Caius did not like fascists. He felt he had to clarify that, now that he was eyeing one up.
He had been sat next to Nicholas Leatherwood for a conjuring project, because Nicholas was the best in his class and Caius was the worst. This would've been a fruitful venture, if Caius wasn't too focused on how cute he was.
Would've been a fruitful venture if Paul hadn't made a face the moment Nicholas' name had been said. "He's one of those Society kids," Paul had warned as he stood up. "Be careful, call if you need me."
Caius was a half-blood, which he didn't like people to acknowledge. His mother went to The Academy, and she was single; so what was the problem? Who was to say he didn't hate mortals more than they did?
The issue was, Nicholas sat next to him and his brain bled out of his ears. Suddenly, Paul's words were forgotten. His brain was stuck on a loop of Pretty boy. Pretty boy with glasses. Pretty boy. Perhaps that was his first problem. He never did have very good willpower.
The second issue was, Nicholas was flirting with him. Unabashedly, Nicholas was flirting with him. Had laughed when Caius had said "Nicholas, right?" and cooed a soft Call me Nick. Had touched Caius' wrist anytime he got something right and hummed Very good, Caius, look at you. Had pushed his glasses into his hair and put them back down immediately when Caius frowned.
The point was, the Society boy was flirting with him. Obviously enough that even Lyra had pointed it out. "I hooked up with him last year, he's a bit of a..." she trailed off, unwilling to say slut, but thinking it. "That's his look. He wants to bone you."
"He must not know," Paul frowned, glancing between Lyra and Allison.
"He doesn't care," Lyra shrugged, waving her hand in Paul's direction in lieu of calling him an idiot. "It's just sex."
Caius nodded along with her words, and caught Nick's eye from across the common room. Paul made a noise of disbelief, "Just sex, yeah right."
"Caius has hooked up with the half of the school Nick hasn't, I am almost positive he is picking up what I'm putting down." Lyra rolled her eyes, and Allison nodded.
"Maybe they can unite the school by fucking." Allison proposed, nudging Lyra. "Nick got you, Caius got me."
"You say it like we're collecting you," Caius scrunched his nose up, standing swiftly. "Don't word it like that."
By the time the next Conjuring class came around, their professor had decided that she wanted Caius to get brutally murdered in the corridors. She changed their seats so that instead of sitting next to Paul, he sat next to Nick.
He couldn't tell whether or not he should start out the gate with the fact that he was a half-blood. On one hand, if he just came out and said it then Nick could request a seat change and get it over with. On the other, Nick could kick his ass quite easily.
So, he stayed quiet. Let Nick flirt, and played hard to get for months. Offhandedly mentioned his mother, and Nick mentioned his own in return.
Nick talked about his older brother, Amadeus. His younger sister, Della. Made them all sound so human in comparison to the way Paul talked about the Society kids.
And at a party about three weeks after he got sat next to Nick, he hooked up with him. Unapologetically. It was brilliant. And they did not speak about it in the next Conjuring class. Nick flirted, called him love, and nudged him under the table but made no effort to mention their party shenanigans.
"Love, not there." Nick murmured, his voice soft as his foot nudged Caius'. "Move your wand."
Caius did as he said, even though his brain was swimming. Nick had his glasses on again, pushed into his hair to keep it from falling into his eyes. "Good, now say the incantation."
Caius felt like a fool. He'd had Nick begging to be bent over last night, why was he shaking now?
"What—" he pouted, his chest puffing out in upset. Say something. Acknowledge it.
Nick leaned over a bit, his hand gentle on Caius' wrist. "Alright?"
Caius shook his head, and dropped his wand swiftly. "Too anxious. Will you go first?"
Nick tilted his head to the side, slowly letting go of Caius' wrist. "You want me to calm you down?" He winked, moving his head back into Caius' field of vision when he attempted to look away.
Caius stared at him, his eyes wide and lips parted. Slowly, ever so slightly, he nodded.
They hooked up again after class.
The next Conjuring class, Caius called Nick darling and his face burned red. Society boy's blushing over me, Caius thought teasingly, and continued throughout the class.
It took a month and a half for Caius to realize the hooking up wasn't stopping. In fact, it had just grown into something a bit more. Where Nick followed him to the library and they did homework
together.
Where Nick wrote his letters on Caius' chest— don't breathe, love, you'll make my pen shake— Where Caius met Nick's society friends and Nick introduced him to Della and Amadeus.
Amadeus' girlfriend was...not what Caius was expecting. Fiona Gallagher was a disgraced pure-blood, in all senses of the word. Her parents gave a bad reputation to the word pure-blood, so Fiona and her siblings were left to navigate the world of Salem on their own.
Apparently, Amadeus didn't care much for honorability. "What do I care if she's not a popular pure-blood?" He had scoffed once, and Caius had cringed under the weight of Do you care that I'm not a pure-blood?
Della was nice, a very sweet girl in the grand scheme of things. Bit spoilt, but that was alright as long as she didn't expect things from Caius. His mother wouldn't be pleased that he was trying to get stuff for the sister of a boy he wasn't dating.
Nick invited Caius to a society event halfway through summer. They'd kept up through letters, and Caius had written Miss you. When are you going to write on my chest again? and Nick had replied Next weekend if you bother to show at the meeting.
Caius asked, got the address, and bothered. Showed up in a suit, because Nick had said to. Smiled politely and introduced himself, all while hiding behind Nick and shaking like a leaf.
It took one sour face at the word Scaevola for Caius to wish he had never shown up. Add on a glance to Nick and a grumble of, "A half?" and Caius wanted to evaporate.
Nick's lip had quirked down, and he nudged Caius along. Caius hoped he couldn't hear the rapid thump, thump, thump of his heart. Hoped he wasn't leading Caius to the door.
"Sorry, love. Bit old fashioned, they are." Nick mumbled into his ear, and Caius let out a soft breath.
"Quit, or I'll drop to my knees right here." He hissed, his face burning red. Somehow, basic decency was downright sexy coming from Nick.
"I'm certainly not stopping you." He teased, reaching his hand forward to squeeze Caius' hip.
Caius did not like fascists, He felt he had to clarify that, now that he was entirely sure he was going to keep Nick forever.
