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Ema knew the art of investigation like the back of her hand. Even if she still had a lot to learn in this matter, it came to her naturally. Scientific examination, deduction and drawing out the right conclusions were no struggle for her whatsoever.
Investigating whether or not she had a chance with her crush, though? Horrible. Hopeless. Hell on earth.
Back when she was younger, she assumed that it was just like in the romance movies and TV shows she's been watching all her teenage years — a glance, a smile, and you immediately know you like somebody and they like you just as much. Then they ask you for your number, bring you flowers to your doorstep, and you pull them in for a kiss which they return without hesitation. It seemed so simple, and obvious.
Unfortunately, her romantic interest was much more difficult to read. He was a rockstar AND a prosecutor, always surrounded by fans even at his young age, defaulting to a flirty persona whenever a woman spoke to him. There was no telling whether he actually liked someone, or if he was just playing around. Just recently, she would've sworn that she could never be into someone like this.
And yet, here she was, having asked Klavier Gavin of all people to accompany her to a party hosted by one of her classmates as her plus one.
“Hallo, Fräulein?... When are you coming? I can't wait already!” Ema couldn't see him from the other side of the phone, but she could almost imagine him draped over his bed dramatically, like a housewife missing her husband who has gone out to a war.
The dramatics weren't necessary at all, but she couldn't really blame him for getting impatient. After all, they'd arranged that she would show up at his dorm a while ago. The building where exchange students from Themis Legal Academy were staying was just a five minute walk away from here, and she was already late by… ten minutes?! Wow, way to impress her crush.
“I'm on my way, give me a moment!”
And she was the furthest possible thing from “on her way”, stuck between a few different outfits she wanted to wear. It's not that she didn't care about her looks at all, unlike what some might've thought knowing how big of a nerd she was. That's probably why she found it especially challenging to choose something that would more or less align with what Klavier would wear. Something flashy would probably be too much for her, and she wanted to settle for the perfect blend of pretty and comfortable…
But when she heard the guy's voice rushing her, she just gave him a quick “okay, okay” and hung up, settling for a green dress Lana used to wear back when she was her age and walking out of her dorm.
And when she was finally there,
“Moment mal!”
she was the one who had to wait for her pair.
Fortunately, Klavier didn't leave her hanging for too long and soon opened the door, with that annoyingly charming grin spread on his face.
“Ah, Fräulein scientist! Looking as beautiful as ever, I see.” He greeted her in his usual tone, and she just wished it didn't embarrass her enough to force her to just hide her face from him and walk inside.
A quick glance around the room and she could tell that an intense artistic process was underway — his roommate was absent, “replaced” by a bunch of hair products and make-up supplies scattered on the bed, right beside an outfit laid out neatly on the sheets. It was just as flashy as she expected: a purple shirt, black pants and a leather jacket with a big star painted on the back in silver paint.
Unfortunately, he would look good in it too. He looked good in everything.
For whatever strange reason she couldn't explain, it made her feel a bit nervous, that she would look so simple in comparison with him. She hadn't even put on her make-up, not like she ever learnt how to do it or was considering it in the first place…
“You haven't done your make-up yet, nein?”
The way he asked it was a pretty obvious suggestion, and it sounded almost like a stereotypical cool guy line from a romantic comedy. She wouldn't mind having some make-up done, it was actually pretty nice of him to suggest that.
Then again, there was probably nothing to get all excited about. Knowing Klavier Gavin, he must've offered this to every girl to have ever come to his place, and it probably didn't even mean anything. He would just do it and get on with her day, probably not even turning back to reminisce about it, while she replayed the scene in her head multiple times before falling asleep while almost squeezing the fluff out of her pillow.
And yet, something compelled her to shake her head, which he took as approval for his idea, just as she expected.
A moment later the two were sitting in a bathroom way too small for this guy's liking, as she'd concluded from his muttering, he was busy with the task he's assigned himself to, and Ema was busy watching his face. Klavier looked a bit too handsome up close, and she's never seen him so focused before, which was a very good look on him. She could feel herself physically blushing when he would crack a smile all of a sudden, apparently proud of his work, she felt a sort of tingle run down her spine when he suddenly grabbed her chin and pulled her up and down, not even bothering to ask if she would mind it or not, which he would probably get scolded for if this scene didn't make him so attractive in her eyes.
She wanted to pull him in and kiss him more than ever.
Fortunately, soon he was done with his work, just in time for her to not be able to fulfill any of the stupid ideas coming into her head and left her to admire his work while he got dressed. She couldn't deny that Klavier did a very good job, the make-up wasn't exaggerated and it brought out her features in a way that almost made her prettier than usual. But before she could walk back into the bedroom and give the guy any compliments, he was already standing in front of the mirror, all dressed up.
“How do I look, Fräulein?”
“Not bad.”
Way too good.
He laughed at Ema’s remark and took a step closer to her, extending a hand towards her.
“Ready to go, wunderschön?”
She had a feeling how the evening would go. Klavier would probably keep stupidly flirting with her like this, hoping to embarrass her or whatever his deal was, and she would dismiss it rather than admit how she really felt. Later she would come back to her own dorm and regret everything she did, or rather didn't do. And she'd probably end up blaming it on him, on how he keeps messing with her, and how she probably wouldn't even notice if he actually did like her because of how casually he's been doing this.
But for now, she decided to just roll with it and have as much fun as she could.