Work Text:
After a long day of difficult classes and assignments, Damon Maitsu wanted nothing more than to return to his dorm. The bag full of books he carried felt heavier and heavier with each step his sore feet took. When he finally reached his door, he fumbled with the lock before swinging it open and shutting it behind him with a satisfying click—a sound that felt like music to his weary ears.
The dorm’s living area was dim, with no sign of his roommate anywhere. He sighed, figuring Eva must be in her room 'studying' again. They had been sharing living quarters for about two years now, and though she always presented herself as a stone-cold, calculating, no-nonsense math genius in public, only he and her only other friend, Diana, knew about her irritating addiction to video games.
Whenever she finished her assignments and attended all her classes, she would lock herself away in her room, leaving Damon haunted by the nonstop sounds of 8-bit effects and upbeat music from whatever game she was playing.
Dropping his bag on the sofa, he walked toward the mathlete’s room. Her door was ajar, with colorful lights spilling out, shifting from red to green to blue at steady intervals.
The familiar sound of energetic background music grew louder as he approached. Without hesitation, he pushed the door open without knocking, a habit the two had developed since becoming comfortable with one another.
The inside was exactly what he had come to expect. Eva was slumped over her computer, focused intently on whatever ridiculous online game had captured her attention this time. Posters of famous mathematicians like Hypatia and Pythagoras, drawn in anime art styles, lined the walls.
If there was one thing he could give her credit for, it was her ability to keep her room impeccably clean and organized. It was one of the few things they had in common, among other things.
“Still up so late, Eva?” He said, mostly to make his presence known.
“You’re home late. I was getting worried.” Her voice answered with such indifference Damon wondered how genuine her concern was.
“Just been overwhelmed with classes and studying since exams are coming up. You know how it is.” He answered with a heavy sigh.
“Well, you should probably head to bed then. I know how much you love your beauty sleep.”
"Let me guess, you're planning on staying up all night.”
“Yes.”
“Playing video games… again.”
“Correct.”
He felt his eye twitch. It wasn’t that he was annoyed by the noise she made while gaming all night, she always put on her headphones when she heard his room’s light switch turn off. It was more the part of him, the part he desperately tried to suppress, that felt a significant amount of concern for her well-being.
Was it really healthy for someone to stay up all night playing video games, only to attend classes all morning and afternoon? How much sleep did she actually get each day?
He stood by her door in silence, lost in thought. Despite her focus remaining glued to the computer screen, Eva could sense Damon’s unease all the way from her gaming chair.
“What is it?” she asked, pausing her game and finally meeting his eyes for the first time since he had entered her room.
“I was thinking maybe you could sleep early for once,” he suggested.
“Why?”
“It’s been a long day, and the sound of your keyboard bugs me when I’m trying to sleep. I have an important class tomorrow,” he lied.
“It’s a fairly quiet keyboard. There’s no way you could hear it from your room.”
“Fine. I just think you should have a healthier sleep schedule. Your day-to-day is as busy as mine, but I barely see you getting proper rest. If something happens to you, it’ll hinder my studies.”
“K.”
Her incredibly dry response made his eye twitch again, his brow furrowing as irritation flashed across his face. With a sharp glare, he stormed out of her room, vowing never to show concern for her welfare again.
The whole time he spent preparing for bed he seethed over his apathetic roommate. He showered thinking of how someone can be so aloof, and he ate dinner pondering why he cares so much about her self-destructive habits, it’s her life, if she wants to land herself in the hospital for her terrible life choices then that’s her problem.
Once he finally laid down on his twin sized bed did he decide he was done worrying for Eva. He couldn’t wait for the day she passed out during a lecture, and gets sent back to him in a pathetic sickly state so he could scream ‘I TOLD YOU’ in petty victory.
He let the exhaustion take over as he drifted off to sleep soon after. Time became a blur as a messy mix of dreams and darkness accompanied him throughout the night.
……………………
……………
………
…
DING
He awakes. His mind spinning slightly as he became fully aware of his consciousness. He had forgotten to mute his phone before bed and silently cursed the handheld device. He wondered who the hell could be texting him at…
He checks the phone.
4 IN THE FUCKING MORNING??
He unlocked his phone and angrily opened his messages, only to find the notification was from none other than Eva. His tired eyes narrowed further in annoyance—what could possibly be so important at such an ungodly hour?
He opened her chat to find a badly edited video of a giant cat in space licking the earth, accompanied by an obnoxious sound effect endlessly repeating 'zub zub zeb zeb bleh bleh blo bloo bleh bleh,' with corny alien music playing in the background. The caption read, 'CONFIRMED: Scientists confirm this is how the Earth spins.'
Bewilderment quickly turned to fury as Damon threw off his blanket and stomped toward Eva’s room, phone clenched tightly in hand. Without hesitation, he barged in, finding—unsurprisingly—that Eva had completely ignored his suggestion and was still glued to her computer. At the sudden loud noise, she snapped her head around, startled.
Damon, his face contorted in frustration, thrust his phone screen toward the mathlete.
“What the hell is this?” he said, sharp and biting on the verge of absolutely losing it.
“Scientists confirmed that’s how the earth spins.” Eva repeated the caption flatly, adjusting her glasses in a very composed manner.
His grip on his phone tightens as his free hand balls up into a fist, he was not happy with that answer.
“Dammit, Eva!” he shouted. “If you had just gone to bed early, you wouldn’t have woken me up! What is your problem? Do you have any idea how much focus I lost during classes because I couldn’t stop worrying about you?” The lack of sleep caused all of Damon’s pent up frustration to spill from his lips, it was only when Damon was done screaming did he realize how loud he had been and hoped he won’t be met with a noise complaint in the morning.
The debater was embarrassed to have lost his composure, and though he expected Eva to brush him off as she usually did, he was alarmed to see her face filled with nothing but guilt. She turned her gaze aside, unable to face her frustrated roommate.
“I’m sorry… You usually put your phone on silent before bed, so I thought I could send you something funny for when you wake up… I felt bad for making you angry earlier.” Her voice was uncharacteristically remorseful. His eyes widened, and his face softened at her sincere apology. His shoulders slumped, no longer holding his phone up at her. He wordlessly made his way to her bed and sat at the foot of it.
“I hope you know I do appreciate you worrying about me. I just don’t know how to express it.” Her weakened voice made the anger and resentment he had been holding dissolve in an instant as he saw her reduced to a dejected mess. He sighed in defeat.
“Finally heading to bed would be enough to show me you care. You really do worry me, you know… How much sleep do you even get every day?”
“...”
“Is there a reason you don’t sleep every night?”
“It’s not that I don’t want to. I just can’t,” the mathlete stammered, trying to find the right words to explain her situation.
“It’s hard for me to fall asleep, so I just don’t. I always feel so tense, like it’s impossible for me to relax.” She clutched her shoulders, a fragile attempt to hold herself together.
Upon hearing Eva describe her insomnia, it was now Damon’s turn to feel an overwhelming sense of guilt. Just moments ago, he had been berating her for something she couldn’t control. He felt like such an asshole that he knew he had to make it up to her, to help her somehow. And the only thing he could think of was simply being there for her.
“What if I stayed in your room for the night?”
“What?” A furrow appeared between her brows as her mouth opened slightly, the disbelief mingling with confusion in her eyes.
“Wait, let me explain,” Damon began, striving to maintain his composure. “I read that physical contact can help with insomnia.”
Eva eyed him skeptically like he was suggesting something completely ridiculous.
“What do you want us to cuddle?”
“We don’t have to go that far! Holding hands should be fine too, whatever you’re comfortable with.” As soon as the words left his mouth, he immediately regretted suggesting it. He turned away, his face growing hotter with every passing second.
“Fine.” Eva took off her glasses and placed them on her desk. She got up from her gaming chair to join Damon, sitting beside him at the foot of her bed.
“We lie down on three.” Damon announced.
“Okay. One, two, three.” They counted together before settling on either side of the bed, shifting around until they found comfortable positions. Slowly, Damon reached out and awkwardly took Eva’s hand in his. The silence stretched between them, heavy and awkward, as Damon’s attention drifted to the shifting RGB lights dimly illuminating her room. He found them insufferable and couldn’t help but wonder how she lived like this.
“… feel any better?” Damon attempted to break the unbearably tense quiet between them, praying she didn’t notice how hard his heart was pounding.
“This is somehow worse.” She stated bluntly.
“Give it a moment, maybe the relaxation kicks in with time.” Doubt started to creep into him as his grip on her hand loosened, he was tense and he felt one wrong move could make their situation even more awkward.
Just when Damon was about to give up on the whole thing, he felt Eva suddenly wrap her arms around him in a tender embrace. He jolted slightly at the unexpected gesture, his mouth parting, but no coherent thoughts formed in his head.
“Maybe there needs to be a higher concentration of physical contact for it to work.” A sudden hitch in her voice revealed her nervousness as she rested her cheek against his chest. Damon lifted his free hand, hovering uncertainly over her, wondering if he should hug her back. His body craved the warmth of her, while his mind debated whether it was the right thing to do. But before he could decide, Eva pulled away, rolling onto her side to face away from him.
“Sorry, that was uncalled for. You should just go back to your room. I know you have an important class in the morning,” she said, her voice distant.
Damon felt a cold sting in his chest at her words. He had tasted her warmth, and now he yearned for it again. Instinct took over, and he wrapped his arm around her, pulling his body against her back. Eva remained as still as a statue; he figured she must be surprised by his bold move. She could definitely feel how fast his heart was beating, pressed against her back, cushioned by her long hair.
“If I go now, I know you’ll just go back to your computer. So, I’m holding you hostage.”
Damon’s face burned hotter with embarrassment as he made up the excuse to stay in her bed.
“That’s… fine by me.”
For the first time in the two years they had spent together, Eva reached over to her light switch and turned off the lights. Her room became pitch black, and the two of them lost themselves in each other’s body heat. Damon forced himself to stay awake until he was sure she had fallen asleep. Moments later, he heard her soft snores, feeling relieved that her body could finally begin to heal. As he drifted off to sleep with Eva in his arms, one thought repeated in his mind.
‘God, if only there weren't classes in a few hours.’