Work Text:
Sophie is observant. And she knows when she is right, which is 9 times out of 10. And she is sure she is right this time as well.
“I'm telling you Maya, those two are definitely together.”
Her friend Maya, sitting to her right, scoffs. “Sophie, just pay attention to the class.” She tucks a strand of stray auburn hair behind her ear, redirecting her focus to the front of the class.
“No, Maya, you have to understand. Mr. Leclerc and Mr. Verstappen are one hundred percent bang—”
“Please do not finish that sentence.” Maya holds her pen up, her other hand resting on the desk.
“You know what? I bet I can prove to you that those two are dating within a week,” Sophie challenges. Maya puts her pen down and turns to her.
“You're going to bet on it?” she asks with a raised brow. It wasn’t unlike Sophie to start betting on the smallest of things just so she can prove a point. “Do you seriously have nothing better to do?”
“I like to prove it when I know I'm right. Now, how much do you want to bet?”
“You're the one who wants to bet, not me,” Maya points out, shifting her focus to the front of the class.
“Fine. 10 bucks,” Sophie proposes.
“Alright,” Maya agrees, but leaves Sophie's offer of a handshake hanging. Sophie drops her hand, but scoots closer to the other woman.
“Exhibit A,” Sophie whispers to Maya this time. “Do you see that band on his left ring finger? He's obviously married.”
“That doesn't prove that he's married to Mr. Verstappen,” Maya retorts.
“Yes but it means that—”
“Ms. Wilson, Ms. Dutta,” Charles’ voice coming from the front of the class interrupts Sophie and she quickly springs away from Maya. “Since you two already seem to be very friendly, I'm going to pair you two up for this assignment. Is that alright?”
“Yes professor, that is fine with us,” Maya answers. Charles nods his head and continues assigning partners to the rest of the class.
“What is the assignment about?” Sophie quietly whispers to Maya once Charles has shifted his attention and Maya lets out a deep sigh.
—
“So you know how—”
“Shh.”
“What? You know how—”
“Oh my God, Sophie!” Maya slams her book shut as quietly as she can in the library. They've been—actually, she’s been trying to get a head start on their assignment but her teacher-assigned-partner is so focused on winning her little bet that it is proving to be just a little difficult.
“Just, hear me out for like five minutes, then we can start working on the assignment okay?” Sophie says. She scrunches her eyebrows just slightly and juts out her bottom lip when she sees the stern expression on Maya’s face. The trick works as always and Maya relents.
“Fine. Go on,” Maya says with a wave of her hand. Sophie grins before pulling her phone out from the pocket of her jeans and opens up what looks like a Google doc.
“Okay so, here's all the evidence I have gathered till now.”
Maya’s eyes widen in astonishment. “Good God, Sophie. You made a fucking Google doc for a bet?”
“You know I hate to lose, babe,” Sophie winks. And if there's a faint blush creeping across Maya’s face, Sophie chooses not to think much of it. “Anyway, you should look through this,” she says, handing Maya the phone.
Maya skims through the eight page long document. The information is all impressively arranged in bullet points, separated into sections with sub-headings and even…embedded links? “Mr. Verstappen does not have a dog.”
Sophie’s eyes widen as she excitedly leans in to start explaining. “He does have a dog! Remember two weeks ago when he came to class, pulled his laptop and charger out and the cord had been nibbled on. Sasha pointed it out and he said, ‘Oh, that must've been my dog's doing.’”
Maya tries really hard to recall the incident but fails. “He did?”
“Yes!” Sophie almost yells, and gets shushed by Maya again because of it. “And Mr. Leclerc also has a dog.”
“Yes but that doesn't mea—”
“What's this about me and my dog, then?” A voice coming from behind startles both of them.
“Professor Leclerc. Good afternoon,” Maya greets, trying not to sound so surprised by Charles’ presence.
“Good afternoon, Ms. Dutta. May I know why I am included in your afternoon library discussions?” Charles smiles. There is no malice behind his words, nor any harshness in his tone. Truth be told, Max and Charles are maybe the only two professors on campus whom the students absolutely adore.
“Oh, I saw a picture of your dog on your desk the other day when I came in for office hours. That's what I was telling Maya here,” Sophie answers. Charles considers the answer for a second, then smiles.
“Ah yes. I do have a dog. He's a mini dachshund actually, three years old now. He used to fit in the palm of my hand when I first got him, you know?” he recalls fondly. “Anyway, I won’t keep you both from your work. Please, carry on,” Charles shoots them another smile before walking off and Sophie breathes a sigh of relief.
“That was a close one.”
“Yes it was,” Maya says, checking her phone. “I’ve gotta go, it’s almost time for my World History lecture.” She starts gathering her things scattered around the table. Just as she's leaving, she seems to remember something and pauses. “Oh yeah,” she reaches into her bag and pulls out something wrapped in paper. “I picked you up a sandwich from the lunch hall,” she says, sliding the sandwich over to Sophie.
Sophie stares at the paper-wrapped cylinder in front of her on the table. “Why?” she asks, visibly confused.
“I know you always forget to eat unless someone reminds you,” Maya replies with a simple shrug. “Now, eat that sandwich and don't be late tomorrow for working on the assignment, okay?”
Sophie just nods, unsure what to say. Maya waves her a quick goodbye as she leaves and Sophie sits there staring at the sandwich in her hands for another good ten minutes before finally picking it up.
—
Wednesday evening, they find themselves in the park.
“Why are we here again?” Maya asks. After class ended today, Sophie simply dragged her friend to her car, told her to get in and drove them out here.
“We're here because Mr. Leclerc is here walking his dog,” Sophie replies as they make their way to the cafe by the lake in the park.
“How on Earth did you find that out?” Maya asks. Sophie shoots her a smirk and wiggles her eyebrows as if that is supposed to explain it. Unfortunately, it does explain it, and Maya groans when she realises it. “You're stalking his social media now?”
“Instagram.” Sophie corrects. “And it's public by the way, so it’s technically not stalking,” she adds. They move until Sophie finds a table by the large window. She sits, dragging her chair even closer to the glass to be able to see better. When the waitress comes, Maya orders for both of them.
“What exactly is the point of coming here?” Maya asks once the waitress leaves.
“It's not just his dog, right? And if my calculations are correct, Mr. Verstappen will also come and meet him here in about half an hour because his classes end soon. Then, they'll walk their dog together here and go back home. Before you ask, I know this because Mr. Leclerc has a highlight on his profile which contains several pictures of him walking his dog with someone in the park.”
Maya just blinks at the woman sitting across from her. “Your stalker tendencies are starting to freak me out.”
“It's not stalking sweetie, it's research,” Sophie explains with a pointed finger. Maya opens her mouth to argue that statement but the waitress comes by just then with their order.
“Wait, I didn't order anything,” Sophie says when the waitress places a mug in front of her as well.
“I did,” Maya says casually as she takes a straw out for her drink.
Sophie isn’t sure what else she can say so she settles on, “Thanks.” She takes a slow sip of her drink. “How did you know I liked caramel macchiatos?”
“Hmm? Oh, you’ve mentioned it before,” Maya answers quickly, shifting her attention to the notebook open in front of her. Sophie tries to think when she could've mentioned anything about her coffee choices to Maya when Charles comes into her field of vision. “Oh, there he is,” she taps on Maya's arm to get her attention.
Charles is walking around the lake, his dog's leash in his hand. The little golden-haired dog trots along in front as Charles then takes his phone out to presumably call someone.
“I guess Mr. Verstappen will be here soon,” Sophie says. “Mr. Leclerc must be calling him right now.”
“What if he isn't here?” Maya asks. It isn’t a serious question but he knows how much Sophie loves being right which makes it so much easier to tease her.
“Then I'll have three more days to prove to you that they are together. This isn't over just yet,” Sophie shoots back defensively. It is silly really, this whole ordeal. But she's determined to prove her point.
“Fancy seeing you ladies here.”
Sophie looks up to find Charles standing by their table, the dog standing by his feet.
“Mr. Leclerc! Good evening,” Sophie greets him.
“We were just here, working on our assignment,” Maya explains. Charles nods as his eyes shift to their table.
“I don't see any material set out in front of you, Ms. Wilson,” he notes with a sly grin.
“Well, that's because Maya is doing all the writing.” She looks over at Maya, who quickly nods.
Charles hums. “That’s good then. I do hope you’re both learning something from this work. I'll leave you both to it now, I have to be off anyway. Good luck.” He flashes them both a smile, texting someone as he walks away.
“That was close,” Sophie exhales dramatically.
“Yes, and also a waste of time. Mr. Leclerc left alone, you dummy.” Maya clips her pen on the side of her notebook and calls the waitress over.
Sophie huffs. “I'll show you next time.”
When the bill arrives, Sophie insists on paying for them and after going back and forth for five minutes, Maya lets her.
When Sophie drops her off at her house, there is something in Maya’s eyes she can't quite read. The other woman gives her a quick hug before stepping out of the car, but that peculiar feeling stays with Sophie on her drive back home.
—
“One more day, my friend, the clock is ticking,” Maya says when Sophie slumps into a seat next to her.
It is Friday. They have a two hour lecture with Mr. Verstappen followed by an hour long lecture with Mr. Leclerc. Ideally, Sophie should have her entire plan mapped out and ready to go. But for the past day and a half, her mind had been occupied elsewhere.
“I’ve still got plenty of time.” Sophie manages a weak smile. Looking at Maya now, for some reason, makes her stomach flutter in a way that feels like a combination of nerves and nausea. Maya's eyes are fixed on her, worry evident in her gaze, and Sophie almost considers talking to her about it when the class goes quiet.
“Good morning everyone,” Max says upon entering. He quickly sets up his laptop and begins to teach. “I'm hoping you have all read the essays I recommended in the last class…” he goes on, but the words blur into the background for Sophie. She can not seem to focus at all.
What her focus does stay on instead, is Maya.
Maya, resting her chin on her hand. Maya, mindlessly chewing on the tip of her pen while trying to pay attention to class. Maya, and the errant strand of hair that keeps bothering her and she has to tuck it behind her ear. She's already done it three times and by the fourth, Sophie’s hands seem to move of their own accord, and tuck the strand of hair behind her ear.
Maya turns to look at her just then. Her cheek lightly brushes Sophie's hand where it stays frozen. Maya blinks. But before she can say anything, Sophie recoils her hand and quickly grabs her bag. She mutters an apology and dashes out the door before Maya can say anything.
There is definitely something she needs to think about.
—
The sound of a to-go cup of coffee being set down on the table takes Sophie’s attention away from the book in front of her. She lifts her head to find a familiar pair of brown eyes blinking back at her.
“How are you now?” Maya asks as she pulls out a chair to take a seat across from Sophie.
Sophie, reluctantly, drags the cup of coffee closer and takes a sip. Caramel macchiato. “I'm doing better,” she replies. “I'm sorry for just running out like that.”
Maya waves her hand in front of her face. “It's fine. I figured there must be something bothering you and I didn't want to push.” She smiles at her and goddammit Sophie's stomach is back to doing flips. “Is it better now?”
“Hmm?”
“Whatever was bothering you yesterday.”
“Oh.” Truthfully? No. Whatever was bothering Sophie had not gotten any better. It had been bothering her for days now and it still hadn't gotten any better. But she didn't have to tell the truth. She could just lie instead.
She could.
But, she doesn't.
Instead, she forces herself to meet Maya’s eyes. Her gaze is soft, flooded with concern. “I, um,” Sophie starts, “I have to talk to you about something.” Maya nods and leans in closer, but Sophie says, “Not here. Can we go somewhere quieter?”
“Quieter than…a library?”
“No I mean, not out here in the study area.”
“Oh. Yeah, sure.”
They find themselves in the back of the Paleontology section. It is rarely visited by students and faculty and so, guarantees them some privacy. “What's on your mind?” Maya asks, leaning against the back wall. Sophie wrings her hands, suddenly unsure of herself. Was it a good idea? To talk about this right now?
“Hey, what is it?” Maya asks again. “You can tell me anything, I’m here.”
The softness in Maya’s voice has Sophie’s heart squeezing again. “I've realised something,” Sophie says after taking in a breath, “about how I feel.”
“Feel about what?”
“You.” The word seems to take the air out of the room. Maya’s lips part just a fraction “I used to think it was just general admiration and nothing to think about so I never paid much attention to it but then I did and, well.” She lifts her gaze to meet Maya’s, “I have a pretty huge crush on you it turns out.”
Maya doesn't say anything. She just stares at the woman standing in front of her, her lips parted in shock.
“And it turns out I've been harbouring these feelings for a long time but I just never realised it somehow because I never thought about it? And I realise now that it is entirely possible that you do not reciprocate these feelings in which case it is completely fine and I underst—” Sophie doesn't get to finish her sentence because she is being pulled in by the nape of her neck and kissed.
It takes Sophie one second to realise that she's being kissed. Two seconds to realise that it is Maya who is kissing her. And three seconds to whisper holy shit and start kissing her back. She runs her fingers through Maya’s hair and tilts her head slightly to change the angle of their kiss. Maya lets out a soft moan as she melts against Sophie
“Took you long enough,” Maya breathes out against her lips when they finally pull away. Sophie laughs softly, before leaning in for another quick kiss.
“Yeah, well. I'm kind of dumb,” Sophie replies.
“Very,” Maya chuckles. “Oh by the way, you won the bet.”
“What?”
“Mr. Leclerc and Mr. Verstappen are definitely together,” Maya clarifies with a smirk on her lips.
Oh yeah, the bet. Sophie had forgotten about that because of her personal crisis. “How did you find out?” she asks.
“Yesterday, after you left, we were halfway through Mr. Verstappen’s lecture when Mr. Leclerc walks in, apologises for the disturbance, goes up to Mr. Verstappen and says, ‘Cheri, you forgot to take your lunch.’”
“Oh damn.”
Maya nods. “Then, Mr. Verstappen thanked him and Mr. Leclerc gave him a quick kiss before walking out.”
“Oh damn. I mean, that is pretty solid confirmation,” Sophie smiles. “Told you I was right.”
Maya scrunches her nose, a small smile on her lips. “I suppose you were this time.” She presses another small kiss on Sophie's lips. “Also, I guess that means I owe you 10 bucks so,” she starts to reach for her pockets but Sophie grabs her wrist to stop her.
“There is another way you could pay for this,” Sophie says. Maya raises her eyebrow. “You can let me take you out on a date?”
The grin spreads slowly across Maya’s lips before brightening up her entire face. She throws her arms around Sophie's neck and brushing their noses together, says, “I’d like that very much.” She leans in to kiss her again but a sound of books falling comes from behind them just then. Maya and Sophie move away from each other. They look at each other with the same question in mind, who could be here?
Carefully, they step out from where they are and look around, only to be met with two very familiar faces.
“Ms. Dutta and Ms. Wilson, of course. What are you doing over here?” Charles asks very casually, but the look on his face is similar to one a child has when they've been caught stealing cookies.
Sophie crosses her arms across her chest. The guilty look flashing across Charles’ features is way too apparent for her to not have a little fun with it. “We could ask you the same thing, Mr. Leclerc. Last I checked, you do not teach us Paleontology.”
“Ah well,” Charles adjusts the glasses on his nose, “I do have a keen interest in dinosaurs.”
“Oh yeah? Name three dinosaurs then.”
“Uh, well, there is the T-Rex of course. And, um, Velociraptor. And a third, I want to say…Charizard?”
Maya bursts out laughing, quickly covering her mouth. Sophie manages to hold herself together a little longer but loses it the second she sees Max emerge from behind Charles, his collar askew and hair a mess.
“Mr. Verstappen! Didn't know you were interested in dinosaurs too,” Maya remarks, barely able to get the words out.
Max rolls his eyes. “Alright, alright, cut it out. What are you two doing here by the way? Last I checked, I don’t think either of you study Paleontology either.”
Colour immediately creeps into both Maya and Sophie’s cheeks. Maya looks away while Sophie accepts the challenge.
“Touché, Mr. Verstappen. Touché.”
The sound of an alarm from Max's phone takes his attention away. “Well, I have a class in five minutes so I better hurry.” He turns to Charles and kissing his cheek, says, “See you later, schat,” before rushing off. The absolutely besotted look on his face makes Sophie and Maya giggle quietly.
“Ah well.” Charles clears his throat. “I should also get going. I'm hoping you two still remember about that assignment you have to turn in next week?” Charles says. Maya nods and so does Sophie.
“We are almost done with it. We'll have it on your desk by Tuesday,” Maya answers confidently and Charles gives them a small nod before walking off, straightening the front of his jacket as he does.
Once they're out of his earshot, Sophie leans in and whispers, “We are almost done with our assignment? But we've barely worked on it.”
“I know that,” Maya sighs. “We'll just have to get it done by Tuesday somehow.”
“Then why did you lie?”
“I didn't want him to think we'd just been making out this entire time.”
Sophie huffs. “I mean, I'd rather we were.”
Maya cocks her head to the side. “Mhm, and whose fault is it that we weren't?”
“Well in my defense—” Sophie starts to protest but gets shut up by a pair of lips.
max 💥💙
how much do you want to bet that sophie and maya have a crush on each other?
charles
yes darling 😋
how many times are you going to meddle with your students' love lives?
so you agree
there IS a love life to be meddled with
why did i ever marry you?
because im devilishly handsome and incredible in bed
keep up
all this proves is that i have made many poor choices because of my dick
irrelevant
answer my question first
how much do you wanna bet?
on them getting together?
precisely
nothing
aww so you agree with me
i just don't want you going around playing matchmaker again
as far as i remember it worked wonderfully the last time
but fine, since you're being a buzzkill
i bet that by the end of this week i will get them to finally get together
it's painful seeing poor maya pine so much
you know how it feels im sure
i'm divorcing you
good luck mate
i hid our marriage certificate
you’re not getting rid of me
let's say, loser has to take leo on his early morning walks
no
that dog is yours you’re supposed to take full responsibility of him
rude wtf
he is your son too
he is your exact copy
that’s your dog
okay then, what do you want to bet instead
the loser has to do the laundry for two weeks
ugh
okay, deal
max 💥💙
charles
oui mon ange
why did i just see maya and sophie sitting together in the library apparently working on an assignment you assigned them?
oh well
you see
did you partner them up or did they choose to do it together?
i could lie to you and say no
but i hate lying to you
charles, that is cheating
not if the opportunity practically fell into my lap??
i was assigning the work to everyone
and both of them were whispering to each other about something and so, i just told them they can partner up
it's not cheating if it is mere coincidence mon couer
you're meddling.
it's not meddling if im helping the cause of love <3333
besides, if it weren't for people meddling, we would never have gotten together
false
you would've clawed your way into my life anyway
ha
yeah i would've
max 💥💙
you rarely ever post when you take leo on his walks alone
what are you up to this time?
good afternoon love of my life
why, i am up to nothing nefarious
just an innocent little story about my dear dog
sure
spill
sophie has suspicions that you and i are kind of an item
and im sure she is actively stalking my instagram
you and her are so alike it is eery sometimes.
are you sure there aren't any secret children you forgot to tell me about?
not that i remember
Ok.
aww
im kidding baby, of course you're the only one who will ever get to carry my children <333
Get to the point
;)
anyway yes so
i know she's keeping tabs on my instagram
so i posted the story in the park so that she'll come here with maya
godverdomme charles
you set them on an unwitting date?
aren't i such a genius?
okay shush, i can see them in the cafe
i should go and pay them a little visit before i come back home
charlie
babeeeee
you forgot your lunch
babyyyy
maxyyyy
mon amourrrr
mon couer
mon ange
oh wait, you're in class
nevermind, ill bring the lunch to you
oh the kids are gonna love this
max 💥💙
what time do your classes start today?
12 pm
why?
hmm
are you by any chance free right now?
kind of
why do you ask
welllll
the library is pretty empty this early in the morning
especially the dinosaur section
paleontology
sure yes
so i was thinkingggg
😋😋😋
👀👀👀
charles, you do realise that you are a professor here and not just a student.
yes
and that ensures less chances of getting caught
because no one will wonder why we are in the library so early
charles neither of our subjects are aligned with paleontology
mon dieu max
do you want to makeout in the library or not?
well
yes
splendid
—
told you they'd get together
you've embarrassed us in front of our students schat
non
they knew anyway
don't worry we're the cool professors
sure
mhmm
and by the way you lost the bet
get ready to do laundry for two weeks
ah shit
well then take one last good look at all of your precious sweaters
ah shit