Warnings: one night stands (implied and mentioned, but no smut)
Word count: ~1.2k
part 2 of college au series (masterlist)
part 1 <- and -> part 3
fic under the cut! (ao3 link)
Kaeya jerked awake to the sound of his alarm. He took a moment to take in his surroundings. He was in his own apartment, in his own bed, and a long arm was slung across his chest. He turned his head to the side and was greeted with the sight of Thoma. His blonde hair was a mess, his face burrowing further into the pillow. Kaeya smiled at the sight.
Thoma groaned. “Can you turn that off?” He asked, gesturing towards Kaeya’s phone which was still blaring. His voice was gravelly with sleep, a bit scratchy from the activities from the night before.
Kaeya chuckled, rolling over to grab his phone and shut off the alarm. “I warned you I had a morning class, did I not?” He rolled back to face Thoma, leaving a gentle bite on his shoulder. “If it weren’t the first day of class I would keep you here for another round. But alas,” he sighed, throwing the covers off of himself. He groaned as he sat up, a dull pain in his lower back. “You really did a number on me.”
Thoma laughed. “I gave you a warning, did I not?” he teased, mimicking Kaeya’s earlier words. His brows furrowed as he saw Kaeya rubbing at his lower back. “I didn’t go too hard, did I? I don’t want you to actually be hurt.” He pouted.
Kaeya chuckled, leaning over to peck those pouting lips. “Trust me sweetheart, I’ve had worse.” He yawned as he stretched his arms over his head. “Besides, I thrive on it,” he finished with a wink, laughing as he saw Thoma flush. He sighed deeply as he finally resolved himself to get out of bed, rolling out of the comfortable warmth.
Thoma watched as Kaeya flitted around the room, grabbing clothes from drawers to change into. Thoma fiddled with the edge of the blanket he was still under. “I- I’ll try to be gentler next time.” He froze immediately after he said it, and rushed to correct himself. “I mean- not that I’m assuming we’ll do this again... I mean I’d be fine with that! I would be really fine with that, actually. But also, I mean, it’s totally cool if you don’t want to! I’m fine with that too! I mean, um-“ he cut himself as he saw Kaeya watching him flounder with his words in silence, shoulders shaking slightly in laughter.
Kaeya finally let out his laughter when Thoma ceased his ramblings. “Gosh, you sure are cute,” he said, picking out a clean pair of boxers and tossing them to Thoma. “I very much enjoyed myself, but I have a thing about not sleeping with the same person twice,” he smiled at Thoma apologetically. “Sorry, I hope you understand.”
Thoma sighed in relief, happy to know where he stood. “Oh, yeah, that makes sense! Sorry, I don’t do this whole hook up thing very often. But don’t worry about it, I completely understand.” He smiled brightly as Kaeya threw him a clean T-shirt and pair of sweatpants. “And um, thanks for these,” he said, holding up the clothes. “I’ll wash them and give them back to you at some point...?” His sentence ended as more of a question.
Kaeya smiled easily, beginning to dress himself. “I appreciate it, sweetie.” He pulled his jeans up, savoring the dull ache while leaning over. “And besides, just because we won’t be doing this again, don’t think you can get rid of me that easily. I’ve already decided that we’re going to be great friends.” He checked the time on his phone once again. “Now, I’ve gotta blast, but I’ll leave my phone number on a sticky note on the table. You’re free to eat any food in the kitchen, grab yourself some breakfast on the way out. You might run into my roommate, Rosaria, she might growl at you but she’s harmless.” He pulled on a crop top, turning to face Thoma with a smirk. “So, how do I look?”
Thoma flushed at the faint bruise he could still see on Kaeya’s collarbone, knowing he was the one that left it there. “Good, you look good,” he cleared his throat. “And don’t worry, I’ll be out of here in no time. And...” he trailed off, averting his eyes. “I’m glad you still want to be friends. You actually seem really cool,” he laughed to himself, rubbing at the back of his neck self-consciously.
Kaeya smirked, grabbing his backpack from the floor. “Of course I’m cool. But like I said, I really have to go,” he said, pulling his bedroom door open. “Make sure to text me later, wouldn’t want you to be a stranger. Bye!” With that, Kaeya shut the door behind him.
Thoma sighed, falling back into the pillows on the bed. He had known what he was getting into when he had agreed to go home with Kaeya the night before, but he didn’t really know what to expect when it came to being the man’s friend. Whatever it was, he was looking forward to it.
He rolled himself out of Kaeya’s bed and quickly threw on the clothes he had been given. He walked around the room collecting his clothes from the night before that were strewn all over the floor. Making his way towards Kaeya’s kitchen, he stopped in his tracks when he saw the girl from the bar the night before sitting at the table, staring at him.
Thoma felt his cheeks heat up, embarrassed to be caught trying to sneak out. He laughed awkwardly, a hand coming up to rub at the back of his neck. “Uh, hey. Sorry to bother you, I was just about to-”
The girl, Rosaria, Thoma remembered Kaeya mentioning her name, cut him off. “Don’t bother. I’m not interested in small talk. There’s fresh coffee in the pot, cups are in the cupboard if you want any. And I’m assuming that this,” she said, grabbing a sticky note from where it sat on the table. “Is for you,” she finished, holding the paper out to him.
Thoma took the note, seeing that Kaeya had, indeed, left his phone number. He stuffed it in his pocket. “Ah, thanks for the offer, but I should actually get going, I have a class this morning,” he said, the words still coming out a bit awkward.
Rosaria just shrugged. “Suit yourself.” Thoma was about to open the door to leave when Rosaria’s voice stopped him once again. “Before you go… I guess it’s safe to assume that the girl you were with at the bar last night is not your girlfriend?”
Thoma quirked an eyebrow. “Ayaka? No, definitely not. We live together and we’ve been friends for like… ever, but definitely not dating.”
“Good to know,” Rosaria hummed, going back to sipping her coffee.
Thoma wanted to ask why she was curious, but had a feeling she would refuse to elaborate; he could make a guess as to why she had asked in the first place, anyways. Besides, he had a class he needed to get to. He also had some explaining to do to Ayaka.
part 1 of college au series (masterlist) -> part 2
fic under the cut! (ao3 link)
important note! inspired by art from the wonderful @ar-ma the link will take you to the art!
Ayaka burst into Thoma’s bedroom just as he was finishing putting the last of his shirts away in his closet. He may or may not have been procrastinating unpacking all of his belongings in the new apartment he was sharing with his childhood friend. Said childhood friend was currently lying on her stomach on his bed, her legs kicking behind her, looking at him with a glint in her eyes that said she wanted something.
Thoma eyed her warily. “Can I help you with something, m’lady?” He chuckled as Ayaka’s nose scrunched in distaste at the nickname.
She hummed, looking around the room. “Oh, just wanted to see how the unpacking was coming along, that’s all,” she said, an easy smile on her face.
Thoma knew her better than that, the glint in her eyes still there. He made a show of waving his arms around the room, showing off the fact that he had unpacked everything. “As you can see, everything is in its place.” He dropped his arms as Ayaka nodded along. “Now, what do you really want?”
Ayaka’s legs stopped their aimless swinging, crossing at the ankles behind her instead. She gave Thoma a look, her eyes sparkling and the corners of her lips twitched up into a small smirk. “You wouldn’t happen to have any plans tonight, would you?”
Thoma frowned. It was the evening before their first day of classes, of course he didn’t have plans. Honestly, he was kind of planning to be in bed and asleep by 10pm, wanting to get a good night’s rest before the first day. “No… why, did you have something in mind?”
The smirk on Ayaka’s lips only grew. “I heard there’s always a party at the Angel’s Share the night before the first day. We’re going,” she decided for the both of them. She rolled off of Thoma’s bed elegantly, making to leave the room. “Get dressed, we’re leaving in an hour.”
With that, Ayaka was gone. Thoma sighed, looking at the clothes that he had just finished putting away, knowing they were going to be strewn across the room as he tried to find an outfit. Neither him nor Ayaka were big party goers, but he figured if Ayaka wanted to go, then who was he to not tag along?
They made it to the bar only thirty minutes later than Ayaka had originally planned. The place was already packed with people, the party in full swing. They stand by the door for a few moments, just taking in the chaotic surroundings, before the door opens behind them, pushing them further into the sea of people.
Ayaka instinctively grabbed Thoma’s wrist, not wanting to be separated from him in the crowd. She leaned up on her tiptoes, using her grip on Thoma’s wrist to pull him down. “Let’s go over by the bar,” she all but shouted into his ear, straining to be heard over the loud music and the thrumming buzz of everyone talking.
Thoma nodded, grabbing her hand to lead them over to the bar. They didn’t go to parties often, but they had been in crowded situations such as these enough times that they knew to have Thoma push through the crowd, using his height as an advantage.
They made it to the bar, feeling a moment of reprieve as they noticed there were slightly less people there. They, miraculously, found two empty barstools by the end of the bar, and sat down.
The man working the bar eventually made his way over to them, and they requested their drinks. Ayaka decided to try the ever-so-popular dandelion wine that came from overseas, while Thoma just opted for a water. Even though they had just walked to the bar from their apartment, they always agreed that one of them would stay sober, just in case of emergency. Tonight, it was Thoma’s turn.
After a few minutes, their drinks arrived, and Thoma grabbed his wallet to pay. Ayaka always cursed the fact that the cutest dresses never had pockets, but at least she was usually accompanied by Thoma, who never complained about carrying her things for her. Thoma made sure to leave the bartender a generous tip, noticing that he was the only one working the bar on such a busy night.
Ayaka took a sip of her drink. “Ooooh, this is good, you’ll have to try it whenever we come here again!”
“I’ll try to remember,” Thoma laughed. He glanced around the bar a bit before returning his attention to Ayaka. “See anyone here you know?”
She looked around the place. She noticed that most of the people were crowded around the speaker system in the back, where the loud music was coming from. There were a few pool tables near the entrance, but only a handful of people were actually making use of them. Around the bar, there were booths and tables that were filled with people chatting and-
Ayaka immediately averted her gaze as she saw a couple making out in one of the booths. In the process of trying to find literally anywhere else to look, her eyes landed on the most captivating woman she had ever seen.
The girl had dark red, almost pink hair that was cut short, the strands framing her face a bit longer than the rest. Her leather skirt ended just above her knees, a slit on one side going up to her hip and exposing more of her fishnet-clad legs. She wore a deep red leather jacket over a v-neck crop top that showed off her pale skin.
Ayaka had only just noticed that the girl’s shirt was straining to contain her breasts before she tore her eyes away, glaring hard at the dandelion wine in front of her as she felt her cheeks flare with heat. “No, no I don’t see anyone I know,” she said, answering Thoma’s earlier question.
Thoma, being the ever so observant friend that he was, noticed Ayaka eyeing up the girl brooding in the corner. He felt a smirk tug at the corners of his mouth. “See anyone you’d like to get to know?” He asked teasingly, his all-knowing smirk growing.
Ayaka’s eyes darted back to the girl in the corner, before she returned them to glare at Thoma. “Shut up,” she mumbled, knowing she didn’t even have anything she could defend herself with.
Thoma had no shame about looking at the girl who had piqued Ayaka’s interest. He only laughed at the glare Ayaka sent his way. “Hey, I’m not going to judge your… interesting taste in women. I guess she is kinda hot in that mysterious, might actually be a murderer kind of way.”
Ayaka pushed him off the barstool, displeased when he landed easily on his feet and sat back down again. He was still staring at the girl in the corner. So much for being discreet, she thought to herself. “Oh my god, will you stop looking at her?” She hissed; she really didn’t want to be noticed.
Thoma chuckled in amusement. It had been a while since Ayaka had had a crush on anyone, he almost forgot how flustered she could get. “Why? I think you should go say hi, she’s over there all alone,” he suggested, knowing Ayaka would probably rather jump off a bridge.
Just as he said that, however, he noticed a man walk up to the girl in the corner, leaning against the wall next to her easily to exchange a few words. He was a curious looking man, dark blue hair pulled over his shoulder in a ponytail, and a flashy outfit that just demanded attention. He had a confident aura about him too, one that told Thoma that the man knew he was the center of attention, and thrived on it.
Thoma floundered a bit when the man turned to look directly at him, noticing the girl discreetly pointing in their direction. He copied Ayaka’s earlier move and glared hard at the empty water glass in front of him, hoping that maybe if he ignored everything, this whole situation would go away.
Thoma was panicking. He really didn’t mean to stare at the girl or make her uncomfortable, he was just trying to get a better read on the person who had caught Ayaka’s attention. But now this man, maybe the girl’s boyfriend his mind supplied unhelpfully, was headed his way and would probably be wondering why he was staring. And if he really was her boyfriend he could be angry at Thoma, could drag him outside the bar to beat him up. Thoma really didn’t want to be found dead in a ditch the next morning.
Thoma tensed as the man took a seat next to him, refusing to so much as glance in his direction. Out of the very corner of his eye, he noticed the man lean his elbow on the bar, propping his head in his hand facing towards Thoma. He opened his mouth to speak. Oh god, here it comes, Thoma thought to himself.
