ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴇʟᴏᴅʏ ᴏꜰ ꜱᴡᴇᴇᴛʜᴇᴀʀᴛꜱ ᴀɴᴅ ꜱɴᴏᴡꜰᴀʟʟ

𝚝𝚎𝚗

The steps from the Academy were somewhat the hardest part of Sejanus' day. He had never truly been accustomed to walking up so many flights of stairs, and it made his feet hurt every time he climbed another level. 

He had barely made his way up the fourth flight when Clemensia's soft hair suddenly whacked him in the face, and she turned around, smiling as she grinned at his obvious discomfort with the stairs. 

It wasn't really that he was out of shape, per se, but rather, it was the lack of mental fortitude that prevented him from truly "reaching his full potential" as Professor Gaul had always proclaimed on the intercom each morning. 

"Sej!" 

"Hey," he panted, hands full of the books he was to return to the library, but had procrastinated on doing so, moving it to the side momentarily as to catch a glimpse of her face, "good morning. You seem... chipper." 

"I am?" Clemmie's head tilted to the side in mock confusion, "I hadn't noticed." 

"Hardy-har." he teased, trying to place one foot in front of the other without tripping and embarrassing himself. 

"The peasant carrying your books, Clemensia? I always knew you had some Capitol blood in there somewhere even though you hang out with those... swain." Arachne  flashed n eerily happy smile, climbing up the stairs with ease as they paused to let Sejanus catch his breath. 

Clemensia's hands clenched once again.

"Why did the Capitol have to have such large egos that they place the Academy on fifteen flights of twenty to be 'closer to the gods'?" he groaned, huffing as he adjusted his book bag. 

Clemmie let out a half-hearted laugh, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as she climbed a few more steps. 

"Hey, whoa, whoa." Sejanus set his books down on one of the breaks in between stairs, pausing to see a purple mark running from the middle of her cheek down to her jaw in a hand-shaped print. 

"Clem- you face..." he murmured, reaching out to try and touch it, but she swatted his hand away. 

"It's fine, Sejanus. It was just Arachne and her weak bitch slap," she tried to joke about the matter, but it didn't resonate with her friend as she hoped it would, chuckling awkwardly as she tried to surpass him once again. 

As she climbed the stairs beside him, he noticed that she wasn't slowing down for him, the kindness of her actions hadn't stretched that far - despite her compassionate demeanour. 

She was limping. 

---

Felix slid into the empty seat beside his partner, tapping his fingers aimlessly before Livia had snapped at him to quit. 

"So, the Academy's golden dove has fallen off its perch?" he mocked, glancing down occasionally to witness Clemensia's newfound anger at the irresponsibility of the President's son.

"Will you shut up for once, Ravinstill?" Vipsania's soft but urgent tone shocked the rest of the students out of their engrossment in the verbal disagreement going on in the front stands. She shot Clemensia a sympathetic glance, but the dove turned her head and faced the front of the classroom. 

"You ought to answer him, Clemmie," Arachne suddenly spoke up from the back end of the room, "he is the President's son, after all." 

"Professor Lunt," she raised her hand, "may I be excused?" 

Lunt sighed, moving her arm down from the placement on the chalkboard, "be quick about it, Ms. Dovecote." 

She nodded, quickly gathering up her things and rushing for the exit. 

"Clemmie-" 

Persephone pushed herself up from her desk, rushing towards her in an effort to reach her friend before Professor Lunt noticed her absence. Sejanus copied her movements, packing his books quickly, then taking a step out of the desks, when he felt a harsh tug on his sleeve, Felix's eyes hardening. 

"Sit down, District boy." 

"Hah," Sejanus sniffed, "stooping to my level finally, huh, Felix?" he snapped. 

Relaxing his hands, Felix released his sleeve. 

Following Persephone, at the appall of  the professor, Sejanus pushed the French doors open in a brandished motion, his eyes watching for either the scent of Persephone's flowery perfume - his Ma had the same one - or the click of Clemensia's heels. 

"Clemensia, slow down-" he stopped abruptly, hearing Persephone's attempts to catch up with her best friend as she tried to maintain her composure strutting down the long hallway. He peeked slightly, trying to calm his brown hair down in an attempt to remain inconspicuous. 

"Persephone, can you just- can you not follow me?" Clemensia snapped, and the rapid click of her friend's heels slowed to a stop.

"What's going on?" Persephone asked after a long pause, "you've been... distant lately." 

Clemensia's mouth snapped into a firm line. 

"There's nothing going on, Persephone. It's just been..." she trailed off, tucking a strand of hair as black as ebony behind her cheek. 

There was a small gasp from Persephone, hand going to cover her mouth in shock. 

"Clem- your face..."

She reached out, only to have her palm slapped away as quickly as it had darted out. 

"Don't touch me!" 

Persephone recoiled at the violent tone in her friend's voice, seeing the pure fear in Clemensia's trembling hand.

"Clemmie-" 

She said nothing, instead going to wrap her hands around her arms. 

"Clem?" 

The girl was unresponsive, hands shaky and a sheen of sweat covering her glossy skin. A warning bell, five minutes left of class, rung once, as Clemensia looked up, making eye contact with the hidden boy just around the corner. 

Her back straightened, seeing Sejanus' hunched back as he tried to make himself blend in with the wall, praying that he hadn't seen. 

"Sej," she murmured, "I can see you, you know." 

He silently cursed himself and his genes - he had always been on the bigger side of builds, and he was now reprimanding himself for not being able to blend in with that potted plant on the other end of the corner that was more than big enough to hide at least Vipsania and Felix at the same time. 

"Sejanus Plinth," Persephone scoffed playfully, "so you followed us?" 

"Leave him alone, Perse," a sympathetic look crossed her face, "he's just looking out for me." 

"So you've gone soft," Persephone rolled her eyes, "a month ago you wouldn't have even dared to look at him, let alone talk to him, and all of sudden you're all buddy-buddy?" 

Sejanus's breathing froze, eyes widening as he turned the corner, Persephone's figure blocking Clemensia's. 

"My lord, Clem, it's like I don't even know who the hell you are anymore. Coriolanus leaves the Capitol and suddenly you're all mopey and depressed and you- oh my goodness..." 

Persephone stopped short in her rant, as the bell signaling the end of classes rang suddenly, and a flood of students rushed against her, knocking the three of them off balance from their places in the hallway. 

Clemensia's hand went straight to her cheek, covering the handprint that now adorned her face with a strikingly red color, still stood her ground, a half-smile gracing her features. 

Once the hallway had somewhat cleared and the hall was only filled with a few students wandering from room to room, Persephone let a shaky exhale escape. 

"You love him."