
"I have a problem," he says to Cyno while they're clustered together at a table in the library.
"Tell me, man," says Cyno. "I'm a problem solver."
Sethos takes a deep breath and says, "I have a crush on my roommate."
"Oh. Yeah, I already knew that."
"What?" Sethos sputters.
Cyno tilts his head and says, "Did… you not know that?"
"Well, I've been trying to deny it," he says, shifting uncomfortably in his chair.
"Yeah?" Cyno raises an eyebrow. "How's that working for you?"
"It's not," Sethos admits.
"He still hasn't told you his name?"
"I'm pretty sure it's just the one on the room assignment. Scaramouche. But he won't respond to it."
"Hang on. I got a friend who's in your building." Cyno pulls out his phone and sends a text. He waits a few seconds for a reply, then starts texting again.
"Who are you texting that texts you back immediately?" Sethos asks, suspicious.
"Just this guy."
"Mhmm." Sethos narrows his eyes. "Are you dating him?"
"I wouldn't say 'dating,'" says Cyno.
"You're hooking up with him?"
Cyno shrugs. He turns the screen to Sethos and says, "Look, he says his name's Scara."
"Scara?" Sethos repeats. He looks at the text. "Oh. So it's like a nickname."
"Yeah. Try calling him that."
Sethos nods, and then a thought occurs to him. "Hang on, does everyone know what his name is except for me? Am I the only one he refuses to tell?"
Cyno shrugs again and says, "Maybe."
"But… what does that mean?" Sethos asks him. "That he doesn't like me?"
"Or that he does."
Sethos groans. "Cyno, you know I can never tell when someone's flirting with me."
Cyno reaches over, slapping him on the back. "It'll be okay, man. Just, like… go over there and kiss him or something."
"What?" Sethos shakes his head. "Just kiss him out of nowhere?"
"Works for me."
"Of course it works for you! You're…" He gestures up and down Cyno's body. "You!"
Cyno's brow furrows. "Hang on a second," he says. "Sethos, do you think you're not hot?"
"Hot? No. I'm, like… average. You know, just an average-looking, average-sounding… just average kind of guy."
Cyno gives him a skeptical look. He leans in and says seriously, "Sethos. Buddy. I say this in a completely non-incestuous way, okay? You are hot. Like, objectively."
"Ew," says Sethos, leaning away from him.
"I said in a non-incestuous way!" Cyno insists.
"Saying 'it's not incest' doesn't make it not incest!" Sethos protests.
Someone shushes them. Sethos turns bright red, hunching his shoulders. Did he really just shout that in the middle of a library?
"Sorry!" Cyno calls out, raising a hand. "I'm totally not fucking my cousin, just so everybody knows."
"Shut up," Sethos hisses, elbowing him hard. "You're making it worse!"
After a furiously-whispered argument they leave the library, still elbowing each other.
***
"Hey, Scara," Sethos says quietly. His roommate looks up in surprise, and Sethos exclaims, "Ha! I knew it!"
Scara rolls his eyes. He looks back down at his textbook, and Sethos thinks he catches a hint of pink in his cheeks.
"How come you wouldn't tell me your name?" Sethos asks him. "You tell everyone else your name."
Scara shrugs and doesn't answer.
"You just wanted to mess with me?" Sethos guesses.
He sighs and looks up. "Still haven't figured it out, huh?"
Sethos throws his hands up. "I don't know what you want! Just tell me what you want."
"Why would I do that?" Scara drawls. He flips the page, even though Sethos is 90% he hasn't read it.
Sethos frowns. This is flirting. It must be flirting. If Cyno is right (which he usually is) then Sethos is hot enough to just go over there and kiss him and get away with it. If Cyno is right (he's totally wrong, isn't he?) then all Sethos needs to do is go over there and take what he wants.
He can feel his own heart beating in his throat. If Scara came to him… If Scara came to him, Sethos could do it. He just needs confirmation first. He couldn't deal with being rejected by his cute roommate who scares the living daylights out of him on a weekly basis and leaves little paper cranes in his pockets. (It would break his heart.)
Sethos hesitates for another moment. If he does this, there's no taking it back. He slowly shifts in bed until he's sitting up with his legs hanging over the edge. He pulls his shirt off, throwing it aside. (Scara always stares when he takes his shirt off. It would seem like an obvious sign, but maybe Sethos is slow, because he still isn't sure.)
"Hey, Scara," he says again, softly.
"What do you want?" Scara asks. The instant he looks up, he takes in a sharp breath. His eyes run all up and down Sethos' chest before he finally meets his eyes.
Sethos takes one last breath and says hoarsely, "You."
A smirk lifts the corner of his mouth. "Is that right?" he purrs.
Sethos nods. "Come here."
Slowly, Scara shifts out of bed and approaches him. He crosses the room on light feet. Sethos watches him, his eyes scanning those slender limbs and trim waist like he's never let himself before. Scara stops right in front of him, their knees touching. Sethos grabs him and pulls him down into his lap. Scara gasps. He throws his arms around Sethos' shoulders.
Sethos searches his eyes. He's like… 97% sure (98… 99?). It has to be enough.
He leans forward, capturing his lips. Scara sighs into him, responding immediately. He pulls Sethos closer. (A hundred. Definitely a hundred.) Sethos wraps his arms around his waist and holds him tight. Scara's kisses quickly turn heated, and Sethos responds in kind. (A thousand. A million. Sethos is very fucking sure at this point.)
He flips them so Scara is flat on his back on the mattress, and Scara lets out a whimper. "Finally," he says breathlessly, pulling Sethos down on top of him. Sethos laughs into his mouth.
***
"Hey, Sethos' cousin."
"You know I have a name, right?"
"I don't care," says Scara. He raises his voice and says, "Isn't that the guy you're fucking?"
He's immediately shushed by several people. Two tables away, the guy who's been staring at Cyno very conspicuously for the last half hour blushes fiercely. He looks up at Scara with a glare before his eyes dart to Cyno. His face softens.
"Hey, Nari," Cyno calls out to him. "Why don't you join us?"
Tighnari smiles and packs up his things to bring them over to their table. "Hi," he says breathlessly.
"Hi, Tighnari," Sethos greets him, raising his hand. "Have you met my boyfriend, Josh?"
His face scrunches. "Isn't your name Scara?"
"His name's Josh today," Sethos explains.
"Oh," says Tighnari. He still looks confused.
"Sit down," says Cyno, pulling out the seat next to him.
Tighnari bites his lower lip. "Are you sure?"
"Do I look unsure to you?"
"Um… no?"
"Okay, then. Sit down," Cyno repeats.
Tighnari plops into his seat. Cyno immediately throws an arm around him.
"So," he says, "my cousin has this theory."
"Oh. Your cousin is… Sethos?" Tighnari says uncertainly.
"Yeah. Keep up." Cyno reaches out and taps him on the nose. "Do you want to hear it?"
"Sure," he agrees.
"Sethos thinks I can make anyone do anything I want just by kissing them."
"That's not what I said," Sethos quickly protests.
"Not talking to you, peanut gallery," Cyno says, not looking at him. "Can you help me test it?"
Tighnari flushes. "Um… okay."
Cyno leans in to give him a kiss. Scara elbows Sethos and says, "Look, they're gay."
"You're literally gay," Sethos points out.
"Yeah and so are they, 'cause kissing dudes is gay," Scara insists.
"Why are you saying gay like it's an insult?"
"Because I mean it insultingly."
Sethos snorts. He rolls his eyes, elbowing Scara back. They both turn to Cyno and Tighnari, who part breathlessly.
"Whatever it is, yes," Tighnari says the instant they break away.
Cyno laughs. "I haven't even asked you yet."
"Doesn't matter," says Tighnari, shaking his head. "I'll do anything you want."
"Oh, gross," Scara complains.
"Why is it gross?" Sethos asks him.
"'Cause they're both dudes. That's gross."
Sethos laughs in disbelief. "What are you even saying right now?"
Scara laughs back and says, "You've really got to learn to stop taking me seriously, babe."
Sethos shakes his head and pulls him in for a kiss.
They get kicked out of the library for being 'inappropriate.' Sethos doesn't mind. He slips his hand into Scara's and tugs him back to their room, where they fall into bed, studying forgotten.
Sethos has got this. This is his year.