Chapter Text
Nothing seems to have changed on the campus of Great Men Academy in the last week, even if so much changed for Rose when she was away. The second semester of her final year starts as uneventfully as possible, even as those vying for their spots in the upcoming tournament continue their eager push for scores. Love is included amongst those would-be participants, and Rose can’t help but look fondly at Love’s determination around the whole thing.
“You’re serious about joining the tournament again this year then?” Rose asks, a few weeks into the term, from across their shared lunch table.
Love nods, mouth full of food, and Nuclear pipes up first from his space beside Love. “Why wouldn’t she be? She’s got to get her old body back, right?” He glances towards Love and she half nods in agreement while swallowing. “I mean, no offense, I’m still trying to win, but Love’s got a chance at two years running! That would tie Vier’s record.”
Rose’s gut twists a little at the mention of Vier’s name, but she keeps the half smile on her face. Sean’s expressions tend to be easier to control, less subject to the whims of her every emotion, and Rose is always grateful for it. Nuclear doesn’t seem to notice the twitch, but Love does, or simply knows to expect it, and gives Rose a look of sympathy before speaking up herself.
“I do want to join the tournament again, yeah.” Love says, but looks eager to shift the focus away from herself. “What about you, Sean? You joined last year, are you trying again?”
She shakes her head and finishes a bite of her lunch. “I’m not really interested. I want to focus on graduation.”
Menn, who is sitting beside Rose, speaks up. “Do you know where you want to study?”
Rose shakes her head again. “I’m still thinking about it.” It’s not strictly a lie when she says it this way, even if the only time she thinks about it is when she wakes up from stress dreams from avoiding thinking about it. Sean has an impressive transcript and could easily obtain letters of recommendation from any number of faculty members here at Great Men. Rose, on the other hand… her record is a bit more spotty. And only one of the two is a real person. While the others all are counting down to the tournament, Rose has her own countdown: to the university entrance exams, which are two weeks after.
The conversation continues casually in other directions and Rose is able to lose herself in thought without anyone giving her much notice. She’s wondering a bit about Love’s actual thoughts about winning the tournament again, and makes a mental note to ask Love again while they’re alone. Something about her expression didn’t sit right with Rose, she knows reluctance when she sees it.
Her phone vibrates and she pulls it from the pocket of her slacks. It’s a text from Good, and she smiles a bit without meaning to.
[I was right about the bio lab syllabus, I knew there was no way we would be covering immunology this early in the term.]
[How is your day? Anything interesting?]
Rose shakes her head a little. The ongoing saga of the incorrect syllabus finally has a satisfactory conclusion, she’s happy for him.
[[?Nothing so interesting as an incorrect biology syllabus. TBH I’m bored. Can I call you tonight]]
[Do you need more class help?]
She hadn’t needed class help in the first place, but Good’s interests are almost entirely scholastic on the surface, and Rose had taken the first opportunity he offered for them to talk, even if that meant her smiling and nodding through him explaining school work she already understood. She just likes to hear him talk about things.
[[?Sure. Are you free]]
[I’ll call you after my evening lab :) ]
[[.Talk to you then]]
Rose looks up from her phone to see Nuclear and Menn left to play some basketball across the courtyard and Love is looking at her with a smug knowing expression.
“Texting Good?” She asks, knowing the answer.
Rose rolls her eyes. “Stop looking so smug about it. You should be weirded out that I’m dating your brother.”
“Why would it be weird? He makes you happy.” Love seems to find no flaws in her own logic and smiles serenely.
Rose nods. “I guess you’re right.” She pushes her hair back out of her eyes. “Hey, do you want… to talk about the tournament?”
Love’s eyes widen slightly at the question. “What do you mean?”
Rose glances around. The two of them are the only people around for dozens of meters. There’s a chance that Rose is interpreting Love’s expressions incorrectly, but she’ll never know if she doesn’t ask. “Um, I mean, is there some reason you avoided talking about your wish? Did something change?”
Love’s cheeks are flushed and her eyes dart between Rose and the table a few times before she answers. “No, I still have the same wish. I’ve just gotten… sort of used to this body, I guess? It’s weird to think about having my old body back.”
Rose nods. “If you’re sure that’s all it is, I understand.” Love nods to confirm the statement and then stands and grabs her lunch tray before walking away.
Rose does understand the strangeness of shifting bodies, perhaps more than anyone else could, even the recent transition back to nearly full time Sean after her time as herself on school break was jarring for a week or so, settling back into this skin. She thinks, not for the first time, about how it would feel to be stuck as Sean the way Love is in her body. Would she forget what it’s like to be herself after a while? She considers the impending end of the school year. If she’s not Sean for long enough will she forget what it’s like to be him too?
Good calls that night, promptly after his evening lab as promised, and Rose can’t keep the smile off her face when she answers. “Hello.” She says.
“Hello.” Good says back.
Every time they talk like this on school nights Rose still has the form of Sean, and part of her wonders if Good is bothered by her voice like this, but it’s just not safe for her to be herself too long in the dorms. Someone would catch her.
“Did you have dinner yet?” She asks, sitting on the edge of her bed. She tucks one leg underneath the other and pulls a science book out of her bag and sets it on the bed beside her.
She can hear the hesitance in his voice when he answers and she laughs half way through his quiet “Not yet.”
“You should eat before you call me.” Rose can hear her own voice sounding slightly more stern than intended, but she can’t help it.
“Sorry… I told you I’d call you after the lab.” Good sounds shy and Rose laughs again.
“You don’t need to apologize, but if you don’t eat dinner I’m going to tell your sister on you.”
“Ugh, fine, fine. I’m putting my shoes back on. I’ll go get something from one of the vendors downstairs.”
The two of them continue their conversation through Good’s walk to the food stalls and even through the eating of his meal.
“It’s almost like we’re eating together.” Rose says wistfully as Good finishes his meal. “I wish I was there.” Good goes suspiciously silent and Rose suspects he’s blushing about how straightforward she was. “Good, are you still there? Did you choke on your food from embarrassment?”
“...No. I’m fine.” Good’s voice is quiet and Rose can almost see him sweating and rubbing his face. “I wish you were here too.”
Rose smiles to herself. She almost wants to tell him she’s proud of him for saying it, but she knows that would just embarrass him more. Before she has a chance to think of the right thing to say next Good speaks up again.
“Oh, actually, I wanted to tell you something.”
“What is it?”
“My Friday classes were cancelled so I was thinking of coming home a few days early and staying for the weekend.”
“Can I see you this weekend then?” Rose asks, a little more excited than her normal composure would usually allow.
“Actually, I promised a few teachers I would visit them anyway when I was back home, so I’m going to be on campus on Friday. Would you, um, do you want to have lunch together?”
“Yeah!” Rose’s voice cracks in an unflattering way and she regains her composure before continuing. “I mean, yeah. I usually eat with Love anyway.” Rose tries to wipe the smile from her face and fails. “You’re such a nerd, who comes back to visit their high school teachers?”
The rest of the week seems to drag incredibly slowly in anticipation of Good’s visit. Love of course notices her preoccupation but also knows the cause, and puts up with the amount of times Rose misses the beginning of conversations.
Friday comes and Rose’s morning classes cause her to miss Good’s arrival, but he’s already sitting with Love, Nuclear, and Menn when she brings her lunch to their table. He looks up and smiles at her approach and Rose wants to do nothing more than kiss him right now. Instead she smiles back and sits across the table from him.
“Hey Good, what a surprise.” She says with a smirk, opening her drink bottle.
Good just nods and looks a little embarrassed at Rose’s halfhearted subterfuge. “Hello, Sean.”
Menn and Nuclear seem oblivious, and carry on their conversation, while Love glances between Good and Rose a couple times before continuing her meal. By the time the meal is over Rose is bristling at keeping this secret and the second Good stands to clear his meal tray she follows. They dispose of the garbage and leftovers from their meals and Rose catches Good by the arm and pulls him into a nearby hall. When they’ve gone far enough she stops and pushes his back against the wall. Rose stands close, but not too close, just enough to revel in the way that she can look down at him when she’s Sean like this.
“I hate this.” Rose says, almost to herself in its quietness.
Good’s expression instantly shifts from vague discomfort to concern. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
Rose glances around them, they are still alone in the hall. “I hate that I can’t touch you.” Good’s jaw drops slightly, not helping at all with Rose’s self control, and she can see the sweat beading at his shirt collar. His face is getting redder by the second. “Anyone who knows about us thinks you’re dating my sister.” Rose sighs in frustration as Good nods nervously.
Rose checks their surroundings one more time before taking one of Good’s hands in both of hers and wrapping their fingers together. She looks back at Good from under her eyelashes. “Can I see you after school?”
Good nods. “Yes. I’ll be at home.”
Rose smiles, a big wide grin she almost never shows as Sean, and checks their surroundings one more time before leaning in and very quickly pecking Good on the cheek. She drops Good’s hand and half jogs back towards the courtyard. “See you then!” She calls over her shoulder, and laughs at Good’s still stunned expression.