Archive of Our Own ^beta

“Oh man, why am I the one to manage to be late on the first day of Akademiya?” Sethos slid around the last corner of a long hallway, took a deep breath and pushed down the handle of the door behind which his lecture hall was located. A furtive grin appeared on his lips as he could hardly believe his luck that the professor was not there yet. 

With a triumphant look at the person sitting next to him, he plopped down on his seat but stopped in the middle of his movement, with which he actually wanted to drop his backpack next to the table. He leaned slightly towards Cyno and cast a pointed look at the small box on his side of the table. “Cyno, do you know who this is from?” 

Cyno shrugged slightly. “It was already there when I got here,” he said indifferently. “Maybe someone has a crush on you,” he murmured with a nasty grin.

While the rest of the class was whispering, Sethos gently poked the box with his index finger. 

“You won’t find out what’s inside until you open it, Sethos,” Cyno explained with a wrinkled nose.

Sethos didn’t have a chance to reply or open the box because their professor had finally managed to enter the hall. Quickly, he put the box in his backpack, where it lay completely forgotten until the afternoon. 

“Did you actually open it?” Cyno asked suddenly and very curiously. 

It took Sethos a few seconds to understand what his distant cousin was talking about. Guiltily, he let his head fall forward slightly. “Forgotten,” he mumbled.

Cyno laughed out loud. “Typical you! You finally get something for free and just end up forgetting about it.” He grabbed Sethos by the collar and pulled him into the city park. 

The two of them simply collapsed onto the grass near the sea. They were surrounded by barking dogs and squealing children who were hyping each other up more and more and thus getting louder and louder. First, Sethos freed himself of his backpack, then of his shoes and socks. He buried his toes in the beautiful green and stretched his face towards the sun with his eyes closed.

Sethos would be lying if he said he hated the sun and therefore also summer. He loved it when he was warmed by the sun and when its rays tickled his nose - almost more than moving about without shoes and socks. Whenever he could, he freed his toes from their tight prison and granted them their freedom. 

He was so busy doing nothing that he didn’t even notice when Cyno grabbed his bag without asking and started rummaging around in it. Only when one of his folders fell into his lap did he lazily move his head and decided to open his eyes - at the exact right moment, as it turned out, Cyno was triumphantly holding up the box from this morning with a “Hah!” 

Sethos didn’t even need a second to react, but he was still too slow. He had thrown himself at Cyno and wanted to rip the gift out of his hands. They wrestled over the box and rolled across the meadow. Gasping for air, Sethos managed to pin him to the ground after a few minutes and grinned at him confidently. “Maybe it’s all just a mistake and the gift isn’t actually meant for me,” he explained after his breathing had calmed down somewhat.

“You’re crazy,” Cyno replied. “You’ve always sat on this desk and everyone knows that. Of course it’s for you.” 

Sethos looked at Cyno’s hands, which were empty. “Where is it, actually?” he asked, looking around searchingly. 

His gaze fell on white sneakers, higher up over long legs that were in black shorts and over hips that were hugged by a white jacket. Sethos grimaced when he finally recognized who was standing in front of them.  The fact that he had to tilt his head back quite far to do so bothered him even more. His eyes fixed on the hands of the third person, in which the small box was, and Sethos jumped up. He wanted to reach for the gift, but this time he was actually too slow. 

“It’s mine,” he grumbled, but that only elicited a slight grin from his counterpart.

In the meantime, Cyno had also gotten up and stood behind him, his hands on his hips. “Scara, give that back.” 

Scaramouche looked at Cyno’s hand, which was stretched out. “Why should I? I just found it,” he explained coolly. “Who would have thought that today would be my lucky day~,” he said, still grinning. He also stretched out his other hand and untied the ribbon that was wrapped around the box. With a smug grin, he watched as it fell to the ground between him and Sethos.

Sethos also watched the ribbon, and when it touched the grass, he clenched his hands into fists and threw himself at Scaramouche at the same time as Cyno. Neither of them had expected Scaramouche to take a step to the side, and so they just stumbled to a stop a few steps later. They looked back at Scaramouche, who had already removed the paper and was just about to enjoy the gummy bears that had been inside. 

“Yummy,” he said and stomped away with a satisfied expression on his face.

The boys left behind watched Scaramouche with their mouths open and simply didn’t know how to respond to this impudence. Only after he was out of sight did their paralysis break. Sethos stomped angrily back to their place and put his shoes back on. 

“That goddamn asshole,” he ranted. “Who does that smug, conceited, arrogant, domineering pretty boy think he is?” Cyno sat down next to him with a big grin, without interrupting his tirade. “He probably thinks that just because everyone at school is at his side, he can get away with anything, but not with me,” he growled and, still angry, grabbed his backpack. “Definitely not with me.” Sethos left the park without caring whether Cyno followed him. Even on the road he couldn’t hold back and continued to rant there, too.

“So you think he’s a pretty boy?” Cyno took advantage of the opportunity to catch his breath and with this simple little question ensured that Sethos finally came down from his trip and stood rooted to the spot.

“What makes you think that nonsense?” Sethos snapped.

“Well, you said it yourself,” Cyno said with a grin.

“Idiot,” he growled quietly. Sethos ran his hand through his hair in annoyance. “Why can’t he just leave me alone?” 

“You got on his bad side,” Cyno replied dryly. 

They continued on their way and parted ways to get home. 

Sethos used this time to think - he wondered who could have given him this gift, or if it was more of a joke. He wasn’t exactly the type of guy that girls, or other boys, liked. He wasn’t short, but he wasn’t tall, either. And on top of that he was gay. Of course he had been wise not to make this feature public, only his family knew about it. 

And then there was the problem of Scaramouche. Sethos had already had to deal with him last year. It wasn’t as if he was one of those people who made friends easily, like Cyno, but he had never met such an arrogant asshole as Scaramouche before or since. Reluctantly, he pushed the thoughts of this idiot, who put him down at every opportunity, aside. He had realized a long time ago that it was pointless; not least because his imagination went further than was good for him. His thoughts wandered to the contents of the box - whoever it was from, they definitely knew him quite well. Cyno always said that he had a sweet tooth because he just couldn’t pass up any sweets, and especially not gummy bears. Sethos had always gobbled them up as a child and had almost driven his adoptive grandfather, Bamoun, crazy. 

He now firmly pushed these thoughts aside, there was no point in mourning what he had lost. 

Sethos had actually managed to erase both the gift and Scaramouche from his memory. He didn’t even think about them the next day when he entered the lecture hall with Cyno. The memories only came back on the way to his seat, but only because there was a new gift on his desk. Frustrated, Sethos slumped down on his seat and eyed the box suspiciously - this time with a small note attached to it. He snorted quietly; there was no point in continuing to stare at the gift, it wouldn’t disappear and it wouldn’t tell him who it was from. Ignoring Cyno’s quiet laugh, he took the note off at least once. 

You should take better care of your presents, little bee.

Cyno had leaned over with interest and was also reading the note. Wordlessly, Sethos rammed his elbow into his side and then grabbed the gift. He carefully untied the ribbon and unwrapped the box from the paper. A small cube with a lid appeared. After Sethos finally managed to bring himself to lift the lid, a smile crossed his lips. Inside the box were new gummy bears. Sethos was so excited that he immediately shoved one of them into his mouth before he looked at the note more closely; the writing was even, but not quite neat, there were a few mistakes from the fountain pen. He turned the paper over and over a few times, hoping to find a clue as to who it was from. 

Cyno snatched the note from his hand and looked at it more closely. “If you’re lucky, it’s from a guy,” he said quietly. “A little shorter, dark-haired, athletic, and an Anemo wielder.”

Sethos tore the note from Cyno’s hand again with a growl. “I know what kind of guys I like,” he whispered and put the paper in his backpack as class began. 

Over the course of the day, he kept going back to the cube, reducing its contents. 

After they were finally able to free themselves from their university horror, they sat down in the park - like every day. Sethos took out his gift and opened it, but to his dismay, there were only two gummy bears left.

With a heavy heart, he enjoyed the taste of the second-to-last gummy bear on his tongue and put the box on his lap. He briefly watched Cyno as he flirted heavily with his boyfriend, Tighnari, before he lay back on the grass after taking off his shoes and socks and shut his eyes closed while folding his arms behind his head. He lay like that for a few minutes until a shadow suddenly stopped the sun from tickling his nose. Lazily, Sethos opened one eye and blinked slightly because he couldn’t see anything at first. Only when the person crouched down next to him and cheekily stole the last gummy bear from the cube did he recognize who it was; Scaramouche .

While Scaramouche shoved the gummy bear into his mouth with two fingers, Sethos sat up and glared at him. Scaramouche just grinned and ran one hand through his medium-length, indigo hair.

“Get on someone else’s nerves,” Sethos growled.

“Why?” Scaramouche answered succinctly.

“Because you’re getting on my nerves, you asshole!” 

Scaramouche actually had the nerve to cast a pointed look into Sethos’ lap and raised his eyebrows. “Really?” he asked cheekily. Sethos pulled his legs up and wrapped his arms around them, while Scaramouche looked at his hands and turned them back and forth in front of his face. “I didn’t even touch you,” he said with a big grin.

“What do you want?” Sethos asked annoyed.

“What I want?” Scaramouche asked. “You don’t want to know what I want, apart from the fact that I’ve already got something ,” he told him with a grin. Without saying another word, Scaramouche stood up and eventually left. Sethos stared after him for a few seconds before he was distracted.

“He’s dark-haired, athletic and wields Anemo, catch him and you might finally have some peace,” Cyno said with a self-satisfied grin. 

“Shut up,” Sethos snarled. “Go back to your boyfriend!” He fell back into the grass and ignored Cyno for the time being. Enjoying the sun, he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep, only waking up when Cyno shook his shoulder lightly. 

They set off again together and parted at the same spot, as they had done for many years.

Sethos was unable to turn his thoughts away from the presents that evening and concentrate on his term paper, which was why he gave up, frustrated. It was only the start of Akademiya and he would still have plenty of time to do the papers. He threw himself on the bed and pulled out the piece of paper he had received this morning. His eyes scanned the writing again, but it just wouldn’t tell him who it belonged to. 

Sethos didn’t wake up until the next morning and grumbled to find out that he had actually slept with his clothes on. After a long shower and a quick breakfast, he set off for university again. He was excited to see if he would get something again, which he did. It was the first thing he saw when he entered the lecture hall and went to his desk.

He took the note off the box, which this time only had one word on it: Kitten, and then unwrapped it. Again it was a cube, and today it, once again, contained gummy bears, just of a different kind. Sethos took out one with a smile. Luckily for him, today’s horror day would end at lunchtime, but as always when such day occurred, it was pouring with rain; and as always when it rained, Sethos had nothing with him and would come home soaking wet again.

After class he stood in the doorway for a long time and looked out into the rain. Cyno hadn’t come to school today and so he was waiting alone for the floodgates to finally close again or for the rain to at least hold off a little. 

Half an hour had already passed without the rain calming down. Sethos took a deep breath, slung his backpack over his shoulder and sprinted across the yard. He stopped briefly at the beginning of the stairs and then wanted to sprint on when he suddenly no longer felt the rain on him. 

The short walk from the entrance here was enough to soak him. His hair hung in his eyes as he raised his head to see who was giving him shelter. He gasped in surprise and then frowned, but it was not visible through his wet hair. “You?” he mumbled.

Scaramouche just grinned at him, then shrugged and pulled back his arm, which he was using to hold his hat over them, leaving Sethos standing in the rain again. “If you’d rather get wet,” he said arrogantly, “and here I was, hoping to get some of your present again.” 

The rain found its way through Sethos’ hair and ran down his strands, over his cheeks, chin and neck into his shirt. He ran his wet forearm over his forehead, but as expected, it did absolutely nothing. “You really are an absolute disgusting person,” he said when he finally had himself somewhat under control again. 

Scaramouche laughed heartily. “Thanks for the compliment,” he replied. Sethos bit his lip angrily, pushed Scaramouche aside and stomped past him. “Unfortunately, your character is not half as cute as your face,” Scaramouche said at that very moment.

Sethos spun on his heel. “I’m not cute,” he shouted.

“I told you,” Scaramouche replied, shrugging his shoulders.

“Oh, lick me,” Sethos hissed and turned around again.

“Right now?” he heard before he stopped abruptly. His heart pounded against his ribs, his blood rushed through his veins and his knees felt like jelly. Sethos had to take a deep breath before he could muster enough courage to turn around once again. But this effort was in vain, as there was no one left standing there for him to look at. The only thing that showed that he had not been standing here alone until recently was the hat that was lying on the floor. He looked around uncertainly, shrugged his shoulders briefly because he no longer saw anyone, and then made his way home. 

Over the next two days, there were presents on his desk again, the contents of which consisted of sweets. Scaramouche had not come to see him again, even though he had dragged his hat to school every day. 

Cyno had also managed to pull himself together again the next day and had come to school. He then told Sethos, with a more than satisfying grin, why he hadn’t been there the day before. As had happened so many times before, it was because of a little adventure with Tighnari, from which he had to recover with a lot of sleep and a hearty meal. 

As always the case after nights like this, Sethos had to listen to every. little. thing. that was so important, and even though he had absolutely no interest in the anatomy of a Tighnarian’s body, unfortunately he never escaped these stories and had to listen to them. 

The two of them threw themselves into the weekend with full vigor, a weekend on which Cyno had decided that Sethos should go with him and Tighnari to a theater show. However, when he found out that Tighnari was going to choose the play, he would have preferred to cancel, but, the people pleaser he is, he didn’t want to do that to Cyno. So it was that he was now sitting in a half-full theater and didn’t even know which stupid play he was about to see. 

The look Tighnari had given him when Sethos greeted him was still in his bones. His hazel eyes had literally burned themselves into his body. As closely as Tighnari had stared at him, he turned away from him again just as quickly. Full of enthusiasm, using his hands and feet, he told them that a friend of his had arranged their seats and that he would be joining them later. Both Sethos and Cyno twisted the corners of their mouths in disgust. Tighnari, however, did not let this interrupt his flow of speech. 

In the theater, Sethos had then discovered with horror that they were sitting in the very last row, which was actually intended for couples. Tighnari had of course pulled Cyno towards him and Sethos would unfortunately share a seat with his mysterious friend.

Sethos slouched down in his seat as the play was finally starting and was actually already happy that he had his seat all to himself and that this friend would not show up after all, when he felt someone drop down next to him. He turned his head to look next to him and froze like a pillar of salt. “Don’t I even have peace from you on the weekends?” Sethos immediately snarled, without even bothering to greet him. 

He hadn’t even paid attention to how loud he was, which was why he was now hearing “shhh” echoing from all directions. Embarrassed and with a bright red face, Sethos slid a little further down in his seat. He couldn’t believe that he had to share a seat with Scaramouche , of all people. Annoyed by his bad luck at having to sit next to him and by the fact that he was absolutely not interested in the play, he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

Only when he felt a warm breeze on his forehead did he slowly come to. He blinked a few times and realized that he could now see the state at an angle. The next thing he consciously noticed was a warm hand, the fingers of which were entwined with his own. Sethos gently released his fingers from the others and nervously rubbed over his eyes. A glance to his left convinced him that both Cyno and Tighnari had already set off. As if struck by thunder, Sethos suddenly sat upright in his seat, thus breaking off any last physical contact with the person next to him. Only now did he remember who had sat next to him at the beginning of the show and who he had just leaned against.

His cheeks blushed slightly as he turned his head and looked next to him. Almost immediately he regretted the movement when he saw Scaramouche’s blasé expression. With the aim of calming his heartbeat and his spinning thoughts, Sethos looked around, but the result only made his heartbeat worse. They were the last ones left in the hall. As if stung by a tarantula, he jumped up, grabbed his jacket with trembling fingers and almost tripped over his own legs as he tried to move away from Scaramouche. 

Sethos heard him giggle maliciously behind him and whirled around again. His jacket wrapped itself around his legs and Sethos actually stumbled this time. Suddenly he found himself on Scaramouche’s lap. 

“I always knew I was irresistible, but I’m surprised that you feel the same way,” Scaramouche said in an arrogant tone, but insisted on putting a hand on Sethos’ hip. 

Sethos slapped the hand away and immediately got back up. Without saying another word, he stomped angrily out of the hall. In the foyer, he saw Cyno with Tighnari from afar. Tighnari seemed to be telling Cyno something, which apparently interested him a lot , because he listened thoughtfully and nodded a few times.

Cyno had spotted Sethos before he could disappear, but Sethos simply turned his head to the other side and left the building with hasty steps. He got a few cans of Dandelion Wine from the nearest vendor and stomped home through half the desert, where he made himself comfortable in his room and drank the cans. 

Sethos didn’t drink very much, so even a small amount was enough to get him drunk. He slept off his hangover for a very long time the next day.

The last time he was drunk, he woke up in a strange bed. Well, if one ignored the fact that he had been on vacation in Inazuma and had therefore naturally slept in a strange bed, it was a strange bed. It wasn’t the room he had loved in for two weeks and he was alone. Naked, but alone, and the marks on the bed suggested that he hadn’t been alone all night and that he hadn’t slept the whole time. Sethos had quickly gathered his things together and had also looked for clues that would have told him who the hell he had sex with that night, but he found nothing. As usual, this room was as impersonal as all the other guest rooms. Sethos had then disappeared quietly and left the same day. This experience had been enough for him and he had sworn never to drink in public ever again, but only in his room, where he could be sure that no one would pick him up.

As the blanket was snatched away from him, he growled. “Stop that,” he hissed and sat up, wearing only boxers. Someone jumped onto his bed with great enthusiasm, from the door he heard a quiet giggle and a gasp.

“Get up, the sun is shining and we want to go for an ice cream and you’re invited,” Cyno trilled at a volume that made Sethos want to twist his neck.

Sethos forced himself to open his eyes, but then ended up tearing them open in panic when he realized who was standing in his room. With a quick movement that one would not have expected from his sleepiness, he threw Cyno off the bed and grabbed his blanket, which he wrapped around his body.

“What are they doing here?” he snapped at Cyno, pointing accusingly at Tighnari and Scaramouche. 

Cyno had meanwhile sat back down on the bed and was rubbing his elbow, which he had injured during his involuntary flight. “They’re paying for the ice cream,” he explained with a broad grin. “So they can see your room, too.” 

Sethos struggled out of his bed with a dull grumble and stomped past the two uninvited guests to get changed in the bathroom. Before he did, he took a pair of faded pants from his closet. 

After a few minutes, he came back somewhat alert. Tighnari had set himself up in front of his bookshelf and Cyno was standing next to him. He didn’t even pay any attention to the rest of the cockroaches, but just got a pair of socks. He plopped down on the bed and yawned extensively before laboriously putting on his socks.

“We’ll get some coffee,” Sethos heard before his bedroom door was closed behind Cyno and Tighnari. 

He growled something incomprehensible because he was now alone with the cockroach Scaramouche. He fell back on his bed without thinking and immediately jumped up again when he landed on something that shouldn’t have been there. “Do you have to spread out on my bed of all places?” he snapped.

“There isn’t another one here,” he got the amused reply. 

Sethos forced himself to look at Scaramouche, who had actually spread out on his bed. “Oh, li-” he stopped himself at the last moment as he remembered what had happened last time. One look at Scaramouche’s face was enough for him to know that he knew exactly what he was about to say. 

Scaramouche stood up and walked towards the door. He already had his hand on the handle when he turned to Sethos again, but without looking at him. “I want it back,” he demanded and left the room without waiting for an answer.

Sethos stared at the door as if it were the eighth wonder of the world, and wondered what this jerk was talking about but then decided to ignore it and went downstairs, maybe he could get a cup of coffee. 

No sooner said than done, when Sethos entered the kitchen, he found his grandfather in a stimulating conversation with Scaramouche. Cyno and Tighnari had made themselves comfortable at the table and Sethos sat down there too after he had fetched his coffee.

He slurped the black brew down with displeasure and only half listened to the conversation. Scaramouche’s sentence was still rumbling in his gut, he looked over at him, but couldn’t figure out his secret. He cocked his head to the side and felt his ears turning red when Scaramouche caught him staring at him. 

After about half an hour he just couldn’t take it anymore and got up. “Didn’t you talk about ice cream?” he asked the group. 

Tighnari was immediately on board and got up as well. “That’s right,” he said. Sethos wanted to grab him by the throat. Why did he have to agree with him? 

He skillfully ignored his grandfather’s protest that he should eat something decent first and scurried out of the house. They walked through the city and Sethos got himself a shawarma wrap, which he then treated himself to while Cyno and Tighnari pressed their noses against the shop windows.

Luckily, Scaramouche kept his distance from Sethos and so he was able to think about his thoughts, which were nonetheless constantly revolving around him. Annoyed, Sethos threw away half of his wrap because he had lost his appetite. 

They strolled along the river that flowed through the city to go to one of the cafes where they could finally eat their ice cream. Cyno had already gone a long way with Tighnari when Sethos leaned against the railing that separated the walkway from the embankment. 

Scaramouche leaned against it next to him without being asked, but did not look at the water like Sethos, but in the opposite direction. “If you keep your mouth shut for once, you’re not so bad,” he explained. 

Sethos looked at him, swallowed the angry reply that was on the tip of his tongue, pushed himself off the railing and continued on his way without saying a word - this way he could not see Scaramouche staring after him in amazement. Sethos caught up with Cyno, and without paying attention to Tighnari’s protests, he pulled him aside. He didn’t even let him get a word in when he told him that he wasn’t going with them and that he would end their friendship if he had the stupid idea of letting those two cockroaches into his room again. Then he simply turned around and stomped back home, where he buried himself in his room for the rest of the weekend. 

On Monday, he sat down with a grumpy expression on his face, where another present was waiting for him. For the first time, he wasn’t looking forward to it, but angrily threw it into his backpack. Cyno wasn’t there yet, which wasn’t surprising, because Sethos was also a lot earlier, just so that he wouldn’t run into him on his way to university. Sethos knew quite well that he was exaggerating, but Scaramouche always got on his nerves and Cyno was more than right; Scaramouche was his type and if he weren’t always like that to him, he might even have given it a try - apart from the fact that this attempt would be in complete shambles, after all, Scaramouche was the school’s heartthrob and boys just weren’t into boys, at least that was Sethos’ unshakable opinion. 

Cyno came into the classroom just a few seconds before their teacher and sat down next to Sethos. Somehow Sethos was more than just relieved that Cyno didn’t have the opportunity to speak to him, but at the same time he knew that Cyno wouldn’t let him get away during recess. And that was exactly the case.

Cyno grilled him and worked on him until Sethos finally came out with the truth. However, he had never expected Cyno’s reaction to this confession, nor his sly grin and even less what he demanded of him at the end for his silence. Annoyed with himself and with Cyno’s cold-bloodedness, Sethos stomped back into the lecture hall, packed up his things and pretended to be sick. There would be a few unexcused hours on his report card because he didn’t plan on going to see a doctor, but he didn’t care at all at the moment.

The rest of the week went by no differently, he hardly said a word to Cyno and the presents went unopened into his backpack, from where he then took them out again at home and put them in his desk, again without opening them. By now there were so many that they didn’t all fit in the drawer, so he just left the last two on the desk.

He wasted Saturday doing his papers and lounging around. He had no real intention of giving in to Cyno’s blackmail, which was why he was still sitting in front of his notebook that evening when the door to his room was thrown open. 

Annoyed that he had smudged his ink because of the disturbance, he crumpled up the paper and was about to yell at the intruder when he finally realized who was standing in his door. “Get lost!” 

Neither Cyno, nor the cockroach were affected by this, quite the opposite. Scaramouche closed the door behind him and leaned against Sethos’ desk with his arms crossed and a haughty look against the escape route. Cyno opened the dresser without asking. Sethos was so surprised by such impudence and needed a few blinks before he reacted.

He stood up and slammed the wardrobe door shut in Cyno’s face, not caring that his fingers had almost made contact with the piece of wood. The action came a little late however, as Cyno held out a dark blue shirt and shorts to him with a confident grin. “Put them on!” he ordered, casting a brief, unambiguous glance in Scaramouche’s direction.

Sethos snatched the garments from his hand, growling once audibly before stomping towards the door. He glared angrily at Scaramouche, who was still standing in front of the door and made no move to move aside. Sethos held up the clothes and pointed behind Scaramouche. Scaramouche just raised his eyebrows and grinned at him in a more than ambiguous way. “Put them on here,” he said with an indecipherable look. 

Sethos snorted disparagingly and looked back at Cyno, who had succumbed to a fit of laughter behind him. Sethos felt the heat rise in his face, mumbled something incomprehensible and simply pushed Scaramouche away from the door. Still angry, he went to the bathroom and changed there. When he opened the door again, he found himself facing Cyno, who had been waiting for him. 

“You have a lot of trust in me,” Sethos growled.

“That’s right, so much so that I trust you to pull your tail in again,” he explained with a broad grin.

Sethos pointed in the direction of his room. “You didn’t leave that arrogant pretty boy alone in my room, did you?” he asked, slightly panicked.

“Yes.” Sethos wanted to reach out and beat this smug grin off Cyno’s face.

Nervously, Sethos rubbed his forehead and leaned against the doorframe behind him. “Why are you doing this?” he asked quietly. “I mean, just because you’re so happy with Tighnari doesn’t mean I have to get along with them, do I? Apart from the fact that Scara doesn’t like me anyway.” 

“Sometimes you’re too blind. He really is your type and you told me more than clearly on Monday that you’re more than just interested.”

Sethos slammed his fist against the bathroom door. “Do you really not get it?” he snapped at Cyno again. “This guy is straight , he is not interested in people like me, on the contrary, not everyone reacts like you do. It’s enough that I seem to have a crush on some cockroach like that. Apart from the fact that it’s probably just some stupid crush that will go away if I don’t see him for a while. Instead, you encourage it and drag him into my room and force me to spend a whole fucking evening with him.” 

Cyno put a hand on Sethos’ shoulder. “I don’t want your pessimism at all,” he explained with a broad grin. “Look at it from my perspective; I have to spend this evening with Tighnari’s family and with these friends. With the exception of Scaramouche and Tighnari, I don’t know anyone there and I just want to have someone there that I can escape to.”

Sethos pushed himself away from the door. “And who should I escape to?” he asked and continued on the broken path to his room. 

“Well, into a few strong arms,” Cyno said, grinning again. “Preferably those of a certain pretty boy who will also be at the party.”

Sethos spared himself an answer, but just gave Cyno a sharp look before opening to his room and standing there, stunned. The drawer of his desk was wide open and Scaramouche was sprawling on his bed with the opened presents that Sethos had received over the course of the week. 

“I’ll wait for you downstairs,” Cyno said happily after casting a quick glance over Sethos’ shoulder and then disappeared. 

Sethos slammed the door shut behind him, went to his bed and collected the wrapping paper and the cube. “Can’t you make yourself comfortable in your own room and make a mess there?” he asked venomously. He snatched a gummy snake from Scaramouche’s hand. “And eat your own sweets.” Sethos stuffed the snake into his mouth and ate it while he took the things back to his desk. Angrily, he closed the drawer and went back, grabbing Scaramouche’s leg and trying to pull him off his bed. 

Sethos had not expected Scaramouche to fight back and so he suddenly found himself on his bed, where Scaramouche was pushing him into the mattress. “You are clearly too slow,” he said arrogantly. Sethos fought back against the treatment with his hands and feet - well, actually only with his feet, because Scaramouche was pinning his hands to his bed.

Sethos stopped fighting back and looked up at Scaramouche with red ears. “Actually, I don’t have anything against bondage games,” he said, watching with amusement as Scaramouche’s facial expression briefly changed. “But I would prefer it if someone asked me first,” he continued. He didn’t know where he got this impudence from, or what kind of devil was riding him, but he didn’t care. Scaramouche didn’t like him anyway, so he didn’t need to take any consideration of him. With these words, Sethos managed to loosen Scaramouche’s grip on his wrists, but instead of reacting and freeing himself, he simply lay still - at least until a knock on the door was heard. 

He blinked a few times, just like Scaramouche, before he finally reacted and let go of him. 

Sethos got himself to safety and slipped into his shoes without socks while he tried to calm his heart. For a moment he had really believed that Scaramouche’s face had come closer and closer to his own, but he was definitely mistaken. 

“We have to go,” Scaramouche said, walking towards the bedroom door and disappearing downstairs. Sethos stood there in his own four walls like a wet poodle and stared after him. Only an annoyed: “Sethos!”, which echoed up to him from below and sounded suspiciously like Cyno, freed him from his paralysis and allowed him to gain ground.

Sethos didn’t care that he had no present for Tighnari. If they were going to force him to be near Scaramouche all evening, he would have to accept that he would only get a warm handshake from him. Tighnari could be happy if Sethos didn’t spit in his hand beforehand. 

Still angry with himself for actually letting Cyno force him to do this, he went to this more than just crappy party flanked by the two of them. He could just about hold back when he congratulated Tighnari on his birthday and didn’t spit in his hand. After that he separated himself from the rest as best as he could.

Luckily for him, only Tighnari’s family and a few of their friends were there, and they immediately clung to Scaramouche. Sethos didn’t want his heart to clench like that, he ignored the sinking feeling in his stomach and went to help Collei in the kitchen. He still preferred that by far than having to help Alhaitham with the grill - firstly, because he never used that thing anyway and secondly, because he would have to watch Scaramouche being besieged by all those women who looked as if they had just sat down with their faces in a paint bucket. 

Sooner or later, there was nothing left to do in the kitchen and he had to go out into the garden again. He mixed himself a large glass of rum and fonta and sat down in a corner, far away from the rest. He threw his own solution about not drinking alcohol in company overboard. If he had to spend an entire evening with these cockroaches, he didn’t want to remember any of it the next day. 

At first he only sipped lightly from his glass, but his gulps became much larger. He downed the next glass he made himself so that he could forget about everything around him - especially Scaramouche’s flirting with the kindergarten, who called themselves Tighnari’s friends. In the end, Sethos no longer knew how much he had actually drunk and simply fell asleep in the corner where he had hidden himself. In fact, it didn’t take much for him to pass out anyway, because he couldn’t handle much, and certainly not something as strong as rum. It’s worth mentioning that he had mixed this drink with more rum than fonta. 

When Sethos woke up the next morning, the first thing he felt was his head, where a whole colony of construction workers had made themselves comfortable; apparently they had made it their mission to drive him crazy as soon as he even attempted to open his eyes. He squeezed his eyelids tightly shut, but even that had no effect, because the construction crew had changed their minds and were still torturing him. 

Sethos sat up, groaning loudly, and frowned. He couldn’t remember ever sleeping with just a thin sheet, and the smells in his room seemed a bit strange. With great effort he forced his eyes to look around, but no matter what he saw, nothing looked even remotely familiar. He rubbed his eyes with both hands and then opened them in panic, pushed the pain aside and lifted the sheet a little. He let the air escape his lugs with relief when he realized that he wasn’t entirely naked, as he had first feared, but at least he still had his boxers on.

A quick glance around told him that the rest of his clothes were neatly folded on a chair. Sethos slowly slid back into the bed, pulling the sheet over his head. The brightness in this room bothered him immensely and he cursed quietly. On the other hand, he was more than just relieved because at least this time the alcohol hadn’t affected his sex life and he hadn’t had sex with a stranger he wouldn’t see again. 

Of course he wondered whose bed he was actually lying in. He rummaged through his buried thoughts until he frantically ripped the sheet from his head and looked around again. One thing he could already say, he was at least not in Tighnari’s room. He pulled his legs out from under the sheet and got dressed. He correctly assumed that this was Scaramouche’s room, but of course he didn’t know and he couldn’t fight his curiosity either. When his hand was already reaching for the drawer on the bedside table, he paused and sat there frozen like a stature for a while before he recoiled as if struck by lightning. He hadn’t sunk that low, he thought, and he wasn’t obsessed with this bastard either, not yet. 

A quiet growl rolled over his lips as he stood up and left the room. The way down was not difficult to find, not least because he could hear Tighnari’s laughter from the stairs. In front of the door, behind which he could hear both Cyno’s and Scaramouche’s voices, he stopped once more and straightened his clothes.

“... and he really snuggled up to you?” he heard Tighnari’s voice as he was about to open the door.

“He almost took my breath away.” Sethos frowned at Scaramouche’s answer. He stood there frozen again. They were talking about him, he was absolutely sure of that and that was also the reason why he couldn’t move an inch. He would have liked to bash his head against the nearest wall, he couldn’t believe he had done something like that. 

“How did you actually get him to come here?” he could hear Tighnari again.

A quiet laugh convinced him that the question had been asked of Cyno. “I blackmailed him.”

A cup was roughly slammed on the table. “You did what? ” Scaramouche had asked this question more as a hiss. 

Sethos could literally see through the door how Cyno shrugged his shoulders indifferently. “I told him that if he didn’t come to the party, I would tell everyone that he was gay and that he fancied you.” He couldn’t believe it, he was more than just horrified at how Cyno had simply revealed his secret to these idiots. He was disappointed and doubted this friendship.

“Good morning, or rather, good day.. Sethos.” He winced when he suddenly found himself opposite Collei. A move of the chair quickly convinced him that the other three had heard them, too. He let his hand drop as he quickly looked at the door, which was just opening completely. Before he could even see who was going to appear behind it, he whirled around and stormed out of the house; so he didn’t have to hear Collei explaining to the others that he had been standing outside that door for quite a while.

Sethos simply ran, didn’t pay attention to the path and didn’t have a specific destination, he just wanted to get away. He was ashamed because he had once again drunk far too much alcohol and that had gotten him into yet another mess. Not only had he snuggled up to Scaramouche in his sleep, now he had been caught eavesdropping and on top of that Cyno had betrayed him and just told them everything. Cursing quietly, he sat down on a rock by the river. It seemed as though he had fled in the park. 

He freed his feet from his shoes and dipped his bare toes into the water, braced his elbows against his upper legs and supported his head with his hands while he looked grimly into the cool water. He would love to put his fingers around Cyno’s neck and squeeze with great pleasure. He was incredibly angry at him and even more so with Scaramouche. How could they get together like this? How could Cyno turn against him? 

More and more questions were circling about in his head but he couldn’t find an answer to any of them.

If he could do magic, he would curse himself for his own stupidity and then Cyno and Tighnari. He would save Scaramouche for last and then he would enjoy pulling the skin off his body. How dare this arrogant pretty boy sneak into his thoughts like that? How dare he just nestle in his heart and how dare he haunt his dreams? And damn it, how dare he let himself snuggle up to him in his drunken state? Why had Scaramouche left him alone in his room? Why had he reacted so violently to Cyno’s blackmail?

Sethos shook his head, he wanted to get rid of these thoughts. Immediately, he regretted this movement because the construction workers in his head made themselves known again by starting to rumble at full volume.

“You can shake your head as hard as you like, but you won’t be any wiser afterwards,” he heard the very voice he least wanted to be near him. 

“Go back into the hole you crawled out of,” he countered venomously.

Scaramouche sat down next to him without asking. “I’d like to,” he said with a grin when Sethos risked a look, “but there’s no one left to keep my bed warm.” 

Sethos felt his face blush and so he kept his head down.

Scaramouche just laughed quietly at that. “Are you ready to give it back to me now?” he asked suddenly.

With a confused blink, Sethos looked up: “What do you mean?” 

Scaramouche looked at him briefly before turning his face to the sky. “I got to know someone better on vacation. He just left, and I had my eye on him for a while since then.”

Sethos frowned thoughtfully. “Why are you telling me this?” 

Scaramouche looked at him now. “He just sneaked away after our first night together and then acted as if nothing had ever happened,” he explained, without reacting to Sethos’ interjection. 

“That wasn’t very nice of him,” Sethos said quietly. He looked at Scaramouche in surprise when the words actually sank into his consciousness. Scaramouche was talking about a guy. A guy! Quickly, he turned his face away so that Scaramouche couldn’t guess his thoughts. 

Scaramouche didn’t react to that, either. “It was probably the absolute hottest and most awesome night I’ve ever experienced, even if he had a bit too much alcohol in him.” A dreamy smile appeared on Scaramouche’s lips as he turned away from Sethos again. “After that, I tried to be close to him, but he just kept rejecting and insulting me, and yet I still want to hold him in my arms and never let go. But he just won’t let me, no matter what I do..” 

Sethos splashed around with his feet in the water, and after Scaramouche had still not said anything after a few minutes, he finally looked at him. He was surprised to see that Scaramouche was staring at him, or rather observing him. He gathered up all his courage and asked his first question again: “Why are you telling me this?” 

“Are you going to give it back to me now?” Scaramouche simply asked in return, without answering Sethos’ question.

Sethos tilted his head and snorted quietly: “If you finally tell me what I should give back to you.”

His breath caught when Scaramouche suddenly leaned over to him. “My heart,” he whispered and gently pressed his lips to Sethos’. The touch didn’t last long and was more of a gentle breath of air than a real kiss. Sethos had automatically closed his eyes and it took him a few seconds before he had enough control of himself to open them again. He was surprised to find that he was alone. Scaramouche had simply left. Sethos looked in all directions, yet he couldn’t see him anywhere. 

Sethos went home with his head bowed, replaying the morning, or rather the time of his awakening, in his head over and over again. 

Scaramouche liked guys.
Scaramouche was gay. 
Scaramouche had sex with a guy. 
Scaramouche was always seeking his closeness.
Scaramouche was constantly driving him crazy. 
Scaramouche didn’t agree with Cyno’s method.
Scaramouche had kissed him. 

Sethos could still feel Scaramouche’s lips on his mouth, the kiss burning inside him and filling him up.

When he got home, he immediately went up to his room and ignored his grandfather’s calls. He quickly locked the door so that he wouldn’t think of storming in. 

Without thinking about it, he went to his desk and took out his gifts, then scurried off to his bed. Unfortunately, most of them had already been opened by Scaramouche, so Sethos started to tackle them first. After the second cube had also lost its contents, he turned it over and over in his fingers. He squinted when he remembered that he had seen this type of cube before today, in Scaramouche’s room. There were several piled up on his desk. The cube slipped from Sethos’ fingers as he finally put the puzzle pieces together. All the presents recently had been from Scaramouche, it finally penetrated the fog that had formed in his head.

Why? Why did Scaramouche give him these sweets? Why did he just kiss him? Why did he tell him about his experience on vacation? There were parallels to his own experiences, had Cyno told him something and Scaramouche wanted to make fun of it? 

Sethos shook his head, he didn’t think Scaramouche was capable of that, either. Could it be that it was Scaramouche he had sex with on his last day of vacation? And could it be that he, of all people, had fallen in love with him?

He pondered all night long, couldn’t sleep because he always came to the same conclusion. For better or worse, he would have no choice but to face Scaramouche.

Sethos dragged himself to school the next day with tired eyes. He was almost late again, which meant he couldn’t talk to Cyno anymore. During recess, he kept sliding away from him, which fueled his anger. He suspected that Cyno was avoiding him. They had the last lesson before lunch break separately, and Sethos had already left his lecture hall early so that he could catch him. He didn’t care at all that his professor called after him. 

He wanted answers, and he wanted them now. 

Just as he leaned against the wall next to the door, the bell rang through the building and the doors were thrown open. The door next to him also opened and the students streamed out. The only one who didn’t come out was Cyno. Sethos waited a few moments as the last student went through the door and then looked into the room. Cyno was still sitting in his seat, scribbling something on his paper. 

Sethos shouldered his backpack and silently closed the door behind him before he crept up to him. Cyno wanted to protest as Sethos snatched the notebook from his hands, but when he saw Sethos’ expression, he shut his mouth and remained silent as a fish.

Sethos pulled up a chair and sat on it backwards, resting his forearms on the table top, interested, between him and Cyno, and gave him an ice-cold smile. “We should talk,” he said, still smiling.

Cyno had rarely seen Sethos like this, but he knew that he was in more than a little bit of a mess at the moment.

“Are you going to start telling me on your own, or do I have to ask you a few questions first?” Sethos turned to Cyno after a few nerve-wrecking minutes. 

Cyno swallowed nervously and ran his hand through his hair. “What exactly do you want to know?” he finally asked.

“How about everything?” Sethos suggested. “After all, we have two hours now, or we’ll skip the rest of the day.” 

Cyno hung his head for a moment. “Then let’s go somewhere else,” he said resignedly, stood up, put his notebook away and picked up his bag. Sethos did the same and they left the Akademiya grounds together. 

They sat down in Pupsa Cafe and ordered something to drink. Cyno used this time to organize his thoughts and to think about where he should start.

“After you came back from your vacation and told me about your experience there,” he said after taking a deep breath. “Tighnari came up with the same story, just from a different perspective, and I put two and two together. I then let Tighnari in on it and we decided to help you a bit. Or rather, we worked on Scaramouche a bit. Of course I didn’t tell him that you really are gay and that you couldn’t actually remember the night,” Cyno added immediately when he noticed Sethos’ dark look.

“Tighnari persuaded him to give you small, secret gifts and I told him that you like sweets, but of course that idiot messed it up on the first day by simply stealing them from you. But you also kept putting obstacles in our way. When we were at the theater, we thought everything was sorted out, but no, you two stubborn assholes obviously had to turn everything in a different direction,” he said angrily. Cyno leaned a little towards Sethos. “Of course I didn’t tell him anything about what you told me the other day,” he clarified, “I’m not such a bad friend, and besides, that is your job to tell him.” 

Sethos looked thoughtfully up from his coffee. Everything Cyno had told him he had already figured last night. He turned the cup over and over on the saucer as he lost himself in his thoughts. “Why wasn’t there anything on my desk today?” he asked.

Cyno shrugged his shoulders briefly. “I don’t know. After you left yesterday and Scaramouche ran after you, I haven’t seen him anymore.” 

Together they decided to let the rest of the day pass and skip school. Sethos knew full well that he couldn’t concentrate on the class material anymore and Cyno was always up for something like that anyway.

He was not going to run away, that much was clear to him, which was why he sat down on a wall near the door and watched the entrance. Sethos had absolutely no idea what he was going to say to Scaramouche when he was face to face with him, but he would find out. 

He had to wait almost two hours before he finally saw the object of his desire, together with his friends. Sethos slid down from the wall and walked somewhat uncertainly towards the small group. Scaramouche had his back to him as he approached, and except for one person, no one seemed to notice him, but that one person was enough. He stared at Sethos and in this way made Scaramouche turn around. Sethos swallowed nervously when he noticed how Scaramouche’s facial features closed and he looked at him venomously. 

Despite Sethos’ courage failing him, he continued to walk towards the group. If he were to turn around and run away now, it would make an even worse impression that it already did. Sethos pumped air into his lungs in panic as he stopped in front of Scaramouche. “I want to keep it,” he said simply. He would have loved to punch himself, how could he be so stupid and start such an important conversation with such a sentence? Scaramouche looked at him confused for a moment before grabbing his upper arm and pulling him away from the others. 

“I’ll be right there,” Scaramouche said to his friends, which put a real damper on Sethos. “What does that mean?” he finally turned to Sethos again. He raised his arms defensively as Sethos was about to answer. “Wait a minute, I know what that means, I just don’t understand your sudden change,” he explained in a cool tone. 

Sethos bit the inside of his cheek nervously and lowered his head slightly. “It would be easier if we went somewhere else,” he murmured and looked up again.

Scaramouche shook his head. “Here and now, this is the only chance you get.”

Sethos’ shoulders sank closer and closer to the ground. This was not how he imagined this conversation to be. He didn’t quite understand why Scaramouche was suddenly so distant again, when he had just kissed him the day before. He didn’t want to confess to Scaramouche in front of the Akademiya and in front of his friends that he had apparently fallen in love with him and that he would therefore like to keep his heart. He couldn’t tell him here, in passing, so to speak, that he would like to sleep with him and would like to remember it afterwards. It would probably be easiest if he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him, but he wasn’t quite so gay that he would fall into this cliché. 

So they stood facing each other for a few minutes, during which neither of them said a word. Sethos had lowered his head and was thinking hard about what he could say or do to stop Scaramouche, but he couldn’t really think of anything useful. Sethos felt Scaramouche’s expectant gaze on him, he didn’t even have to look up to see it.

“Damn it, Scara,” Sethos suddenly heard a voice, “how long are you going to keep talking to that little toad in silence? He’ll never open his mouth.”

Sethos would have loved to rush past Scaramouche and polish the speaker’s ugly face, but to do that he would probably have to train a few more years and also grow a few centimeters taller. The gorilla who had just spoken had taken a step towards them so that Scaramouche could hear him better. Sethos looked back at Scaramouche, who didn’t even look at him as he turned completely around to face his friends and simply left him standing there without paying any further attention to him. 

Sethos stared after the group with his mouth open; something like this had never happened to him before. First Scaramouche took him by surprise, demanded something of him, and then he wanted an answer in front of the entire Akademiya, which he would actually prefer to give in secret - or at least in a more romantic setting and without anyone listening. When Sethos had to watch Scaramouche confidentially put his arm around the shoulders of the man next to him, his self-control was gone.

Tears welled up in his eyes as he whirled around and walked the entire way home at a speed that would have made him sick if he’d had nothing else to do. Sethos stormed up the stairs to his room and shut the whole world out of his life by slamming his door. 

Without taking off his shoes, he threw himself face down on his bed and hid his face in his pillow. His shoulders shook and his entire body trembled, he screamed into his pillow while it was simultaneously soaked with his tears. Through his own stupidity and his reticence, he had wasted his last chance with Scaramouche. If he had known earlier that there was even a chance for him in the first place, he might have taken it, but Scaramouche’s behavior towards him had always told him something different, which was why he had long since come to terms with it, but this was more than just a bitter blow to his stomach.

He ignored his grandfather’s knocking, who of course wanted to know what was wrong, and he ignored him when he called him to dinner. He wanted to feel sorry for himself and cry his heart out, which he did all night long. At some point he did fall asleep and was brought out of his nightmare by the penetrating sound of his alarm clock. Only after he had turned off his alarm and struggled into a sitting position did he remember yesterday and knew that his nightmare had become reality. He would have preferred to continue to bury himself in his room and under his blanket and stuff himself with comforters like chocolate, but he knew full well that his grandfather would not let him get away with it. 

He stood up, rearranged the contents of his backpack and left his room. He didn’t care at all what he looked like or whether he was still wearing the same clothes as before, he just wanted to get the day over with and then wallow in self-pity again. 

Sethos dragged himself to school in a bad mood. Now he remembered why he had buried his feelings and thoughts for Scaramouche a long time ago. It simply didn’t make sense, but he didn’t know if he would be able to face him again like he used to. The best thing would be to simply avoid him, he thought. He nodded to himself as he walked towards the entrance, then straightened his shoulders again and crept on.

He was lucky, Scaramouche was standing with his friends in a corner of the yard, but he didn’t notice him. Sethos wasn’t bothered on his way to the lecture hall either, so he dropped down into his seat without saying a word. He cocked his head back and snorted in annoyance before sitting back down normally and freezing like a statue. He swallowed the lump that had approached his throat out of nowhere and reached for the small present that was on his desk with trembling fingers. Even though he didn’t really want to, he opened it and revealed a few gummy bears. He bit his lower lip because it was trembling treacherously. 

Sethos jumped up and dropped the cube, spilling its content across the table, and sprinted out of the room. He was now firmly convinced that Scaramouche wanted to torture him, that he was making a complete fool of him. These constant advances and gifts almost drove him mad and the rejections frayed his nerves. As he walked across the yard, a thought manifested itself; he would drop out of university and completely isolate in the temple of silence just so he wouldn’t have to see this asshole anymore. 

Sethos was pulled back roughly, had to blink away a few tears before he could see anything. When he finally realized who was preventing him from escaping, he turned his head to the side and actually wanted to free his arm, which was still being held. The only thing he achieved with this action was that the fingers around his upper arm dug even harder into his flesh. “Let me go,” Sethos demanded weakly. “Go kid someone else, or are you not finished yet? Do I have to lie in the dirt for you to be satisfied? Isn’t it enough for you that you’ve already shown me that I’m worthless?” he muttered quietly.

The pressure around his upper arm loosened, but he was not released. “I’m sorry,” Scaramouche admitted quietly. “What I did yesterday wasn’t fair, but I was angry with you,” he tried to explain. “But apparently I was the only one who didn’t really understand that. You can thank my best friend, he gave me a good telling off. I thought I’d leave you another present so you’d know that I wasn’t serious yesterday, but the attempt backfired,” Scaramouche whispered contritely.

Sethos cursed his heart, which was beating faster at Scaramouche’s words. He successfully fought down the burgeoning hope that he would do something stupid, but definitely not fall for him again. He carefully raised his eyes a little and looked around; some students were still standing in the yard and at least half of them were watching them. “What do you actually want from me?” he asked, but didn’t look at him. 

Sethos jumped slightly when he suddenly felt a breath near his ear. “I want to talk to you. I want to laugh with you. I want to feel every millimeter of your skin under my fingers. I want to hear you moan, whimper, gasp, beg! The whole range of sounds you are capable of. I want you to write beneath me, to vanish with passion and always want more. ”

With every sentence that left Scaramouche’s mouth, Sethos’ ears turned redder. He turned his head and looked at him with wide eyes. “You’re not serious?” he asked, still astonished. 

Scaramouche finally released his fingers from Sethos’ arm, but moved his face closer and closer. “Nothing in my entire life has ever been as serious as this,” he explained with a smile, but did not stop moving his head.

Sethos cast another glance across the yard. Now there was hardly anyone there except for Scaramouche’s friends and a handful of others. He looked at him again. “They can see you,” Sethos tried to make Scaramouche aware that they were not alone.

Scaramouche just shrugged his shoulders briefly. “Doesn’t matter,” he said and pressed his lips to Sethos’ as lightly as a feather - this time, however, he did not settle for a harmless press of the lips, but demanded more, something that Sethos had no answer to. He almost landed on the floor because his legs could no longer withstand the strain of his hormones. He dug his fingers into Scaramouche’s shirt, and at the same time he felt Scaramouche put an arm around his waist, thus holding him upright.

Only the sound of the bell broke the kiss. Sethos kept his eyes closed, afraid that this could just be another stupid dream and that he would soon wake up in his damp bed. Of course, he couldn’t see Scaramouche’s gaze wandering over his face. “We’re skipping school today,” Sethos suddenly heard Scaramouche’s voice, which was why he finally opened his eyes.

Scaramouche’s friends came closer. “As you wish.” Sethos couldn’t say exactly who said this because his vision was still a bit blurred from the kiss. One of the boys slapped Scaramouche on the shoulder in a friendly manner. 

“Don’t screw it up again and scare him away,” he said before following the others. Sethos wasn’t entirely sure, but he thought it wasn’t the same one as yesterday, which had been much bigger.

“I don’t plan to,” Scaramouche said with a grin and pulled the still totally bewildered Sethos away from the Akademiya. 

fin.