Chapter Text
Asha looked out the window at the snow, and silently cursed the fact that she was going to have to go out in that once class was over. Winter is the absolute worst. She thought, and leaned back in her seat. This architectural history course was probably the least exciting class she’d ever taken, even if she included the seminar on rug fibers that she took last summer.
When she brought her gaze back into the classroom, she caught the eye of the boy sitting between her and the window, who winked at her. She smirked, and felt her cheeks warming. What even is with this boy’s fashion sense? Who does he think he is, a KPop Idol? Then again, with those looks, he probably could be.
“Alright class, that’s it for today. Those of you who are preparing for that exam, stay back, I’ve got some materials for you. The rest of you, have a good night and I’ll see you Friday.”
Asha gathered her things, and turned to look at her staring buddy. He had popped down to talk to the professor, and Asha smirked. Aha. A full-on Architecture grad, hm? No wonder he dresses like that, the stress has to be eating him alive. Not for the first time, Asha was glad that her masters wasn’t the kind that gave her that kind of exam. Just a practical porfolio review… and she needed to put more work into her portfolio for sure.
Asha was, once again, taking a break from her portfolio work. There was only so often she could stare at a blank cafe wall and try and come up with a layout that wouldn’t make her or the theoretical chefs want to throw themselves off a bridge.
She was scrolling twitter, looking for fanart of her favorite little webnovel, and as usual finding bascially none. But then, she stumbled across a tweet with a link, and bit her lip. Links were dangerous, and this one even looked like a download. But…it looked like a fan server for ‘Blooming Panic!’. Asha sighed, and glanced at the open tab on her other monitor, showing Lola’s end of chapter monologue. The webnovel was ending soon. If it was a horrible server, she could just leave. But it might be her last chance at finding other fans. She clicked.
After a moment of downloading followed by another moment of installing, Asha was shown an alternate Discord. It looked like a single-server install, and she chuckled. So the fandom was insular and cliquish? Well, it could be worse.
Oh. It needs a username? Asha bit her lip and considered. She didn’t want to use any of her usual nicknames, just in case these people were creeps. A quick look at her current state of being, and she typed in the first thing she thought of. “Raven.” Caw caw.
—Raven has joined the server—
xyx: why would i lie to you
xyx: i have literally never lied in my life
nightowl: LOL
onionthief: salo…
BIGLADY: >_<;;
salociN: What ?
onionthief: Do you honestly believe
onionthief: that
onionthief: you can get to a ‘secret internet’
onionthief: by plugging your router into the phone jack?
salociN: Have you tried it …?
onionthief:
onionthief: No!
xyx: see
xyx: he doesnt even know what hes talking about
Quest: everyone, please
Quest: we have a new member
BIGLADY:
BIGLADY: wha!!! o/
two2: oh shit
nightowl: welcome!!
salociN: Hello!
June: welcome! <3
Wow, they’re so… nice. Seems fake.
Raven: Hi :D
nightowl: :D :D welcome, new person!
two2: hi Raven
Quest: let me know if anyone gives you a hard time
Quest: we want you to feel comfortable here!
June: yeye
BIGLADY: mhm mhm
two2: mmmmm Raven
two2: Short name… should we just call u Raven or do u have a nickname?
Raven: Raven’s good. Looks like I’m not even the only birb in the house.
nightowl: peep?
BIGLADY: shouldn’t you hoot?
nightowl: can’t just go hootin at the new girl! it’s rude! XD
Quest: does everyone want to introduce themselves?
nightowl: ME!
onionthief: Hello, I’m onion. I’m a university student.
xyx: bland
nightowl: i’m NIGHTOWL! and i’m a university student as well!!
nightowl:
nightowl:
Holy Shit. Asha blinked and considered. Was there any possible way that wasn’t the cute boy she literally just had an eye-conversation with in class today? The earrings were right. The face was right. He had to have taken that selfie on campus today even. She’d remember that red scarf anywhere. Well, time to deflect.
Raven: Aw. Is that you? Cute!
nightowl: awwww thank uuuuu
nightowl:
two2: i’m ALMOST a university student
two2: almost,,,,,
BIGLADY: XD i used to be a university student!! look at all of us ~
xyx: this server is too educated
Quest: xyx…
June: hello helloooo, i’m June <3
June: I’m probably the biggest blooming panic super fan.
nightowl: sdjfkghkf
nightowl: it’s true!!
Quest: ha
Quest: who’s left - me and salociN?
nightowl: AND XYX
xyx: lol u wish
xyx: hello i am xyx
Raven: … is that it? LOL
nightowl:
Raven: Don’t stress mr nightowl i don’t blame you for his lack of introduction skills
xyx: mr nightowl lol
Quest: lol see, why bother trying
xyx: hello I am xyx and i enjoy money
Quest: god…
June: sorry, @Raven, he’s always like this.
onionthief: It’s quite annoying
salociN: Introductions?
nightowl: YA!!
salociN: You can call me salo. I have a lovely wife that I dote after and I’m enjoying my retirement.
June: salo is the best <3
June: now you, Quest!
Quest: lmao
Quest: I’m the server moderator - let me know if you run into any issues with these people
xyx: ‘these people’ wow
Quest: you deserve it
nightowl: awww toasty’s offline?
Quest: don’t worry, i’m sure he’ll show up sooner or later.
two2: soooooo Raven
two2: how did u find the server?
Raven: Oh, I just saw it on a social media site.
xyx: classic
nightowl: ohhhhhh, which website was it?
Raven: twitter!
Asha went to grab the permalink so she could share the tweet with them, but no luck. It, and the account that posted it, were already gone.
Quest: huh, must have missed that post
BIGLADY:
BIGLADY: me, too ^^;
Raven: I tried to grab you the link, but…
nightowl: it’s probably already down by now.
onionthief: Not surprising.
Quest: unfortunately true
Quest: It’s strange, but that’s pretty much how we all came here, too
Quest: a forum post, an old tweet
Quest: things like that, all disappearing after we click.
nightowl: even you, quest?
nightowl:
Quest: yeah
two2: how did u become mod then?
Raven: legit question
Quest: idk, it just happened to me when I joined
onionthief: Maybe because you were the first to join?
Quest: maybe
Quest: hmmm
nightowl: so Raven
nightowl: why’d you look for a server like this?
Telling them that she really wanted to find other fans, her real reason for being here… that was just too cringe and she couldn’t do it. Time for the usual excuse! It’s not a lie though. Sleep is an elusive beast.
Raven: i couldn’t sleep, so i just wanted to chat!!
nightowl: ahhhhh i can’t sleep either
nightowl:
June: same here
June: but
June: it’s because i can’t stop thinking about the next chapter D:
June: in any case, it’s nice to have somebody new on board to craft theories with
June:
Quest: Oh, wait, check the time
Quest: don’t you have class, onion?
onionthief: Yes - goodbye everyone. Except xyx.
nightowl: LOL
xyx:
xyx: u wound me nyaaaaa
—onionthief is now offline—
BIGLADY: oh, salo’s gone too ;^;
two2: he probably accidentally hit the power button again
June: aw poor salo
June: his kids should help him out more with all the computer stuff
Raven: Has he ever, like… unplugged the wrong thing?
nightowl: JDKGHSKFGH
nightowl:
nightowl: HE HAS BEFORE
Quest: oh, come on, he hasn’t done that recently
nightowl: or has he?
nightowl:
Quest:
nightowl: so, @Raven
nightowl: are you a student?
Shit. Could he know? No, Asha, you are being paranoid. There is no way that he could know you’re someone in his class. You’ve seen his photo but he has not seen yours. No reason to lie to him, I’m sure I’ll share a photo at some point. I can just hear mom now. “Asha, this is how you make friends.”
Raven: I am! Interior Design.
nightowl: Oh cool! Do you like it?
Raven: It’s a ton of work, but really fun. I just hope it translates into my dream job, you know?
Raven: I’m avoiding working on a portfolio piece right now, actually.
Raven: There’s only so many ways I want to design a single space, but they want the same space done 6 different ways. UGH.
Raven: Anyway, that’s a problem for Tomorrow Raven.
Quest: speaking of tomorrow
Quest: maybe i should head home and sleep soon
two2: already?
xyx: quest is the real server grandpa
Quest:
two2: how late do y usually stay up, @Raven?
Raven: man this is embarrassing, but…
Raven: maybe until 4am? ^^;
nightowl: this is identity theft
nightowl:
Raven: I mean i assumed you stayed up late because of your name, but…
BIGLADY: maybe you’ll have someone to stay up with you now! ^^
nightowl: :D i’d like that
NakedToaster: ahjksdhjkf
BIGLADY:
BIGLADY: toasty!
xyx: look who decided to turn on his second monitor
NakedTaster: pls
nightowl: hi toasty!
nightowl:
NakedToaster: hello hello etc etc
nightowl: we have a new person btw
NakedToaster: OH?
Asha blinked. Who the heck named themselves ‘NakedToaster’? Is that like a toaster without bread to toast? but then how is that naked cause that’s in not on… No buttons? NO PLUNGER?!
Raven: Okay so first question is what does it mean to be a naked toaster? Like, no buttons? No plunger handle thingy? I was going to guess that you don’t have toast but that’s in not on…
Raven: Whoops my designer is showing. Let me try again
Raven: Oh, hello toasty!!
NakedToaster: uh huh
NakedToaster: not answering any of that
nightowl:
Raven: lol no its fine i type before i think a lot
xyx: sounds like another bird brain we know
nightowl: hey
nightowl: rude
NakedToaster: idk how you guys can be in here all night
NakedToaster: you people never relax
nightowl: i feel pretty chill
nightowl: pretty zen
nightowl:
—Now Chatting in #fanart-dump—
xyx:
xyx: yooooo
Raven: omg!! dayu my darling.
June: OOHHHHHHHH
salociN: Gasp!
BIGLADY: This is so cool!! >///<
June:
June: I WISH THIS WAS REALITY
June: INSTEAD OF JUST DAYU
nightowl: the new girl knows dayu
June: she’s quickly rising in the ranks of my favorite person in the chat
Quest: poor Lola
Quest: that was a hard chapter to read
BIGLADY: ;^; it wasn’t her fault!!
BIGLADY:
salociN: Oh,wow ! This is amazing art !
June: so anyway DAYU
June: is one of my favorite AUs
June: bc it’s full of stuff like this
June:
nightowl: AND DAMIEN MADE THE RIGHT CHOICE
nightowl:
Quest: no way
Quest: it was such a selfish reason to end things
Quest: and it was really hard for Lola to deal with
NakedToaster: oh is everyone fighting in here
xyx: lol
NakedToaster: lol
nightowl:
nightowl: selfish or not
nightowl: he knew he wasn’t able to get over it
nightowl: and broke up with her
NakedToaster: oh it’s dayu again
NakedToaster: hm
NakedToaster: Raven, who do u agree with?
Raven: I mean, I’m a dayu truther so i’m sure this will be a surprise?
Raven: I agree with nightowl. Damien did the right thing.
Raven: the way he went about it wasn’t the best, but the honesty was real.
nightowl: right??
nightowl: sure, it’d be nice if he didn’t have that hang up
nightowl: BUT
Quest: ugh
nightowl: it’s better that he realized he wouldn’t be able to deal
Quest:
June: controversial character, either way
June: but still a good character
salociN: Agreed !
Raven: I say that, but like… ugh… don’t learn from Damien.
Raven: That is not how to handle a relationship choice, okay squids?
BIGLADY: squids??
Raven: I dunno, it’s gender neutral?
nightowl: i’m a squid now
xyx: nightsquid sounds like a bad superhero
xyx: like big marty
NakedToaster: YOU LEAVE BIG MARTY OUT OF THIS
June: @Raven, that’s really good advice, but it sounds like you know from experience..
BIGLADY: :( oh no
BIGLADY: has that happened to you?
Raven: Not this specifically, but… I am a little familiar with bad breakups and comments on my appearance.
I’d have to be. Asha thought bitterly. At least I have makeup as armor these days. A glance in the mirror reminded her that she’d taken off her face and put her hair back hours ago. Right now she was just a sleepy messy nerd. Tomorrow she’d be her rendition of a college beauty queen again. It was impeccable armor.
nightowl: WHAT
nightowl:
Quest: :(
June:
xyx: what do u look like
Quest: xyx
nightowl: XYX
xyx: WHAT
Raven: I’ll show you a selfie if you show me one of you first.
Quest: just ignore him, Raven.
xyx: i retract my request
Raven: Ha.
Raven: I changed a lot in college is all.
nightowl: i thought you were in college
Raven: yeah, grad school.
nightowl: me too!
I know, silly. Asha laughed. He was a dork. adorkable. Ugh. Why do I like this knock-off KPop brat?
BIGLADY: i’m sure you look very cute :D
salociN: Agreed !
salociN: Don’t let the trash get you down !
Raven: I learned how to do makeup!
Raven: Now even when I feel horrible, I can still look cute! It’s a win/win.
Quest: You seem like a good person, so
Quest: their loss
Quest:
nightowl: yeah!!
xyx: U CAN’T AGREE AFTER YOU DEFENDED DAMIEN
nightowl:
nightowl: THIS IS DIFFERENT
Raven: it’s totally different.
nightowl: still @Raven i’m sorry if i hurt your feelings
nightowl:
Raven: no!! it’s okay!!!!
nightowl:
nightowl: you’re too nice
NakedToaster: you really are
NakedToaster: Quest how bannable is offending new server members
Quest: hmmmm…
xyx: LOL
nightowl: please don’t ban me
Quest: hahahahaha
Raven: hey don’t ban owl
Raven: i agreed with him on Damien even
Raven: he’s done nothing wrong
xyx: damien discourse… oh how i missed you
NakedToaster: LOL
nightowl: MAN
June: alright, alright!! everyone be nice
NakedToaster: whoa
NakedToaster: mod June arc?
Quest: lmao
June:
Quest: you wish
June:
nightowl: Raven
nightowl: are you sure you’re alright
Raven: yeah lol!! don’t worry about it!!
nightowl: an angel
nightowl: a goddess
nightowl: a beautiful queen
xyx: flattery
nightowl: I’M SURE IT’S TRUE
Raven: awww, thank you <3
nightowl: anytiiiiiime
nightowl:
nightowl: i have a feeling u and i will get along
Asha laughed, leaning back in her chair. Yeah, honestly, they probably would get along swimmingly. Until the point where he realized she was a classmate, and then all bets were off.
xyx: uh huh
NakedToaster: sure
nightowl:
Raven: i think so too!!
nightowl: how about i give you a nice
nightowl: OFFICIAL
nightowl: server welcome
nightowl: in a call
nightowl:
nightowl: i won’t keep you long!!
Raven: lol i look a mess
Raven: but sure!!
nightowl:
nightowl: i’ll be waiting!!
Will he figure out who I am? I wonder if he can tell who a girl is without her makeup? Asha shrugged and tapped into the voice channel. The screen lit up with a room that was lit in pink, and the adorable dork from her class was sitting on his bed, stuffed bear even visible in the background. He’s a grad student? Asha looked back at her room with her multiple stuffies of fantastical creatures and fake plants on her bedposts and shrugged before hitting the allow button for camera. So what if they coordinated in a weird kind of way. It was fine, right?
“DRRRRRUMROLL, PLEASE!” nightowl said, and Asha laughed and made a drumroll against her desk even as nightowl did his own vocal foley work. “Announcing out newest and CUTEST server member, here in the flesh!”
Asha blushed and stuck her tongue out at him. She started to refute his statement, but he didn’t allow her to interrupt.
“Well, almost. Would be pretty fun if she was actually here.”
She wasn’t expecting this level of adorable from an architecture square.
“Nightowl!! Wha— that’s so cute!”
“Why, thank you! Means quite a bit coming from you. I can’t believe your ex criticized your looks. Was he blind?”
Asha shrugged. “N-no?” She still felt a little… less than great without her makeup.
“No way. He had to have been. You’re gorgeous!”
Asha stuck her tongue out at him. “A-ah! Thank you!! You should see me with makeup on, though.” You’d overlook me then. As usual. Well, except today… is today special somehow?
“Are you blushing? You are blushing!!” his laughter was contagious, and Asha grinned. “Ahem— anyway! Back to business! Welcome to the Blooming Panic server!! I do hope you enjoy your stay with us refined folk.”
They shared a laugh, and then he looked right into the camera at her.
“Do you have any lingering questions for me?”
Do you recognize me? Will I see you in class tomorrow? Asha wanted to ask, but couldn’t bring herself to. “About what?” she finally asked, smirking.
“Heh. Anything.” he said, and he looked so earnest she almost gave in. Would he be like this when he saw her in person, or was this just a persona he put on for internet friends only?
“Ah, not really. I’m just trying to get used to everything at the moment.” she said. It was true. Fan Servers were pretty simple to understand. The only tricky parts about this one were the people. Which was also par for the course.
“Okayyy, okayyy. I’m sure it’s quite a lot to take in at first.” he said, and the gentle way he closed his eyes definitely made her wonder what he was thinking. “A random program, new people— quite a bit for an introvert like yourself.”
“I-i’m not an introvert!” Asha sputtered out.
“That was so unconvincing!” he laughed, and she laughed with him. Sure, she could hold her own in social groups, but she really did prefer the comfort of her own space for design work. “Well, if you need anything, I’ll be here until the sun is up.”
Asha chuckled. “Truth in advertising, nightowl. I, however, have a morning class so I have to get up early to put my face on.”
“You don’t have a face right now?! What am I looking at!!”
Asha shook her head. “Makeup. I meant makeup.”
“Well… well.. okay, I don’t really have an argument. I promised not to keep you long.”
“Right. Goodnight, owl.”
“Goodnight!”