Not nearly 800 words of modern AU that I wrote over lunch for the asbrry community's first weekly prompt. Rated T for swears and mentions of sex.
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“He looks like a prick.”
His voice had been pitched low—certainly not loud enough to carry to the front of the lecture hall, not to mention the ears of the professor in question—but Ryuunosuke hissed at him to be quiet anyway. Kazuma leaned back in his seat in a way that was most certainly not him sulking after being shushed and cast a sullen glance at his partner. Ryuunosuke was pulling his laptop out of his bag to perch it on the small half moon desk attached to his seat. Everything about his body language seemed to discourage further judgmental comments—but then, Kazuma would hardly be the top student in their class if he stopped whenever he was presented with a challenge, would he?
“We have to listen to him talk for hours about the driest subject in the legal academy’s curriculum,” he persisted. “The least he could do is not be a prick.”
“History of law isn’t a dry subject,” Ryuunosuke protested. “And Barok van Zieks wrote the book on it—quite literally.”
“The history of British law,” Kazuma said, his tone only mildly disdainful.
“If you didn’t want to learn about British law,” Ryuunosuke replied, “perhaps you shouldn’t have opted to do a study tour in London.”
His sardonic tone made Kazuma smile. However, he didn’t respond right away, instead letting them lapse into silence. Next to him, Ryuunosuke was busily checking his emails. Kazuma knew this was a ruse to pass the time until the lecture started; Ryuunosuke didn’t get anything important via email.
Below them, students shuffled through the open doors of the lecture hall and up the steps of the theater-style seating amid quiet conversations. There weren’t many other students present yet, but then, he and Ryuunosuke had been a good ten minutes early.
At the head of the classroom, the new hire in question, Professor van Zieks, busied himself with something at the lectern. He seemed to be largely ignoring the students as they filtered in. Occasionally, though, he would glance up, his gaze sweeping the room, almost as though he was looking for someone.
On one sweep, the professor’s pale eyes met his, holding his gaze for just a moment too long. Kazuma didn’t smile, but he didn’t look away, either. Van Zieks gave him a single, stilted nod—Kazuma was quite sure he didn’t know how else to end the interaction—and returned his attention to the lectern.
“He’s wearing shoulder pads,” Kazuma commented to Ryuunosuke, who made an exasperated sound in response. “You don’t think he looks like a pompous ass?”
“I think he looks—perfectly fine,” Ryuunosuke said. The way he forced his gaze quickly back to his laptop screen once he’d said it betrayed him. Kazuma’s eyes narrowed.
“You’re attracted to him,” he accused.
“I don’t—I never said—” But the faint pink that dusted Ryuunosuke’s cheeks in response was all the confirmation that Kazuma needed.
“Ryuunosuke, do you want to fuck the new history of law professor?”
Ryuunosuke looked around, desperate to determine whether anyone had overhead the allegation. If any of the nearby students had, they at least had the courtesy to pretend; no one so much as looked in their direction. Still, Ryuunosuke replied irritably, “I’m not having this conversation with you.”
“Maybe he’ll take you to dinner and tell you all those juicy historical facts before you—”
“Kazuma.”
“Fine,” Kazuma relented, hands raised to signify the truce.
Ryuunosuke sighed. “Look, history of law is a required class,” he began. “We’ve got to be here either way. It seems the least we could do is keep an open mind. About the course,” he adds quickly, cutting off any comment his partner may have about just how open Ryuunosuke’s mind was.
“I understand, Ryuunosuke,” Kazuma said. He kept his tone light, though he didn’t miss it when Ryuunosuke looked askance at his affected innocence. Ryuunosuke could always tell when Kazuma was lying, even if he was horrible at guessing just what he was lying about. “The fact that you want to sleep with the new history of law professor should have no bearing on this academic endeavor.”
“Yes,” Ryuunosuke agreed, in a voice that also blatantly said that he still didn’t trust Kazuma’s sudden agreeableness. “Exactly. Nor should the fact that you don’t want to sleep with the new history of law professor.”
“I never said I didn’t want to sleep with him.”
Ryuunosuke blinked at him. “Y-you called him a prick,” he reminded Kazuma, as though Kazuma had forgotten this in the last five minutes.
Kazuma shrugged, then grinned at Ryuunosuke. “You’re a prick sometimes, too, partner.”
“Unbelievable,” Ryuunosuke muttered, mostly to himself, before he added, “You know, I hope he is a prick. I’m sure you two will be very happy together.”