❀ ゚. ༄ ┊ 𝐂𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐔𝐒 𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒 ! ( 𝐩𝐭. 𝐢𝐯 ) ;
characters : cyno / alhaitham / kaveh
a/n : hiii welcome back campus encounters where everyone is a clown
pt. i / ii / iii
↬ cyno ࿐ ࿔
you don't know what to expect in law school. you really don't. you expect high stakes, tension in the air. you expect competition, harsh professors who purposely try to weed out the "weak" and make the class excruciatingly difficult. you're not entirely wrong, you suppose, but the last thing you would imagine is-- well, cyno.
your first impression is entirely wrong. however, you have also known him for-- you glance at the clock-- two minutes.
a sharp gaze, head held high. he radiates an intimidating aura, holds himself to something more grand. you don't have intentions to make small talk; you're too tired for an 8:30am class, anyway, and you hate to admit that he almost frightens you. the professor runs out for a moment. brief technical issue-- something like that. you're already zoning out.
in that small frame of time, the lecture hall comes to life, fills with a thousand conversations at once. you ignore them all, absentmindedly skimming the syllabus. you fail to see cyno's eyes trained on you. intent. focused.
"i guess there's been a...law-l in this class."
you freeze. something in your fight or flight instinct activates. the voice came from your right. cyno is also on your right. surely that wasn't him, right?
right?
you swallow hard, slowly turn your head to look at him.
god. you hope that wasn't him. 8:32 am and you are subjected to inhumane crimes in your introduction to law class. red eyes bore into your soul. his face is blank. you don't know what to make of this.
"you know. like lull. law-l."
it doesn't work that way, you think, and the exasperation almost meets your visage, but you keep it at bay. can't hurt this stranger's feelings, after all. there's something akin to hope in those crimson hues, barely on the surface, but ever so present.
you purse your lips, unable to figure out this delicate situation. you could change this man's life forever. what if you make this future lawyer feel like a clown? what if he dropped out? you are not being dramatic, by the way.
you purse your lips, tight, utterly amused and defeated by the ridiculous predicament. you stare at each other, dead silent.
you laugh. you don't know why, but you do, and maybe it's because of the way he comes off so serious, maybe it's the way you can practically see the hope that his pun will get a reaction.
you may also be delirious. maybe.
"oh, you are hilarious."
cyno smiles. somewhere, he feels tighnari's soul shrivel in the depths of despair.
"no, i'm cyno."
↬ alhaitham ࿐ ࿔
"oh my god." you do not know how many times you have said this in the past ten seconds. twice? three times? a hundred? ( that wouldn't be logically possible, alhaitham says, so you say it again ). "i'm dying. it's coming. i feel it in my bones."
"what is?"
"death."
alhaitham stares at you, deadpan.
"you are being dramatic."
"i'm sorry. i will do it again."
you don't mind literature analysis, not really. it's fascinating-- the way you piece concepts together, discover hidden meaning in seemingly superficial words. it's much easier when you enjoy said literature itself, but when you don't? you may as well throw yourself into the void. suddenly you cannot read.
metaphor to metaphor, symbolism in the strangest of things ( okay, so the kitchen cupboards were pastel yellow and not white in this house, so what? ), you grow frustrated as a nearing deadline approaches, brain absolutely fried from finals. you have ten pages to write. you have two done ( those two are the title page and reference page. so no, they do not count ).
you're not sure how it came to this-- 4am and you're huddled up with alhaitham in the corner of the library, your forehead against the desk, your fellow classmate casually drinking his fifth coffee as if caffeine has no impact on him. he's much better at writing papers than you are, and in all his glory, decided to help you. kind of.
it's been about two hours since you've been working together, and while you appreciate the help, the lack of sleep is finally getting to you. you're burned out, tired, and truthfully, you know this is worth 30% of your grade, but you're about to calculate what your grade would drop to if you simply did not turn it in.
you close your eyes. wooden desk or not, red imprint on your forehead or not, you're about to pass out, right here and right now, except--
the feeling of his hand against your back, gentle. he leans forward, just the slightest bit, speaks in that quiet yet firm tone.
"if you finish this, i'll ask you out on a date."
you sit up at an alarmingly fast rate, throw alhaitham the most horrified look you can fathom. his expression doesn't change much, but you see that slight curl of the lips.
"disgusting. i can't believe you would pull such things on me."
"because it'll work."
you roll your eyes, pinch his cheek before redirecting your attention to the laptop before you.
what an arrogant fool. absolute annoyance. menace. idiot. you hate him, truly.
"i didn't say it wouldn't work."
( fine. it works. funny how you're suddenly awake and how everything suddenly seems to make sense after he proposes that offer. )
↬ kaveh ࿐ ࿔
there are three things you first notice about kaveh.
one. he is pretty. very pretty.
two. oh my god. look at his back. hello.
three. he's sleeping in the library. he's also drooling on his ... sketches?
four. wait. too many things to notice. whatever. maybe you should wake him?
you consider the thought, unsure. you'd hate to be woken by a stranger in the campus library-- it'd be off-putting, you think. you glance at the sketches, take in the sights of the blueprints. intricate designs. gorgeous, really, even if you don't have the slightest clue about anything related to said field.
you'd hate to work so hard on such a thing and have it ruined by...well, drool. you place your hand on his shoulder, touch light and hesitant, and shake him gently. once. twice. five times?
he's not waking. surely you're not going to shake the life out of this stranger, right? it's about another ten seconds before you almost give up, letting out a long sigh of defeat before leaning down the slightest bit.
you're gonna speak to him, speak in very soft tones-- slowly ease him from slumber. he's gonna wake up, you'll back away, smile in hopes of establishing your friendly intentions, and that'll be it. done. boom.
that's the plan, anyway, but when your face gets a little closer to his, his eyes open suddenly. two seconds of eye contact. shock twists into utmost fear.
kaveh screams, shoots right out of his seat. you also scream. your life flashes before your eyes when you see him instinctively grab his suitcase.
"before you get the wrong idea-- you were drooling all over your sketches, so--"
you don't think this really helps. he's blushing furiously, from embarrassment or anger, you don't know, but now he's glancing at his sketches, mostly unharmed, and oh, the panic sets in so much more. you watch, baffled, as kaveh throws caution to the wind, frantically cleans the desk and recovers what he can.
it's about five minutes of this. you keep silent, watch in awe and more-so of shock at how this all played out until he turns towards you. he takes a deep breath. you can tell he's tired, weariness on his features. you almost feel bad.
"did you manage to salvage it?"
there's a flicker of curiosity at your words, though the fatigue almost swallows it entirely.
"it'll be okay, i think." his shoulders drop. he smiles, slightly forced. "thank you for waking me-- uh, even if it happened that way."
you'd normally say sorry ( as much as you can say it in this situation, anyway ) and go your separate ways, but there's something almost bittersweet about him that brings a heaviness to the heart.
"sorry. i really didn't mean to scare you like that." you swallow your courage, offer a hopeful smile. "do you want to go get coffee? i'll buy. consider it another apology."
and there is something-- a shift, a lightening, an ease, and kaveh's expression seems to relax at your offer.
( yes, you do go out for coffee. it's one of many future caffeine runs, you both call it, and it's the beginning of a chaotic friendship of sorts. )
taglist : @oshitgirlie
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sometimes i remember the insane shit callum has done for rayla, largely without thinking, and i lose my mind, like
facing an adult, armed moonshadow assassin on the roof and stepping out earlier / outside of the plan just to defend her (1x03, s1 novelization)
forgetting the food they need(ed) to survive because he was do distracted by her, and admitting that to her face (1x06)
offering to walk around a sea for her (2x04)
doing dark magic to protect her (2x07)
forgetting about the massive angry dragon actively trying to kill them because he tunnel visioned so hard and was trying to run to her (3x01)
angrily chewed out an elf holding a weapon in the express aims of getting ethari to notice him, a human, directly in said elf’s home (3x03)
jumped after her off the tallest point presumably in xadia with every indication the wing spell wouldn’t work for just the barest chance of saving her (3x09)
jumped into the moon nexus for her even when he knew the stakes
offered to go on her quest to hunt down viren, just the two of them, out in the xadian wilds, and to immediately leave everything else behind (through the moon)
pined after her for two whole years after only two months (the entire timeskip)
ignored rex igneous angrily advancing and ran straight towards him, never looking away from rayla, in order to reach her and make sure she was okay
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