... seth looked at hollis, his breath heavy and warm in the enclosed space they shared - and hollis swore he could count every bead of sweat lining the brunet's hairline. he wondered if he looked as panicked, as confused, as aroused, as the other. his mouth opened, still sheening with spit, ready to laugh away the thick tension between them when seth spoke first, voice low, "hollis, i -" ...
all of marijoy's concentration, which should've been focused on the lecture in front of her in the first place, dissipates into nothing - and she's almost annoyed at it, her magnum opus fading in front of her, teeth gnawing against glossed lip until it's bruised red, until she notes the name flashing atop her screen. then that too dissipates, and marijoy leans back into her seat with a grin, thumbs blurring across screen as she texts back.
marijoy's panting by the time she bursts through fabray's door, nearly knocking over two girls on their way out as she barrels past ( and is reminded, briefly, about the great rinky dinks accident of fall 2025 ... oh, how those bodies fell ... ) to scope out emery and willa. she's almost frenzied, barrettes sliding halfway down her hair, tote bag no longer perched upon shoulder but swinging heavily from the crook of her elbow, and it almost looks like she ran across campus. she didn't, of course, because she had the shoo - ster, but she has to look at least halfway disheveled to make up for her chronic tardiness, she thinks. the bewildered looks she gets as she strides across the cafe are worth it, in that way. she slinks into the remaining seat at their table with an exaggerated sigh, bag slung atop the table until its' contents are sliding halfway out. marijoy ignores them in favor of saying, "oh my god, guys - i'm so sorry, i almost ran over like, three different people on campus on the way here, and by the third one i was like, totally convinced i was supposed to be in a meetcute like, strangers to soulmates fairytale, so we started talking - but as i was like, oh my god, this is such a crazy coincidence, he was all like, do you even have a license to ride that thing? so, yeah - sorry, but i'm here now! ready and caffeinated! have you guys thought about what we wanna sing? i was telling em that i think we should do something that's like, vocally big, but i won't lie guys, i think the vocal coach i bought lessons from on temu is ghosting me, and i'm super bummed about it." @socvereign