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Caleb and his roommate were very different people.
It wasn't that they didn't get along, they were both civil to each other and hadn't run into any problems. But they also... Didn't have anything in common.
At all.
He and Caleb had had very few real conversations since the school year began.
Mollymauk was an art major, for starters. Caleb couldn't even fathom what that meant, in all honesty. His own friend Jester also happened to major in art and she was always drawing or painting strange things for strange assignments.
Arcane practices, now that was something that Caleb could understand. The combination of math and magic was what he loved. The more you understood, the more you could alter your own world.
Mollymauk’s side of the room looked like a war zone. A war that was fought with exclusively colorful items. His clothes overflowed out of his closet and often made their way to Caleb’s own pristine side of the room. He didn’t pay it much mind.
They got along fine.
Until Caleb came back from class one day, and saw that his desk had been rifled through. Beau liked to joke that he’d be able to notice if a single paperclip was moved, and she wasn’t wrong, but this wasn’t a single paperclip.
His breath became shallow. His heart was beating faster.
He wasn’t overreacting this time!
Caleb turned to his roommate, who was lying on his bed with work that he was unlikely to actually be working on, and seemed quite content with himself.
"You moved my things."
Mollymauk glanced up, a piece of purple hair falling into his face. "Oh, yes. I just needed to borrow a pen,” he said, lifting said pen in the air.
"So you came into my space and moved my entire desk around?" There was a voice in the back of his head reminding him to breathe, but that voice wasn’t quite loud enough today.
Mollymauk’s expression changed. He sat up without taking his eyes off of Caleb. "Alright, I'm now realizing I probably should have asked you first, but-"
"Yes, Mollymauk! You should have asked!" Caleb snapped. He went to rapidly fix the arrangement on his desk.
Mollymauk had hardly touched it, Caleb knew that in the back of his mind, but the mere thought that he'd come on his side of the room, his one personal space in the entire fucking campus, and messed with his things at all made an electric surge of anxiety in his chest, his stomach, his entire body.
What if this wasn’t the first time? What if Mollymauk had been doing this all along? The mere thought of his things being rifled through more than once had Caleb’s heart beating even faster.
Caleb shook his head of the thought as he put a pencil back in its rightful place.
When Caleb looked up, he realized that Mollymauk was still. This wasn't how he’d known Molly to act. Quiet? He was wringing his hands and watching with a look of... guilt? Since when did Mollymauk feel guilt for anything? He lived shamelessly, that was part of who he was, wasn’t it?
"I'm so sorry, Caleb," Molly's voice was startlingly quiet, almost too quiet. He stood up and went to reach out to Caleb, but seemed to think better of it. "I honestly wasn't thinking."
Caleb shook his head and let out a calming breath. It wasn’t calming enough, but he supposed that it wouldn’t be at the moment. "I probably should not have ah... snapped at you. But please don't do that again."
"I won't," Molly promised. “Let me make it up to you,” he held out the pen, and Caleb wordlessly took it. Alright, having it back made him feel a little better. “I’ll- I’ll buy you the book of your choice. I know you like new books.”
Caleb stopped. He was still trying to get his stuff back in the order that it was in before, but the offer of a free book... well, he couldn’t just ignore that, could he?
“Are you being serious right now?” He couldn’t always tell. Especially with someone who was getting through school by bullshitting.
“ Absolutely.”
Once glance at the tiefling’s face told Caleb that he was indeed serious. He chewed the inside of his mouth for a moment, heaving a sigh through his nose.
“I can’t let you do that.”
No matter how much it hurt to refuse an offer like that, this was only happening because he snapped at Molly. It wasn’t right.
“Alright, well...” Molly sighed. “I’ll find a way to make it up to you, and I will start by not touching your things.”
Lacking any more words, Caleb nodded, and went back to reorganizing.
Things between them the next morning were more awkward than they’d ever been. And Mollymauk wasn’t an ‘awkward’ type of person. Caleb made sure to leave the dorm before his roommate was out of bed to avoid any uncomfortable interaction. He wasn’t good at social interaction on a good day let alone when things were... weird.
-----
It was a few days later when he found himself telling his friends the story, as casually as ever, while he ate his lunch. He didn’t often divulge information about himself, but Beau asked what was “up” between the two of them, and he had no reason to lie.
“He touched your things?” Nott fumed. She threw her fork on her plate with fire in her eyes. “Want me to fight him?!”
Caleb chuckled a bit. “I don’t think that’s necessary, but thank you.”
“God, I knew that guy was an asshole,” Beau huffed.
“He’s not that bad!” Jester defended. “Caleb said he apologized.”
Caleb nodded in agreement. “ Ja, it’s all dealt with.”
“Yeah? ‘cause I haven’t seen you two around each other since,” Beau said with a raised eyebrow, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning back in her chair.
Caleb gave a heavy sigh, because that was true. “Things have been different since it happened.”
“Then it’s not dealt with.”
Oh, that was also true. He didn’t say anything after that, lacking anything substantial to really add. So he let the others continue with their own conversations while he quietly ate his meal.
As he let his mind wander, Caleb realized he hadn’t seen Molly since that morning. Sure, they had different classes and schedules, but he would have expected to see him around campus at some point.
“Has anyone seen Mollymauk today?” He asked, and then quickly closed his mouth when he saw that he’d interrupted an unrelated conversation about the color that they were painting the student lounge. “Ah, sorr-
Jester frowned. “Actually... I don’t remember seeing him in class this morning. Did he say anything?”
“Uh…”
“Oh, right, you’re not talking.”
Caleb sighed and nodded.
“Maybe he just skipped,” Beau shrugged. “Everyone does it sometimes.”
“Except for Caleb!”
“ Ja, well not everyone can be as adamant about education as me,” Caleb deadpanned before returning to his meal. If anything, it got a giggle out of Jester.
Perhaps he could go back to the room. He had a couple of hours that he was going to waste in the library, but he wasn’t going to be able to forget what Jester said about Molly missing class. He was curious now, damn it, he had to see for himself.
Part of him, no- most of him hoped that Mollymauk wasn’t there at all. He could have been anywhere else, and he wasn’t the type to hide out in their room when there were things to do and places to go.
Caleb was just about to open the door to his and Mollymauk’s room when he heard a sound from inside. A cough. It didn’t sound like the type that came from swallowing the wrong way, but the sort of cough that came from illness.
It made sense that he was ill. That was a good excuse to not have gone to class. Caleb hadhardly glanced at his side that morning, perhaps he’d been sick all day.
His hand hovered over the doorknob for a moment. Should he let him rest? Come back later? He asked Molly to respect his space, perhaps this would be a good way to do so in return.
Caleb, once again, let his curiosity get the best of him. He entered and closed the door behind him before he decided to look up. When he did finally look towards Molly’s side of the room, he saw the tiefling sitting in bed, wrapped in a sweatshirt that Caleb was quite certain didn’t belong to him. It didn’t belong to Caleb either, though, so he didn’t bother wondering.
“Hello,” he said as casually as he possibly could. He quickly started rummaging through his bookshelf as if looking for something.
Mollymauk sniffed, which just confirmed Caleb’s assumption that he was sick. “How was class?”
“It was fine.” He fidgeted with a book about the practical applications of magic in urban areas, an interesting one that he’d already read through twice and had no real intention of reading again. “You’re not going for lunch?”
Molly chuckled and shook his head, unruly purple curls shaking as well. “As it happens, I’m not feeling so well today.” He sighed dramatically, or attempted to, but it seemed to just make him cough. He winced, hand going to his throat. “Perhaps I should find somewhere else to sleep? I’d hate for you to get sick.”
Caleb sat at his desk and began fiddling with the cap of a pen. “Germs don’t bother me.”
“Are you sure?” He asked, voice going up at the end with his accent. “It could be the flu. I was with Yasha all of last week when she was laid up with it.”
Caleb remembered hearing Beau mention that Molly’s friend was out sick. Very clearly remembered, because that was one of the few times he’d heard pure concern in her voice.
He’d wondered if Molly and Yasha were dating when he first got to know them, but as he watched them interact, he learned that that wasn’t the case. He wasn’t exactly sure how the two knew each other, but they seemed to have a nice friendship.
“I’m sure,” he confirmed. “There is a big list of things that bother me, and germs are very low on that list.” He offered a small smile, or tried to. Nott once told him that he wasn’t always actually smiling when he thought he was.
A corner of Mollymauk’s mouth turned up. He gave a gentle nod. “Alright.”
Caleb cleared his throat. “I should be getting to the library...” With the book that he now had to take with him. “Are you... good?”
“I’m fantastic!” Those words would have been a little more believable had Molly’s voice not died out at the end.
-----
Beau had wanted to study together, and Jester thought the group of them should go for a walk ( “Just for something new, you guys!” ) Caleb didn’t get back to the room until the time he usually went to bed. Which... wasn’t very late at all, if he was being honest. Molly was the night owl, though how a person could be both a night owl and a morning person was beyond him.
However, the room was dark when he entered. Caleb tried to step in as quietly as possible, only to slip on some clothing on the floor. Mollymauk’s clothing, of course. He caught himself before he fell, but it seemed the damage was done. Mollymauk stirred awake.
“Caleb?” His voice sounded far worse than it had before. Molly barely had a voice left.
Caleb winced. “I was trying to be quiet.”
Mollymauk gave a small cough and reached across his bed to turn on the light. He squinted, yawned. “ ‘s alright. I needed to wake up, anyway. Time is it?”
“Ten,” Caleb answered without glancing at the clock.
Molly groaned. “I slept all day...”
“Probably a good thing?”
“ Maybe, if I’m able to sleep tonight at all. Fuck, I should’ve set an alarm.” He curled up in bed and muffled another groan into his pillow. After a few seconds, Mollymauk went to sit up, only to quickly close his eyes and lower himself back down.
“Dizzy?”
“Just a little lightheaded,” he said, eyes still closed.
“Have you eaten anything today?” It was a casual question. Caleb had experience with forgetting to eat.
“I’m not hungry. At all. In fact, puking may be in my near future,” he muttered pitifully.
Caleb frowned. He was really sick.
He wished that he knew how to help, or what to say to… fix it. Instead, he continued to get ready for bed while he listened to his roommate give some truly painful-sounding coughs.
-----
Caleb woke in the middle of the night to the sound of hushed whimpers. For a moment, he wondered if he should just go back to sleep. Perhaps he shouldn’t be bothering Mollymauk. But, as he thought further, he never imagined Mollymauk being one of those people, and the crying seemed to get worse the longer Caleb waited to act.
“M-Mollymauk?” he questioned quietly into the dark.
The whimpering stopped. There were a few sniffles, and a shift in the other bed. “Sorry,” Molly said, breathless and broken and far different than he’d ever sounded like. “Sorry, Caleb.”
“Are you alright?”
“I-” a sob. “I don’t- I don’t feel well.” His voice was rough like he hadn’t used it in a while.
Before Caleb even realized what he was doing, he sat up and swung his legs over the edge of his bed. He was awake now, anyway, and he probably wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep knowing that something was going on.
“Anything I can do?”
A teary chuckle. “Oh, don’t worry about me.”
“A bit difficult, now,” Caleb said in a teasing tone, or as much of a teasing tone as he himself could muster. He heard another laugh from Mollymauk, which made him somewhat optimistic that he could help. “I have some medicine in my desk, I usually take it for headaches but it should help your fever.”
A few seconds of silence before a quiet, “I-... sure, that might be nice.”
Caleb padded his way to his desk, turned on the lamp, and found the small bottle. He grabbed the water bottle off of Mollymauk’s own desk and delivered them both to him.
Now, in the dim light Caleb could see tear tracks down the tiefling’s face. His cheeks were bright with fever, contrasting with the rest of his skin. He didn’t look like the jovial Mollymauk that Caleb was used to living with.
Molly nodded his thanks and swallowed the pills, finishing his sip of water with a cough.
Caleb considered what to do now. He wasn’t going back to sleep any time soon, so what was he supposed to do with his time?
“Do you want me to stay up with you until the medicine kicks in?” The question was born purely out of his situation and not selflessness, he told himself. ‘ May as well’, right?
Molly smiled and laughed. “Honestly, I wouldn’t stop you if you did."
Caleb nodded, rolling his desk chair closer to Molly’s bed and sitting with his folded hands in his lap.
They chatted about nothing in particular for the next half hour or so until Molly stopped shivering. It was nice. It almost felt… comfortable.
-----
There was more than Mollymauk in the room when Caleb returned after class. He quickly identified the person as Yasha, the quiet woman that Mollymauk was so close with. They were in bed together, a tight fit as Yasha wasn’t a small person, but Mollymauk looked content, and sound asleep.
“Ah, hello,” he said, nodding a greeting toward her.
She nodded back. “I hope it’s alright that I’m here. I just wanted to keep Molly company.”
“You’re always welcome,” he told her without thinking about it.
She gave a small smile, and then cleared her throat. “He told me about last night. Thank you for taking care of him.”
“I didn’t do that much,” Caleb said as he set his things down in their rightful places.
“You did, though,” she insisted. “Thank you.”
Lacking anything else to say, Caleb just smiled and nodded.
-----
Mollymauk missed classes for another day before he finally braved going out. It was clear that he wasn’t feeling amazing quite yet, but one could only take so many days off before they started feeling useless, especially one who wasn’t used to being in bed all day.
Caleb found himself getting back to the room before Mollymauk. As much as he liked his roommate, it was nice to have the space to himself. He sat at his desk with a content sigh, only to find something new in front of him.
At first, he felt that same electric surge in his body that he’d had when he first saw that Mollymauk had taken a pen without asking. But-
Something gift wrapped?
He read the folded paper on top immediately.
Caleb,
Thank you for looking after me, and please accept this and a thousand apologies for upsetting you the other day.
Love, Molly <3
Caleb raised an eyebrow and inspected the package before finally unwrapping it. A book, a brand new book.
Spell Creation Through the Ages
Caleb could cry of happiness. He’d been wanting this exact book since he heard of its release, but he had so little disposable income these days to spend on new books.
He wasted no time opening it and starting the first chapter. Only a few minutes in, his phone buzzed.
Nott: did he give it to you?
Caleb: He did. Are you responsible for this?
Nott: all i did was give him advice when he asked for gift ideas!
Caleb smiled, found himself chuckling. This was certainly going to be an interesting school year.
Oh well. He had reading to do.