Chapter Text
Five Days Ago, 12:38 AM
[Mildred]: fuuchannn
[Mildred]: did you get home safe? babu and I saw you leave with uki >:3c
[Mildred]: (btw you have to tell me EVERYTHING when you come back)
Today
9:32 A.M: [Legatus505]: Oh, shit. I’m so sorry I didn’t see this.
9:32 A.M: [Legatus505]: I’m alive, I promise.
Fulgur considers typing something else, but Millie beats him to it as his phone chimes again.
9:32 A.M: [Mildred]: FUUCHANNN
9:32 A.M: [Mildred]: WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN
9:32 A.M: [Legatus505]: Dying. I’ve been trying to work on my thesis and finish some of my assignments.
He sees three dots typing, then pause. That’s weird. Millie usually just spams whatever’s on her mind.
9:33 A.M: [Mildred]: ohhh shittt D:
9:33 A.M: [Mildred]: i was gna ask if you wanted to meet up and hang out
9:33 A.M: [Mildred]: i submitted my project so i’m free :3c
Fulgur huffs a sigh. Relaxing with Millie sounds amazing, even though ‘relaxing’ is a strong word for all the adventures they usually go on together. But as he sits again in the wooden chair of the fairly crowded library, he’s reminded of how stressed he is. Printed revisions of his thesis drafts sit across his table in a scatter, with messy scrawls in blue pen all over them.
Ah. He’d been caught up in so much lately that he’d nearly forgotten the taste of shitty campus coffees and the pencil he usually has a bad habit of chewing on when he’s stressed. His assignments have been piling up as the semester comes to an end, and here he is, dealing with the repercussions.
9:35 A.M: [Legatus505]: Can’t. Sorry, there’s just too much going on right now. T_T
9:35 A.M: [Mildred]: but you’ve been SOOO busy D: can’t u take a break fuuchan
9:35 A.M: [Mildred]: AND i wanna hear all about uki HEHEHEHE
9:35 A.M: [Mildred]: and I have some stuff to show u too !!
The man just sighs into his cybernetic palm, and pushes his glasses further up the bridge of his nose. He eyes the small knitted cats that he had bought with Vox earlier in the week, the ones that sit in his open backpack, which lies on his table. He frowns, and stretches, ready to face his computer again after shooting one last text to Millie.
9:36 A.M: [Legatus505]: Sorry. Maybe next time, Mills. T_T
And with that, he shuts off his phone, downs his coffee, and gets ready to keep writing.
—
But, of course, writing is hard. So damn hard, in fact, that he’s allowed himself a little break, and now rests his eyes on his folded arms as he slumps over his study table. The library’s emptied out a little, but it’s only noon now, so he’s sure it’ll fill up again after classes end. Lucky for him, his only class was later tonight, which meant he could work for at least the next six hours in peace.
With his nose tucked into the crook of his elbow as he rests, his mind wanders back to what it always does these days: Uki. From just a stupid ‘operation’ he’d conjured up in the corner of a cafe with his friends, he and his dream boy were something .
He’d visited Uki quite a bit on the way back from his study sessions outside lately, texted him almost daily, and made it a point to shoot him a shy smile whenever he saw him around campus. And on the days where he’d pop into Uki’s room for a little before heading home, he was almost always greeted by a soft smile and an even softer “Hey, Fuufuu-chan.”
He realizes he’s smiling in his seat and shoots up, hoping no one saw him daydreaming like an idiot. He was happy, even as stressed as he was lately. He and Uki, while yet to go on a real date like his “operation” planned, were able to spend time together in a way that he had dreamed of only a few weeks ago.
At the internal mention of the operation, he bites his lip a little. Should he keep going, he wondered, and more importantly, should Uki know about it?
He leans back in his chair with an exhale. The operation could either be seen as scummy, cute, or plain creepy, now that he thinks about it.
Step 3: Ask him Out!!!!
Step 4: Go On a Date!
The last steps of the operation ring in his head. Surely, asking Uki out couldn’t be that hard now. But he was swamped with work, Fulgur reminds himself as he shakes his head and ties his hair back. He straightens up, powering his computer on again. Right— Thesis writing, that’s what he should focus on, just for now.
“Oh. You look cute with your hair up.”
The words are spoken so softly that Fulgur still thinks he’s daydreaming. But as he looks to his reflective computer screen, he’s met with a smiling Uki behind him. He swivels back immediately, in both shock and awe.
“U-Uki?” Sure enough, Uki Violeta’s standing behind his auburn wooden chair with a smug expression, dressed in a dress shirt and long skirt with enough accessories that make him look like a model. Is this how he always dresses on campus? Jesus.. I’m so screwed.
The man slips into the wooden chair next to Fulgur, setting his headphones on his neck and hanging his tote bag onto the side of the chair. “Thought I’d find you here.”
Fulgur wipes his face, now wildly aware of how he must look after having stared at his screen for the past 5 hours non stop. Uki just chuckles and leans against the table with one hand that cradles his chin. “J-Jesus, Uki, you scared me. What’re you doing here?”
“Looking for you, mainly. My final projects are all wrapped up, so I’m just waiting for winter break.” Uki’s eyes don’t leave Fulgur’s as he speaks. “And I’ve just missed you a little.”
Fuck, Fulgur’s mind supplies unhelpfully, Uki really was too cute.
The humanities major pushes his computer closed and organizes the messy workspace a little, face a little flustered in the process. “Oh.” He says dumbly, ignoring the wheeze Uki lets out.
“Oh?” Mismatched purple eyes tease him as Uki leans closer, mocking Fulgur playfully. Fulgur just groans.
“I just wasn’t expecting you, that’s all,” He nods towards all of his study materials, “I’ve been so busy. I think I’ll throw up if I write another draft.”
Uki pokes at some of the papers with a smile before place his hand flat on them and pushing them away a little.
Soon, Fulgur finds the man leaning over, enough to where Uki places a hand on his thigh and blocks his view with how close he is. “It wouldn’t hurt to take a break, you know.”
And Uki’s right, if he wasn’t taking a break right now he would take more. Studying for hours does wonders to his productivity, but to his health, not so much.
Fulgur sighs, “I know, I know. There’s just so much to do before break, and I want to finish it all because..” Suddenly, he finds himself being too embarrassed to continue.
“Because?” The
prettiest man he’s met
smug bastard smiles.
Fulgur looks away, grateful that the library’s practically deserted aside from the two librarians that he sits far away enough from to be hidden. As close as he is to Uki now, he still can’t help but cower at every opportunity Uki takes to make him open up a little.
“Because I wanted to spend more time with you.” He turns to Uki with a blush, “Like, a date. Someday. Soon.”
And maybe Fulgur should thank the professor who gave him the mountain load of work that landed him in the library to begin with, because getting to see the way Uki’s face looks both flustered and overjoyed beyond relief is enough to give Fulgur enough energy to finish all of his assignments in that instance. Uki’s hands find their way to Fulgur’s shoulders, pushing them close enough to where Uki’s almost in his lap.
“R-Really? Are you asking me out right now, Fuufuu-chan?” The words are uttered with awe and surprise, like Fulgur hasn’t been trying to court Uki for days.
“I mean— not yet! I’ll do it, uh, properly, soon. I just want to spend time with you, you know?”
But he can’t even elaborate further because Uki’s kissing him in the corner of the library and Fulgur is so helpless that he kisses Uki back with the same joy that the fashion major does. When they part, the sound of the library doors opening sobers them up.
Uki pulls away from him quickly, wiping his mouth. “S-Sorry. We said we’re taking it slow.”
Fulgur shakes his head, “N-No, that was.. that was fine.”
Their faces bloom into red blushes, both flustered as their minds catch up with their actions.
“I-I should probably let you study.” Uki whispers, smiling into his palm.
“Yeah. I-I’ll, uh, keep working.” Fulgur hisses in embarrassment, opening his computer back up as he tries to ignore Uki’s endeared gaze.
——
“Oh,” Millie whispers as she sees her friend pressed against his chair by the familiar purple haired man from a distance. She had come to drop off some good iced coffee to Fulgur for support, and to her luck, she had found him. With Uki. Kissing Uki.
Was he really even studying?
She bites her lip, almost a little bitterly, before pivoting around and exiting the library.
Maybe next time.
She squeezes the plastic cup of the iced coffee, and finds herself staring at the pavement, almost embarrassed, for whatever reason. It’s not like she hasn’t see. Fulgur getting busy before, it’s just ..strange seeing Fulgur getting busy with someone else, she reasons. She hasn’t seen Fulgur for a while, anyways.
The pavement shines back at her, blaring in its pale grey colors, until a dark shadow encompasses the pavement, unmoving.
She whips her head up to meet cyan hair and concerned eyes.
“…Millie, you good?”
The voice is deep, like she’s grown to expect now. Her eyes widen further as she processes Kyo’s presence, the same Kyo who’s holding a bunch of books like he’s about to work on some projects in the very library Millie’s standing in front of.
Oh. She got caught.