Chapter Text
Faruzan has never stepped foot in the building in front of her before. She's walked right by it plenty of times to get to her classes and not even spared it more than a glance, which she now finds herself regretting, because she is hopelessly lost inside of it now. Music can be faintly heard from many rooms and none of them give her a clue on where she's supposed to be as most are shut and have signs on them to show they are occupied.
As she makes her way up the first flight of stairs hoping for better results on the second floor, she hears more music, but louder this time. She excitedly approaches, hoping she's finally found what she was searching for. On fast feet she rushes towards the song blaring through the halls until she finds herself looking into a room with only one person in it.
She's sure this isn't it, so she sighs as she stands there for a second to try building up motivation to continue her search. She's disappointed as stands, trying to reassure herself with thoughts that she'll definitely find the room soon, when movement catches her eye from the room. She sees flashes of red moving and realizes it's the hair of the person she had seen beforeーa girl with her hair up in twin ponytails.
She's started up with some dancing and even with only a few moves done, Faruzan finds herself unable to tear her eyes away. She does a twirl, her hair flowing behind her and her practice clothes puffing out and falling back into place before she continues her steps, doing things Faruzan couldn't begin to put a name to. Whatever they're called, Faruzan can't get enough, it seems.
By the time she snaps out of it, it's because the music stops and her eyes lock with cerulean ones that curve up and Faruzan realizes she's been caught, and that the girl is smiling at her as she takes heavy breaths to recover from her routine. Faruzan feels like a deer in headlights as she stands there, unable to move, caught in the act of watching a stranger full on.
"Was it okay?" The girl's mouth moves and a lovely voice fills the wide space between them. Okay? Faruzan thinks it's the best performance she's seen in her whole life. Granted, she hadn't seen many, but it captivated her completely, so it had to be above average. She doesn't want to say all of that and sound strange, though, so instead she replies, "Yes. It was okay."
The other quirks an eyebrow at her, smile still on her face like she just finds Faruzan's answer amusing more than anything. "Thank you, I think?" Faruzan gives a curt nod, getting ready to finally resume her mission she had originally come for when she gets an idea to help make it easier.
"Actually, could I ask you for some assistance? You see, I'm looking for a special performance that's supposed to be going on tonight. It is apparently a demonstration of a dance having to do with Lesser Lord Kusanali, so my professor assigned me to watch and take notes on it. Does any of that ring a bell?"
The stranger grins again as she answers, "Well, you just saw the rehearsal of it, actually. The real show starts in half an hour, downstairs in the lobby, actually. I'm sorry I spoiled the show early for you." Faruzan plays it off like it's nothing, like it wasn't so mesmerizing she was rooted in place instead of focusing on her assignment.
She thanks the dancer instead, making her way back downstairs to wait and watch it again, this time with a more educational outlook than a starstruck one. She luckily doesn't have to wait long before the show starts, and the girl from before is back in front of her, but this time in a dazzling outfit that compliments her so well Faruzan's taken with her all over again.
The music is beautiful, the dancing is fluid, and the dancer in the center is perhaps the most amazing part of it. Faruzan sees little pamphlets being passed around in the audience and when she finally gets her hands on one she finds all the information about the performance, including the name of the dance done and the names of all the dancers participating. Nilou. The center dancer's name is Nilou and she was specially credited on the entire performance.
Faruzan hears a lot of mumbling going on amongst the crowd and unsurprisingly, she hears many people talking about Nilou. Apparently she's very famous among their campus dancers and well-loved for her skill in dancing, her kindhearted personality, and of course for her gorgeous appearance. Getting an educational outlook on the performance is hard, but Faruzan manages to jot down as many good notes as she can.
When the performance is over, she gathers her things and sets off to study her notes some more and write out the assignment she was given, knowing that after today she'd probably never see Nilou or even the inside of the same building ever again, just like it had been before. The dance majors didn't usually put on shows with such specific history, so she most likely wouldn't get an assignment like this either.
She felt almost… disappointed at that thought, but shook it off as she finished up the paper she had written and went to turn in for the night. You saw her perform once, Faruzan. It's not the end of the world.
ー
Apparently, it is the end of the world, actually. Faruzan can't stop turning her head at every flash of red that she sees around campus, which has led not only to awkward interactions but also some accidents that she was left hurting over. She was currently holding some ice on her arm after bumping into a pole while she looked behind her at yet another red thing she had seen. It ended up being Diluc, and Faruzan had sighed in disappointment before the pain hit.
So far she's mistaken five people as Nilou. Diluc, Yoimiya (she was always wearing red), Kazuha for the red streak in his hair, and Yanfei and Amber who both love wearing red on their heads in some form. She'd also taken notice of just how much red decor there was around the campus, something that seemed brand new, but wasn't at all.
It's like the world is playing some cruel joke on her, taunting her for the silly little crush she had for a second yesterday. Curse her professor for forcing her to go watch that performance because now all her mind seems to want to think about is Nilou Nilou Nilou. She's been trying so hard to focus her attention elsewhere but it's not working.
She keeps telling herself she'll get over it in a few days, she'll forget about Nilou because she's never going to see her again anyway. The building will fade into the background like it always did before. She just has to deal with maybe a week of it being at the front of her mind before that can happen, she swears, as she stares at said building on her way to class.
Her phone buzzes in her pocket and she pulls it out to see a text from Tighnari flash on the screen.
ur later than usual. is something wrong? pls hurry, cyno is being insufferable
Faruzan has a very organized schedule that she prides herself on and Tighnari is right, she is later than she normally would be. The building had caught her attention and she'd spent time looking when she wouldn't have before. The text snaps her back into reality as she continues on her way, texting Tighnari back.
i'm fine, just got caught up on the way there. i'll be there soon, tell cyno to save the jokes for me and that should stop him.
Class is slow. Class has never been slow for Faruzan. She enjoys studying so much that the time usually passes faster than she'd like, engrossed in whatever topic their teacher is talking about today in Teyvat's history. Today though, the information is going in one ear and out of the other as her brain would rather replay Nilou's performance.
Faruzan had looked into things moreーfor her paper, of courseーand knows now that the outfit Nilou wore was based on the goddess of flowers. It had looked so good on Nilou that she wouldn't complain if the other wore it every day. Nilou was probably more beautiful than the actual goddessーno, Faruzan was going much too far for this crush.
"So does you being late have anything to do with the fact that you haven't spoken up once this whole class? What's going on?" Tighnari whispers, shocking her out of her thoughts. Thank Lesser Lord Kusanali, she thinks. Tighnari raises an eyebrow at her, waiting for an answer. "No! I just got lost in thought a little, okay? Don't you go and make up something crazy."
Tighnari rolls his eyes at her and she knows that he doesn't believe her at all. She never has been very good at lying, and it's been quite a while since she was experiencing something like a dumb crush. She sighs, knowing he's not going to let this go. "Look, I've just had a lot on my mind, but it's nothing serious." That should be good enough.
Except it's not, because Tighnari continues looking at her, waiting for more. Faruzan stares back at him, hoping he'll back down, because there is no way she's about to tell him about her infatuation with a dancer she saw once for maybe an hour, in the middle of class. She'd rather die than tell anyone, actually, knowing her friends.
All of them have known each other for so long, gone to school together since they were young and now many of her friends are in stable relationships. She's a little embarrassed because despite how much more experienced she is, she's one of the only ones that's still single. Who knows, maybe even Nilou is already in a relationship and she has even less of the chance that she never had.
It would make sense if she thinks about it logically. So many people in that crowd had come to see Nilou, had talked about how well known she is around campus and how pretty she was. It would only be natural that someone with such a reputation would have already been taken by some other probably also wonderful person that Faruzan could never hope to compare to. What was she even thinking?
"You just zoned out again, Faruzan, I don't think this is nothing. You don't have to tell me, but I think it would help to tell someone," Tighnari says, once again bringing her out of her thoughts. He gives her a comforting smile before he finally turns back to the front of the room where their professor is still lecturing. Seriously, how could class feel this long?
When it's over, Faruzan realizes that Tighnari is right, telling someone might help. Naturally, since she doesn't want to face the embarrassment of admitting it to one of her close friends, she decides to text one of her classmates from a different course.
hey layla! we haven't talked in a while, wanna go out for drinks or something?
Faruzan feels a little bad, only texting the other because she needs something, but Layla is shy and acts weird around Faruzan for some reason, so she may as well get this off her chest if Layla actually agrees to go out with her. Layla texts back almost immediately, to Faruzan's surprise, maybe because it's late.
of course! meet me at my dorm and we can walk to that new place across the street! see you at 9!!
Faruzan has an hour to get ready, so she wastes no time getting back to her dorm to dress up. She arrives and sees her roommate slumped over on her desk, looking up at the sound of the door. She smiles, "Oh hey, Faruzan. Think you can hand me the pot of coffee on my bed?" Faruzan raises an eyebrow at the placement choice but hands it over.
"Don't drink too much, Keqing. Everything is bad for you in too large amounts, but coffee is especially! I'm going out with Layla, so I'll be back a little bit later than usual. Do you need anything before I go besides the coffee?" Keqing spins in her chair to face Faruzan, thinking before she shakes her head. "Have a good time. You should wear my new pin in your hair!"
Faruzan grins as she accepts it, she may as well dress her best to see if she can attract anyone while she's out so she can forget about Nilou. Before she leaves she looks in her mirror and smiles at the reflection she sees. She put on a white dress she hadn't had the opportunity to wear yet with golden accessories that went well with the pin Keqing had lent her. She sets off quickly, time approaching for her to meet Layla.
When she gets there, Layla is already outside waiting, dressed up as well. Faruzan smiles, it's rare to see Layla this way because the other is usually so reserved and tired out. Tonight though, she looks very energized, to Faruzan's surprise. "Hey, Faruzan! Ready to go, I see. You look great."
Faruzan returns the compliment, the two walking together until they arrive and order drinks. They converse about classes for a little while, but after a couple drinks, Layla starts to loosen up. "Faruzan, do you happen to know Candace? She once helped me out immensely and I really want to return the favor. She seems like someone you would know because she's so smart."
Faruzan does know Candace, technically. Candace is close with Dehya, who is friends with Cyno, so they've met more than once. She seems very sweet, so it's unsurprising that she helped Layla with something. "We're acquainted. Would you like me to get her number? I can ask right now." Layla nods so fast that it looks like it might have hurt, so Faruzan doesn't waste time as she texts Cyno.
"Actually, I have a question for you. Do you know Nilou? She's a dance major," Faruzan rushes out, before she can lose the courage. Layla slowly nods, "I've heard of her. She's really famous around campus. Why?" Faruzan sighs, how did she never know about Nilou until yesterday?
"Well I saw her perform yesterday, I had to go for an assignment about Lesser Lord Kusanali. Anyway, I just thought she was really talented and…pretty," she mutters the last part, hoping the music and loud chatter around the place will mask it. She doesn't think Layla will care about if she has a crush, they barely talk, yet somehow it feels like she just told all of her life's secrets to the entire world.
"Everyone that sees her thinks that, Faruzan. One time my roommate saw one of her performances and I heard nothing out of her mouth that wasn't about Nilou for days. It drove me a little bit insane, but it finally stopped after those days passed, thank the stars. I think she just has an effect on people, you know?"
Hearing that makes her stomach twist for a second before she quickly lights up. It happens to everyone, and it will be gone in a few days, just like she hoped! She was just under Nilou's spell for a little while, and she had to wait it out. She downs her drink all at once, which has Layla laughing at her, "Someone's happy to hear that. I assume she got you too?"
Faruzan reaches out to grip Layla's hands, "Sadly, yes. I can't stop thinking about her. Not even joking, class felt slow today." Layla gasps at the statement, everyone knows how Faruzan is about academics and something must be off if she's feeling like that. "My my, those are some serious effects. Nilou's power is greater than I thought," she jokes.
The rest of the night goes wonderfully, Layla is very funny when she's got a few drinks in her, and Faruzan has a lot of fun. She doesn't find anyone to flirt around with, but she also doesn't think about Nilou, so she considers it a win. She feels so much better about it now than she had when she walked in, so when she gets home after walking Layla back to her dorm, she falls asleep with a lazy smile on her face.
ー
It's been a week since the Nilou incident. Layla had been rightーafter some time had passed, Faruzan was finally starting to go back to normal. She wasn't too occupied with thoughts of Nilou to focus in class and she wasn't bumping into red things anymore, they were fading back into the background. Faruzan was back to how she had been before she ever saw or heard Nilou.
"It seems like whatever had you worried has been resolved. Mind sharing it with me now?" Tighnari asks before class. Faruzan had gone back to being early, so they had time to talk now. "Oh, it was really silly, actually. I just got twisted up after seeing a performance from Nilou. I couldn't stop thinking about her, but I'm fine now, I'll never see her again."
Tighnari stares at her like she's from a different world and she's just spoken to him in a language that doesn't even exist. Faruzan raises an eyebrow in return, not understanding what's questionable about what she just said. "Nilou. The dancer? Red hair, huge blue eyes?" He finally questions. Faruzan nods.
"Well, I have some bad news for you, Faruzan! Nilou is coming to Cyno's for his birthday this weekend, and so are you! So actually, you will be seeing her again. Very soon." Faruzan's mind blanks. Nilou. Cyno. Two days away. "I'm sorry, they recently became friends because we all worked on a project together!"
Faruzan doesn't even have time to respond because their professor walks in and starts lecturing immediately. Faruzan doesn't catch anything, though, because her mind is once again being flooded with Nilou. Tighnari glances at her with a worried look in his eyes every few minutes and she feels kind of dumb for it because it's just seeing a girl she saw once one more time.
If anything, she'll just have to wait another few days afterwards and she'll be fine. Besides, she reminds herself, Nilou is probably already in a relationship, so meeting her again isn't going to increase her chances at anything. Maybe they could even become friends and she could put this all behind her. Or Faruzan can avoid talking to her. Either one sounds good.
When class is over, Tighnari gives her a reassuring pep-talk, says that Nilou is very sociable and would love Faruzan. Faruzan remembers their first interaction and isn't so sure about that, but she hurries back to her dorm, trying to plan what she's going to wear. It feels like it's too much, cause she knows it's just going to be all of her close friends along with some of Cyno's other friends, which doesn't extend too far outside of that.
Keqing reminds her of that. "Why are you worrying so much? Has someone out of your friend group suddenly become wildly attractive to you? It can't possibly be any of those dorks, can it?" Faruzan joins her in laughing, and can't deny that she's right. "Oh no, definitely not. It's… Nilou. Somehow Cyno got her to come to his birthday thing after they did a project together, so she's coming."
Keqing's jaw drops, even she knows how crazy that sounds. "Nilou is going? Seems your friend group is going to grow from being just a bunch of nerds," she says, sticking her tongue out like she's taunting Faruzan, despite knowing that the other won't take offense. Then she speaks again, "Wait, so you're trying to impress Nilou? I mean, I get that she's pretty, but you never told me you thought so!"
"Who doesn't?" Faruzan counters, because as far as she's experienced, everyone seems to absolutely love Nilou or at least think she's beautiful (because she is). Keqing concedes that with a smirk. "Go get 'em, Faruzan! Nilou may be famous, but you're a cutie! Respectfully." Faruzan finds herself laughing again.
In the end, she settles on a white sweater, a pair of baby blue jeans and her usual white tennis shoes. She'll put her hair up in her classic twin ponytails with her golden accessories, maybe the pin that Keqing let her borrow before if she's willing to let her use it again. She sets all of it aside, waiting for her doom of having to face Nilou again.
ー
Two days passes slower than ever. Faruzan feels like every movement is through quicksand, pulling her back as she tries to keep going and just make it through each moment. Most of her time is occupied with studying and coursework, which isn't helpful when her brain already feels like it's turning to mush. She hands in what is probably some of her worst work yet, but can't bring herself to care (Okay, she cares a lot but she can't turn back time).
Presently, what she cares about is that now it's Saturday, and she's at Cyno and Tighnari's door, gift in hand, ready to knock. So she does, and Tighnari opens it with a wide smile. "Faruzan! Okay, you look amazing! You can give me that, Cyno's going to open them later," Tighnari says all at once, taking the gift from her and placing it in the corner where some other gifts are stacked.
"So where is Cyno? I need to go tell him happy birthday," Faruzan exclaims, looking around. She sees a lot of familiar faces, and a couple that she doesn't know at all, but no Cyno. Tighnari points towards the kitchen of their small apartment and Faruzan follows his directions. When she steps in, Cyno is sitting on the counter, sipping on whatever is in the red cup he holds.
Then she sees Kaveh and Alhaitham, arguing as usual, but someone is trying very hard to mediate. That person is Nilou. No one looks up at her, so Faruzan walks close enough to Cyno that she hopes only he will be able to hear her. "Happy birthday, Cyno! How long have they been at it?" He grins at her from behind his cup, "Thank you, Madam Faruzan. It's been 10 minutes, Alhaitham is really amused. Though I do wonder, is it really them that you are curious about?"
Faruzan flushes at the nickname and the allegation, before she sighs out, "Tighnari told you, huh?" Cyno nods with a satisfied smile and Faruzan makes a note to get after Tighnari later for his gossiping. "Oh, I know that look. It's fine, he only told me 'cause I'm his boyfriend and I wouldn't tell anyone else. I promise, your secret is safe with us," he chuckles. She rolls her eyes, but knows he means it, so she spares him a lecture.
"Well I'll have you know, I actually did want to know about Haitham and Kaveh, their arguments are always so entertaining. I just happen to also think Nilou is pretty. That's it, anyway! It's not like anything is going to happen between us! More importantly, I'm here to celebrate your birthday, okay? What are we going to be doing first?"
Faruzan looks up and Alhaitham and Kaveh have gone quiet, mouths moving against each other instead of arguing and Nilou has disappeared from the kitchen. Faruzan doesn't know if the mediating should be considered successful or not before Cyno pulls her back to the living room.
ー
Faruzan is hyper-aware of herself tonight. She makes sure she doesn't do anything stupid or anything that she'll regret, and she keeps fixing herself up in any mirrors around the apartment. She probably looks vain, but can't feel bad about it when she knows that Nilou is across the room and could glance at her at any moment. That's another thing she's hyper-aware of, where Nilou is in the apartment and what she's doing.
Currently, she's talking to some blond guy on the other side of the room. This is one of Cyno's friends that Faruzan doesn't know, who had introduced himself earlier tonight as Albedo. Cyno had piped up immediately about how Albedo could actually appreciate a good joke. Faruzan had stared, disbelieving that anyone could find Cyno's jokes funny. She only starts to believe it when she sees it with her own eyes.
He seems to be getting along with Nilou well. Faruzan wonders if they knew each other before this; he's handsome, maybe they're together? No, no, Faruzan don't be dumb and assume anyone she gets along with is dating her. She snaps out of that thought and realizes that her zoning out has caused her to accidentally lock eyes with Nilou. She turns away as fast as humanly possible and directs her eyes to the floor, hoping she can burn a hole in it.
God, what were you thinking, Faruzan? You're supposed to be watching what you're doing! She probably thinks you're weird now, staring at her even if it wasn't intentionalー
"You okay? What did my floor do to you to receive such a glare?" Cyno asks, laughing at himself. Faruzan rolls her eyes, "I'm alright, just got lost in thought." Why, why, why did you have to invite Nilou here?
"Well, I've got just the thing to get you out of your head. Everyone get in a circle!" He gets the attention of the whole apartment and everyone listens since it's his birthday, settling onto the carpeted floor, knee to knee. Faruzan's end up pressed between Dehya and Candace and she feels tiny when she's surrounded by the two. Across the circle, she makes eye contact with Layla, who smiles and gives her a thumbs up.
Faruzan had given her Candace's number once Cyno had texted her back the next day, and it seems like Layla was able to achieve her goal of paying Candace back for her help by that reaction. She smiles back before Cyno walks to the center of the circle, looking down at everyone. If Faruzan wasn't used to him already, she might be curious about what was going on.
Alas, she knows Cyno all too well to even question what's about to transpire. "Let's get this over with," she says playfully, though there's a little bit of her that really means it. Cyno rolls his eyes as most of the people in the circle who have also been friends with Cyno long enough start to laugh. "This is the last laugh we're going to get for a while," Tighnari adds, only making more people crack up.
Nilou and Albedo are next to each other (again), and share a confused glance. Dunyarzad, a girl that Dehya is close with, had also come along, but it seems like Dehya had at least explained this to her as she just sits there gracefully. Cyno clears his throat, "Hey everyone, thank you all for joining me for my birthday and for your many gifts. Now I have one for you."
Tighnari and Faruzan both roll their eyes at the same time and smile at each other. "Ahem… There once was a traveler, stranded in the desert and dying of thirst, who in desperation prayed for a Hydro Slime to come their way. But the traveler didn't realize that at that very moment, a starving Hydro Slime was praying to meet a lone, stranded traveler…"
He's met with complete silence and blank stares. Until Albedo starts to laugh, and Cyno whips around to smile at him. "At least someone here has a good sense of humor!" Faruzan is shocked. Years of coming to Cyno's birthdays and never once has she heard someone laugh at his awful jokes, for good reason. The girl on the other side of him that's not Nilou, stares at him incredulously. She's not alone.
"Albedo… This is another level of strange than I know from you," she says, shaking her head. Albedo rubs the back of his neck, looking down, "The joke was fun, Sucrose! Plus, the whole room was like it was frozen in time, you have to at least laugh at that." She looks away from him, flustered but agrees with a nod of her head. This is another person present tonight that Faruzan has never met, and she's starting to get more curious as to where Cyno made these friends.
The cycle repeats itself for a good twenty minutes of Cyno's Comedy Show until Tighnari, bless his soul, interrupts. "I think it's time for all of us to actually give you your gifts now, honey. Let's get the cake out and sing first?" He says it like a question, but he's already up and tugging Cyno away, before he also grabs onto Faruzan. "Come on, help me light the candles and then cut the cake."
Faruzan searches the drawers in the kitchen for a knife and matches while Tighnari opens the fridge to present the cake, setting it down on the table. The candles are already there, purple stripes on them because Cyno loves it. Faruzan approaches with everything and Kaveh sees her and puts his hands up, "Whoa, Faruzan. I know the jokes were bad but you don't have to kill him, especially on his birthday!"
She huffs out a laugh and sets the knife down, acting like she's surrendering while everyone laughs, and she hears Nilou over all of them. Her eyes dart in her direction without permission, and her eyes are shut as she laughs. It's just as pretty as everything Nilou does, even simply breathing. She takes her eyes away quickly, lucky that Nilou hadn't seen her. She'd already been caught once tonight and the gods had favored her enough that Nilou didn't confront her.
Tighnari pokes the candles into the cake that says 'Happy Birthday Cyno!' with a little heart next to it in green frosting. Faruzan wants to gag at Tighnari but can't help smiling at how cute it is as she strikes a match and lights the candles. The whole room starts to sing, and Cyno blows his candles out when they finish. Kaveh, ever the annoyance, immediately starts asking what he wished for as he declines telling him lest his wish not come true.
Faruzan starts cutting into the cake, asking who wants some as people gather around to grab a piece. Apparently Albedo and Sucrose both really like sweets, because they are in front of her within seconds waiting for a slice. They take theirs and go sit on the carpeted floor together while everyone else steps up. Faruzan sighs when everyone has gotten a piece, finally cutting one for herself and sitting in the chair in front of her.
Then Nilou is standing in front of her. Looking down at her, expectantly, and Faruzan is completely dumbstruck, staring back and not knowing what to do. Nilou's eyes are blue. Bright, pretty cerulean, shining like the surface of water under the sun, and it reminds Faruzan of the outfit she had worn during that performance, imitating the Goddess of Flowers. Now, she's wearing a blue fitted top, midriff exposed and a pair of white high rise jeans. The clothes are simple, but she still looks stunning.
Her long hair is done up in a curly ponytail that looks way too good, and Faruzan is barely stopping herself from swooning when Nilou finally speaks, "May I have a slice as well?" Faruzan blinks up at her, mind registering the entire thing and how stupid she was. "Oh my, I'm so sorry! Yes, of course, let me cut that for you now." Faruzan, why are you such an idiot? Why would you just stare at her like that? Well, because she's nice to look at.
"No worries! Have we met before? You look very familiar," Nilou says while she waits for Faruzan to hand her the piece. Faruzan almost freezes again. She doesn't even remember me! She takes a deep breath in, trying to control herself. Nilou is super popular from her experience, of course she wouldn't remember a girl she interacted with one time in the hallway who barely said anything.
"Ah, well, we met once when I asked for directions to your show where you were the Goddess of Flowers." Nilou snaps her fingers, "That's right! You saw my rehearsal and said it was 'okay'." Faruzan blushes, remembering the interaction and how she didn't want to let her true opinion spill out so she'd said that. "Well, to be fair, you asked me if it was okay. I was simply answering you," Faruzan responds, lips forming a small pout as she finally hands over the cake.
Nilou giggles, "Fair enough. Your name is Faruzan, right? I'm Nilou." As if everyone didn't already know that. Faruzan is convinced that everyone knows who she is now that she herself doesーshe seems to be the only one who didn't before. "Indeed. I meanーit's nice to meet you again, Nilou." Nilou smiles before she returns to the carpet to eat as well. This time she sits with Dehya and Dunyarzad, who are very happy when they see her.
Dunyarzad is especially starstruck, and Faruzan wonders if that's how she looks when she sees Nilou. They start chatting away and Faruzan forces her eyes to look at her plate while she stuffs her face. A hand lands on her shoulder and she looks up to see Layla. "Hey, Faruzan. I wanted to thank you again for that night. Candace and I are getting along great, she's a wonderful person!"
Faruzan grins up at the other girl, "Of course, Layla. I'm happy to hear that you two are getting along well." Faruzan sighs internally, a little envious of Layla's progress with Candace, wishing she could have that with Nilou. She chances a look over at her again to see her laughing and leaning on Dunyarzad's shoulder to catch her breath. Her smile is pretty like this, wide and toothy, flashing white. Of course, even her teeth are perfect.
Layla follows her eyes and smirks, "Ah, so the object of your obsession is here. I thought you got over it?" Faruzan turns her head and crosses her arms over her chest, embarrassed. "I did, until Tighnari informed me she would be here tonight when I was finally accepting it! Seriously, how did she become friends with Cyno, of all people?" Faruzan sighs, exasperated. Layla laughs, rubbing Faruzan's shoulder with her hand that's still pressed into it.
"Oh my, that is unfortunate, Faruzan. I think I have a solution, though! Since you may not be able to avoid her anymore if she ends up being part of your friend group, why don't you just become her friend? Get to know her better, and you'll see that she's not just this perfect being you have in your mind based on a couple meetings. Maybe when you see her humanity, you'll view her more like a friend and get over your crush!"
Faruzan stares back at Layla, surprised. Layla after drinks is truly a force to be reckoned with. For the second time, Faruzan finds herself thinking her Nilou plan is genius, but she may as well give up on it already. "I can't just be her friend! Layla, what are you even thinking? I could barely hold a small conversation with her a few seconds ago, much less enough to get her to be my friend."
Faruzan feels hopeless, watching all her friends around her having fun and enjoying each other's company to celebrate their Dear Annoyance's birthday, while she sits and throws a little fit about a crush, while said crush sits across the room without a care in the world. She sighs again, which she finds herself doing a lot when it's about Nilou. Layla gives her a wry smile, patting her arm. "Just try, okay? She's not going to bite you."
Layla walks away with that, plopping down next to Tighnari. That must set off something in him because he's quick to stand and gather all of the gifts that everyone brought before he announces that Cyno is going to open them now. The attention is all on Cyno now as he picks the first one. It's in a small green bag, complete with a tag that says 'From Collei'.
Cyno looks starry-eyed before he even opens it. Collei isn't at the party tonight because Tighnari and Cyno decided she was too young for whatever was going to happen, though so far that decision seems to be for nothing. When Cyno reaches in, he pulls out a framed photo of Tighnari, Collei, and himself. They're all smiling at the camera, Collei putting bunny ears on the other two with her fingers.
The frame is decorated with stickers and marker drawings, with a large "HAPPY BIRTHDAY CYNO!" spread across the top of it in Collei's messy handwriting. It's cute, Cyno is rightfully cradling it to his chest like a baby. He reaches into the bag again and pulls out a little card, opening it to find a card for that game he likes to play so much. He looks shocked and reads the card aloud from Collei. "Tighnari helped me pay for the card. Please use it well, Cyno, happy birthday!"
Cyno makes a big show of letting everybody see the card she got him. It's some kind of monster, Faruzan can't see it too well from the table when they're all on the carpet. He carefully sets her gift aside as he grabs for another one. Cyno makes quick work of all of the gifts, and they're quite an interesting mix. It's mostly stuff that would be classified as nerdy, like more trading cards for the game he's obsessed with, and some more out there ones from his new friends.
Nilou gifts him what looks like a prop from the theater. Cyno seems to absolutely love it and when Faruzan looks back at Nilou, she's smiling warmly. Faruzan can't hold back a blush, lucky that everyone else is watching Cyno. After the gifts are finished, Cyno decides it's finally time for the party to really start, in his words, and starts to prepare drinking games.
It's the best they can do with their small group of friends. Since most of them are already dating, games like spin the bottle are out of the question and truth or dare can sometimes get boring. So instead they find entertainment in their friends' drunken behavior and seeing them lose or succeed in games. Faruzan personally loves it when Alhaitham loses, but is more curious tonight to see how Nilou behaves.
Layla is right that Faruzan has been viewing Nilou as a perfect being of sorts; she thinks everything about Nilou is perfect and hasn't stopped to think about Nilou acting anything but completely pleasant. Now, she wonders, what will Nilou be like after the games? Is she a sore loser? Probably not. What kind of drunk is she? Affectionate? Angry? Does she cry?
"Alright, get your head in the game, babe. We're playing first and you, Faruzan, are too. With Nilou," Cyno says, pulling on Tighnari. He smirks as he stands across the table, daring to wink while Faruzan glares at him. When Nilou approaches they both go back to smiling happily as if nothing had happened. Nilou smiles sheepishly at Faruzan and mumbles out, "I'm not very experienced with this, I'm sorry if I cost us a win."
Faruzan is a little bit surprised to hear that, but she gives the other a reassuring grin. "Don't worry, I will carry us to victory if it means seeing them lose. It may be his birthday, but I won't show mercy." Tighnari hears that and smirks, like he thinks he won't lose, but Faruzan has played too many times against Tighnari to have any doubt in her ability. She will win, and she will impress Nilouーif that's something she'll find cool.
They're playing beer pong. It's classic, involves no forced contact between their friends, and isn't too hard to explain to people who are new at it, so they play it every time they get together. Faruzan has basically mastered it at this point and she knows that she'll beat Cyno and Tighnari. She throws first and of course, scores. "Off to a hot start! Let's go, Faruzan!" Layla exclaims, clapping her hands.
Cyno picks up the cup to drink it, but before he can, Faruzan lands another ball in it. He stares at her, eyes wide, then turns to Tighnari, who has the same look on his face. Faruzan laughs loudly as the rest of their friends cheer and start to surround her with praise. Nilou raises an eyebrow at her like 'What is happening?', and Faruzan finds it so cute that she starts laughing again.
"I made the Death Cup. Basically, we win, Nilou. Now, let us watch as those two have to drink all six of the cups," she says, grinning evilly. Nilou looks just as surprised as Tighnari and Cyno were when she hears that, but she doesn't question it as she turns to watch. "Thanks, Faruzan. I fear that if you hadn't done that I'd have messed us up somehow and caused us to lose. It was really cool." Faruzan blushes, waving a hand to brush her off as if it's nothing.
She realizes it means that she won't get to see Nilou drink, but receiving her praise and thanks is way better. "Alright, alright, move over! Candace, come on, let's play against Dunyarzad and Layla!" Faruzan shuffles aside, gets squished against Nilou so their arms are touching under their clothes. Faruzan tries not to freak out about it, taking deep breaths before Nilou moves, and she nearly lets out a breath of relief.
ー
Faruzan doesn't see Nilou after the party. It makes sense, things are just like before. Her and Nilou hadn't exchanged any more interactions after the game of beer pong, and that also meant that Faruzan hadn't gotten a way to contact the other. Not that she would have askedーNilou and she hadn't spoken much, not enough for Faruzan to feel comfortable reaching out like that, even if it was as a friend. She would make a fool of herself, especially with how popular Nilou is.
That's what she's thinking about on her way to class today, as she passes by the building that had brought the curse of Nilou into her life. She stares up at the second floor, where she'd seen that red hair for the first time. She wonders if Nilou always practices there, if maybe she's there now. What room had it been? Faruzan hadn't paid enough attention to catch it, too enamoredー
She bumps into something, no, someone, and trips over their foot, ending up on the ground. It hurts, her skin scrapes against the concrete and leaves it red and aching while she tries to compose herself and stand.
"Oh my god, I am so, so sorry! Are you okay?" And of course, because the archons like to mess with her, she immediately recognizes that voice. It's Nilou, taking up her mind enough to distract her and cause her to run into the very person herself. She squeezes her eyes shut, getting ready to try to act normal after being completely embarrassed.
"I'm okay. Please, don't worry. It was my fault, I'm sorry," Faruzan offers when she's up, "Are you okay? Did I hurt you?" Nilou seems to recognize her when she turns around and her mouth hangs open a little bit before she finally answers, "I'm fine, it's you who got hurt." Nilou grabs at her wrist suddenly, taking a look at the scrape on her hand.
The other has a matching one, with both of her knees. Curse her for wearing a skirt today, because now they all burn, and Nilou's touch doesn't help. "We need to get these clean, goodness. Come with me," Nilou says, tugging on the wrist that's still in her hand. Faruzan can't even think to tell her that she can't, she has a class that she's going to be late to if she doesn't go now.
Instead, she wordlessly lets Nilou pull her into that forsaken building, passing the lobby where Nilou had danced, beautiful as the Goddess of Flowers. Nilou finally lets her go when they're in the closest restroom, starts moving around the area to grab paper towels, wet them, and then she brings them back to Faruzan.
Faruzan offers her wrist this time, holding it out as she leans against the wall. Nilou gently begins to dab at the scrapes and it burns even worse. Faruzan hisses at the pain, shutting her eyes again. "I know it hurts, I'm sorry. I'll try to be fast, but I have to make sure they're clean," Nilou says, almost cooing as if she's talking to a child. Faruzan can only nod as she repeats the process on her other wrist, embarrassed that she's here letting Nilou dote on her like she is a kid.
Then she squats, ready to clean Faruzan's knees and archons, she's so close now, Faruzan is going to lose it if she lets her. She can feel Nilou's breath against her thigh and she steps to the side, smiles down at the other when she looks up in confusion.
"It's okay, I can do the rest myself. I don't want to trouble you any longer or make you do anything that takes that much effort. I have to get to class, anyways, but thank you, Nilou," Faruzan rushes out, trying to escape the situation as quickly as possible. Nilou stands up then, frowning. She looks like a sad puppy. No, no, no.
"I understand, but please, promise me that you'll take care of it? It would be no trouble to me at all if you didn't have class, I'm the one who bumped into you after all," she says. Faruzan smiles and nods. How can she be so sweet and caring? "Good. See you, then, Faruzan." With that, she walks out of the bathroom, leaving Faruzan still leaning on the wall.
She freezes in shock. She remembered my name! She remembered me this time! Faruzan feels the urge to scream on the spot, feeling it building up in her chest to her throat, but she really was on the way to class and she pulls out her phone to see that she's now five minutes late. Her screen is also covered in texts from Tighnari asking where she is, but she doesn't have time to answer as she starts to fast walk to her class.
After class, Tighnari starts to question her intensively, Cyno right by his side for support. "Why were you late? Seven minutes, Faruzan. What could have kept you this time?" Faruzan rolls her eyes, then simply points to her knees that she had yet to clean.
Tighnari makes a face when he sees them and Faruzan laughs, "Yeah I know, I'm going to clean them. I bumped into Nilou, literally, on the way to class and she insisted on cleaning my scrapes." Then he raises an eyebrow, like to say, 'They're not clean, though?'
"She only cleaned my wrists. She was going to do my knees, too, but I was running late and she was way too close to me so I declined," Faruzan mutters, a blush rising on her cheeks. Tighnari has the nerve to laugh and Faruzan has half a mind to remind him of how he was about Cyno. He seems to see that on her face and clears his throat.
"I know you're going to mention Cyno, but may I remind you of how you were when I talked about Cyno? I think I have every right to give any reaction I want to your crush on Nilou," he argues, dragging her through the hallway. "Let's get you properly cleaned up. We've got ointment and bandages at the apartment, and while we're there maybe you can talk to Cyno about Nilou."
So Faruzan lets herself be taken back to the apartment where she'd stood with Nilou only days earlier. Nilou's laugh and smile have been haunting her ever since, her praises still ringing in Faruzan's head ever since even over something like beer pong.
"Welcome back to our humble abode, Madam Faruzan," Cyno greets as he opens the door for the other two. She rolls her eyes and immediately plops herself down on the couch. Tighnari ventures further into the house to get everything to clean her scrapes. Meanwhile, Cyno settles next to her.
"Nilou did ask about you, after the party. When we were in class the next day, she asked about her partner for beer pong. She thought you were quite charming when you won so easily like it was nothing. Speaking of it, you're going to Kaveh's birthday thing, right? She'll be there, too," Cyno tells her, like it's not going to drive jer insane.
Nilou asked about her? Nilou thought she was charming? Faruzan practically lights up, "Yeah, of course I'll be there. Do you think that she'll actually talk to me? Or like, will I have to talk to her first?" Faruzan can do it, with much difficulty, though. Nilou is hard enough to approach at all because of her perfect outward appearance that seems to always get Faruzan hurt in some way.
"I think she'll talk to you, she's really friendly and doesn't seem to have trouble talking to new people," Tighnari's voice comes, finally back with supplies. He kneels and starts to clean up Faruzan's knees. She flinches but lets him continue. "I agree. Nilou was very easily social when we all met, even to Tighnari when he was… Tighnari."
Faruzan laughs, and Tighnari rubs at her knee a little harder for revenge, before he finally starts to apply bacitracin. "Okay, I've just got to make sure I look pretty, then? Wait, as her friend, give me your honest opinion. Do I have a chance? Does she even go for women?" Faruzan questions, realizing she had gotten too caught up in her crush to even think of that.
"Well, Nilou has not mentioned her love life very much, but a lot of people know she had a thing with Lumine, so you don't have to worry about that at least. You're an incredibly smart and wonderful person, so I personally believe that you do have a chance," Cyno replies sincerely. Tighnari tags on, "If Nilou doesn't go for that, you deserve better."
Faruzan smiles at them, thankful that she has her friends despite how much they may bicker and joke around. "Let's hope Kaveh's birthday is a success."