emeli/kayokin, two aus for the price of one. college + rival dance crew stuff.
i was thinking about college au emeli as a grad student TA and kayokin’s just a grad student and she’s grading one of their assignments when she realizes that they’re pretty good at writing and expressing thoughts on paper but lord forbid they be forced to speak in a presentation setting so she brings it up and they kind of. shrug. they haven’t had issues with it before and theyre a quarter away from summer sooooooo
she furrows her brow and asks them to come to office hours.
in short. my trashy as hell au in which emeli and asher go bar hopping and em starts flirting with kayokin at one of the clubs before realizing that they’re one of her students and she does an incredibly elegant stumble away and kayokin is left with red cheeks and kind of scrambling outta here. ellie. let’s go. ellie is trying to defeat the reigning champions of beer pong with her new copilot sahar. ellie, please. she says, aight, and they leave. on the ride home kayokin kind of taps their fingers on the dashboard and ellie’s all eyebrows “saw you chatting (being chatted at) with a cute girl. who’s she?”
emeli apologizes for her unprofessional behavior the following monday and kayokin laughs nervously no worries is a shoulder shrug and a raised palm and and emeli wants to make it up so she’s, like, want to get. some coffee or something. and they’re like sure. that’s fine. so they go and they’re just kind of observing her, she asks what they like (“my treat.”) and they mumble back and she nods, gets their drinks. they’re standing at a counter and emeli’s talkin away but kayokin’s a good listener.
this starts happening more often and by the sixth outing, emeli jokes, you’re bleeding me dry.
they’re at the bus stop and kayokin rolls their eyes and takes a sip of whatever weird drink the both of them decided to try.
"this is pretty gross."
“not a fan of chai?”
“no particularly.”
the nonverbal jabs turn into syllables and she tries to hide how excited that makes her. instead tucks a strand of dark red hair behind her ear.
at one point she taps their shoulder and looks at them. they arch a brow and lower their scarf down to their neck and she says, you’re doing the thing.
"reacting to my height. you’re on your toes."
"you do a good job at keeping me on them."
she huffs and they get back to campus where they part ways to do their separate work stuff and they kind of linger at the door because they know something’s up, they’ve know each other long enough they can tell when she’s hiding something. even when she’s not aware she is.
"see you tomorrow, kayokin." a wave and a turn of heel.
the slowest slow burn you can possibly imagine. emeli always catches the feelings first but this time she’s the last one to realize lmfao kayokin lazily flicks her forehead and she’s !!!! excuse me. rúdé. pushes their bangs out of their face. give and take. give a little more.
i was gonna say i was hecked up by emkayo because i finally realized what the deal is with kayokin and its that he has no deal. hes got 0 internal desires and operates almost entirely on the behalf of others. aside from preferred foods or whatever, small things, hes kind of just. an echo chamber. except nothings going on in there. but with emkayo they find something they want and finally acting on it kills the man because thats the thing. thats the whole thing. learning its ok to think and want and do things for yourself and then actually going out and doing it thats the development they need (ok)
if you want something so badly why don’t you go for it
they don’t know how to but damn they’re gonna try
I just thought about that in context of rival dance crew AU. ballerina/jazz trained emeli w/ hip hop kayokin. hahaha nice . Njcez
awful joke about body language
"you’re too stiff, castille." is an elbow tap followed by an irritated scoff. she spins en pointe and threatens to kick their jaw in, one, two, three, four. kayokin just. krumps menacingly in her general direction and she has to redirect their movements and keep herself moving. this is what they mean. she’s too stiff. one false move and she’s going home with a bruise.
but they wouldn’t hurt her, no, they won’t. and that’s what gets her riled up. at one point they’ll catch her mid leap. somewhere in between the third regional qualifiers and the big state wide competition. they’ll catch her and they’ve become a part of her performance.
"you are the worst." an almost flawless execution of a pas de deux.
they’ll perfect the dance soon enough.
(you’re a natural, you’re a natural.) body rolls and risqué steps, she moves her hips just so, and it’s a game of hot and cold. everything’s hot to the touch, and they’re always trying to out do the other, even if it’s on a subconscious level. kayokin steps on her toes and she almost suplexes them. (but i’m talent perfected.)
when emeli’s dance crew loses at the national tournament and kayokin’s takes home the trophy she’s coveted her entire life, yes that’s the night the mighty emeli castille throws off her ballet flats and forces herself to walk with heels on the ground.
kayokin leaves the trophy with their vice captain. they’re there when she’s walking down some stairs, they’re always there to offer that shoulder to lean on and she only swallows down her pride and wraps an arm around their neck.
(i can carry you.)
(don’t you dare.)
(let me. i insist.)
they wordlessly scoop her up. she’s glowering like a demon and they have the worst expression on their face, something sweet. they carry her to the verus car.
"so much for friendly rivalries." kayokin mumbles when she’s finally strapped into the seat. emeli tilts her head, what?
they kiss her cheek and she burns with the intensity of the showroom lights.
she says “jerk.” like it’s the word of god, and tilts her head down to kiss them properly. they’re half way into the car and the driver sighs very loudly.
kayokin kind of just gets a ride home w/ em that night lmfao nice