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Apparently Arachne had hosted a party tonight. Sejanus wouldn’t know. He hadn’t been invited.
It wasn’t surprising, Arachne was the most vocal in their class about her hatred for Sejanus. Though this time she was actually being surprisingly courteous. She hadn’t gloated about Sejanus’ lack of invite to his face for once.
This time, he only knew that a party was happening because he walked past it. He’d picked a bad night to go for a walk, considering how close he lived to the girl. It was her own fault that either of them knew they were in close proximity to each other, as she had loudly declared her disgust the first time he walked by her house.
The party wasn’t particularly loud, but he could see people stood by the front door, particularly Festus Creed and Persephone Price looking somewhat concerned.
Sejanus liked Persephone, she always seemed sweet, or at least sweeter than most of their other classmates. She wasn’t often cruel to him. Festus wasn’t his favourite person in the world, but he tended to leave him alone rather than mock him, so he didn’t really dislike him.
They seemed like they were focused on someone else, concealed by their bodies. Sejanus didn’t want to look too much, if someone less gracious caught sight of him he’d probably be accused of being a district spy or something.
Unfortunately, his plan to inconspicuously walk past without being noticed didn’t work, as Festus saw him, whispered something to Persephone, then started to run over to where Sejanus was walking.
He briefly considered speeding up to get away, but figured Festus wasn’t so bad to speak to for a minute. He seemed like he needed something anyways.
“Sejanus, hey, it’s lucky you were walking by.” Festus didn’t pay the person he was speaking to much mind, barely giving Sejanus time to get over the confusion at someone being happy to see him.
“So, we got Coriolanus to drink but we didn’t know he was such a lightweight, he’s falling all over himself and everybody, can’t even speak.” Festus explained quickly, clearly wanting to get the conversation over with quickly.
Sejanus glanced over his shoulder towards where he had been stood with Persephone, where, sure enough, she was helping a very unstable-looking Coriolanus Snow stay upright. It was really strange, to see the usually incredibly poised and suave boy look so far gone.
“Me and Percy were gonna walk him home, but we don’t really wanna leave the party, and you’re here, so could you walk him instead?” Festus continued, before giving Sejanus the most clearly forced smile he had ever seen in his life.
It’s not like it was some great chore, walking Coriolanus to his house. Coriolanus was the only person in their class that was actively pleasant to him and Sejanus found that he really enjoyed his company. While his usual wit probably wouldn’t be present, what with his inability to stand up straight, it couldn’t be unpleasant having to make sure he got home safely.
“That’s fine.” He responded, watching as Festus’ fake smile turned to more of a shit-eating grin. Without really acknowledging Sejanus anymore, he turned to nod very obviously at Persephone. She gave a much more genuine smile in Sejanus’ direction, then started guiding Coriolanus toward them.
Sejanus hadn’t considered that he’d have to act as a crutch, but given the way Coriolanus was clinging to Persephone, he didn’t seem capable of walking unsupported. Coriolanus had barely touched him on the arm, once and by accident, so the prospect of him clinging to him for support was daunting at best.
“Janus!” Coriolanus spoke with none of his usual composure as he fell away from Persephone and flung an arm around Sejanus’ shoulders. The force was enough to take Sejanus aback, along with the shock at the childish joy he’d seemed to exude at seeing him.
Persephone and Festus both poorly suppressed laughter as Sejanus tried to steady his own footing with the added weight of Coriolanus hanging over him. Coriolanus was shockingly light, but his entire body weight was pressed against Sejanus’ side.
“Enjoy.” Festus was clearly struggling to hold in his laughter as he took Persephone by the arm and dragged her back toward the party, leaving Sejanus stood there alone, with a very drunk Coriolanus holding onto him for dear life.
Sejanus spared a glance at the boy beside him. Coriolanus’ porcelain skin was unusually flushed, piercing blue eyes half-lidded as if he were about to pass out. Most unusual was the carefree smile on his face, wider than Sejanus had ever seen. He actually didn’t think he’d ever seen Coriolanus smile.
Coriolanus looked up at him, eyes widening a little, somehow sparkling despite the lack of light. His face was much too close. The night air was chilly, but Sejanus felt his cheeks heat up all the same.
Somehow, he’d gotten stuck taking care of a very drunk, very dependent Coriolanus. Somehow he’d forgotten two very important things.
For one, he had fostered, for years, a hopeless crush on the other boy, and struggled to be around him without his heartbeat increasing to a concerning rate.
Secondly, he had absolutely no clue where Coriolanus even lived. He’d seen him walking home a few times, but had quickly averted his eyes so never actually saw where he went. The last thing he wanted was for Coriolanus to think he was some creep stalking him.
To support him, and he assured himself it was only to support him, he hooked an arm around Coriolanus’ slender waist, tried to ignore the way his stomach did flips, and carefully walked Coriolanus out of view of the party. Coriolanus went willingly, practically throwing himself against Sejanus’ side.
“So strong.” Coriolanus slurred, leaning up to nuzzle his cheek against Sejanus’ shoulder.
He felt his body tense up against his control, though Coriolanus paid him no mind, cosying up to Sejanus like he was some kind of soft pillow. Sejanus cleared his throat, staring straight ahead of him and trying to ignore what Coriolanus was doing.
“Coryo?” He asked, voice coming out a lot higher than he had wanted. Coryo hummed in response, dragging out the noise. His arm fell, and he hugged Sejanus tightly around the chest, so his arms were trapped by his side.
Sejanus struggled to remember what he had wanted to say for a moment, too focused on trying to steady his breathing with Coriolanus snuggled firmly against him.
“Where do you live?” He finally managed to choke out, though Coriolanus didn’t respond with words. Instead, he giggled.
Coriolanus Snow, the poster-child for stoicism, giggled as he looked up at Sejanus through his eye-lashes. He looked uncharacteristically sweet like this, and it was a little scary.
He finally released Sejanus from his grip, giving him a chance to breathe for the first time in what felt like years, and swayed on his feet. Sejanus considered grabbing hold of his shoulders to make sure he didn’t fall and hurt himself.
Before he had the chance, Coriolanus leaned forward, raising his hand toward Sejanus face, and booping his nose.
“Cutie.” The action made him fall straight into Sejanus’ chest, where he quickly cuddled up.
The comparison to a cat flashed across Sejanus mind, as he tried to process what had just happened. Had Coriolanus just called him cute? As if answering his question, Coriolanus looked up from his place against Sejanus’ chest, wide drunken smile returning.
“Pretty.”
He dragged the word out, as if he were talking about some rare gemstone instead of the academy’s resident district-boy. Coriolanus didn’t say anything else, burying his face into Sejanus chest and inhaling deeply, as if he were smelling some lovely flower.
“I need to take you home.” Sejanus tried to keep his voice as steady as possible. Coriolanus just made a defiant sound.
“No. Take me to your house.” His words were muffled as he spoke, the vibration of his voice going through Sejanus. He could feel his warm breath through his shirt.
“I have to get you to your home.” He tried to reason, but Coriolanus whined and wrapped his arms around Sejanus once again.
“No, no, I don’t wanna.” He sounded like a small child.
“Home’s cold. I wanna go to your house.”
Sejanus wasn’t sure how Coriolanus’ house could possibly be colder than the street in the middle of the night, but he didn’t want to take Coriolanus to his house instead. He didn’t want to have to explain things to him in the morning, especially now that Coriolanus was treating him like a giant teddy bear.
“Coryo-“ He tried to speak but was cut off when Coriolanus looked up at him with the largest, pleading eyes Sejanus had ever seen.
“Pleeeaase, Janey. Pretty, pretty please.”
How could Sejanus say no?
He sighed, he could always just sleep on the floor tonight, and simply tell Coriolanus that he had refused to tell him his address. It wasn’t really a lie.
He hoisted Coriolanus back so he was holding him by the waist, trying to ignore the way his face somehow heated up more when Coriolanus let out a cheer, much too loud for the time of night, and let Sejanus pull him along with him.
The walk back to his house was slow, made slower by the boy on his waist who seemed insistent on using his entire body weight to cuddle up to Sejanus’ side. He could only pray that he would be somewhat quiet when they got inside of his house.
Thankfully, Coriolanus wasn’t too loud, except for his thumping footsteps as Sejanus dragged him up the stairs. They finally got into Sejanus’ bedroom, where he carefully closed the door and set Coriolanus down on the bed. He let himself breathe, as Coriolanus happily curled up in his sheets.
It was a strange but sweet sight, Coriolanus lying contentedly in his bed, looking up with those big, blue eyes and a goofy drunken smile.
Sejanus briefly considered perhaps not staying on the floor, just putting a pillow between them and taking the only chance he’d ever get to sleep beside Coriolanus Snow, but begrudgingly decided against it and started looking around for a blanket he could use. He didn’t want to have to explain to Coriolanus why they were sleeping beside each other in the morning.
Cautiously, so as not to disturb him when he was so peaceful, he reached over Coriolanus to grab a pillow from the other side of the bed. He assumed that Coriolanus had lost consciousness the second his head hit the pillow, but he was apparently awake enough to reach up and yank Sejanus down onto the bed.
That was how Sejanus found himself pressed flush against Coriolanus, in bed, with Coriolanus’ arms holding him firmly in place. Thankfully they were both fully clothed, but Coriolanus seemed determined to keep hold of him for the night.
“Coryo.” He intended for it to come out like a warning, but it came out as more shocked than irritated. He couldn’t really say he was at-all irritated, more worried about how the hell he was going to explain this all away to Coriolanus when he woke up the next morning, very hungover.
Coriolanus stopped responding to him at that point, holding him close in a death-grip, face so close to Sejanus’ that he could smell the faint remains of posca on his breath, along with the lingering smell of roses that he wasn’t sure of the origins of.
Sejanus managed to shift enough that he was on his back, staring up at the ceiling while Coriolanus clung to his side like a sleeping koala. He could tell that he wasn’t actually asleep yet based on the way he was nuzzling his cheek into the crook of Sejanus’ neck, but he also didn’t seem to want to let Sejanus go.
He sighed. He supposed he could always wait until Coriolanus fell asleep, then extricate himself once he was able. He made sure to keep his hands still at his sides, as to not accidentally touch Coriolanus at all. At the very least, he could stay in control.
Coriolanus shifted slightly, then began peppering the side of Sejanus’ neck with small kisses. Sejanus stayed completely frozen in place, not entirely sure how to react to each little peck that Coriolanus pressed against his, surely boiling at this point, skin.
Eventually, the kisses stopped, and Coriolanus’ breathing evened out to the point where Sejanus was pretty sure he’d actually drifted off. Despite being asleep, Coriolanus’ grip remained as strong. It was like he was guarding something truly precious to him.
He stared up at the ceiling for a while, trying to calm his own breathing, until he was finally able to fall asleep himself.
•••
When he woke up, he realised that he’d shifted in his sleep so that he was holding Coriolanus back, arm wrapped protectively around his back. Their legs had somehow become entangled too, making them all the closer.
He glanced down at the boy in his arms, to find Coriolanus’ sharp blue eyes staring up at him inquisitively. Apparently he’d already woken up, and was definitely sober now.
Sejanus hurried to pull away from him, blabbering a string of apologies and weak explanations for the situation they had found themselves in. This was what he had dreaded since the moment he’d agreed to let Coriolanus just sleep at his house for the night.
Coriolanus stared at him while he rambled, looking more cat-like by the second as he tilted his head curiously with an unreadable expression. Wordlessly, he cut Sejanus off, wrapping his arms around him once again and pulling him back into the embrace.
Seemingly sensing Sejanus’ confusion, he just turned his face away, cheeks uncharacteristically ruddy, and mumbled,
“This is nice.”
Sejanus just nodded dumbly, staring at the ceiling again to stop himself from peering over at the boy next to him. He wasn’t sure how long they laid like that before Coriolanus spoke again.
“Sejanus?”
“Yeah?” It was more of a whisper, not wanting to disturb the peace of the moment. Part of him missed the drunken nicknames he had been subjected to the night before.
“Why am I in your bed?”