“Ughnrghmfhg....!”

Jolted from his sleep by a sharp force to the head, Lucas let out a sound that he would never had made if he’d known he was sitting in the middle of a busy lecture hall. But of course, he hadn’t known – that realization came a few seconds after he lifted his head groggily from the table.

The incarnation of evil who had dealt the blow uttered an incredulous scoff. “Morning, Sleeping Beauty. Class is over.”

“Ah... fuck...” Finally starting to get a sense of what was going on, Lucas wiped the drool off his mouth and stumbled unsteadily to his feet.

“You might wanna get your bag, precious.” The same voice said dryly as he blindly followed the devil’s hazy silhouette.

“Fuck you, Avery...” Turning back, Lucas rubbed his eyes so he could actually see where his backpack was. Hauling it out from under the table, he threw it over one shoulder and then returned to glare at his friend. Avery’s amber eyes returned his hostile gaze nonchalantly. “Why did you sign us up for 8 AM classes...?”

“I already told you, the only other timeslot conflicts with my honours class.” Avery flinched and frowned as Lucas flung a heavy arm over his shoulders. “If you don’t like it, then just don’t show up.”

“But... I gotta make an effort, it’s still only the beginning of the term...” Lucas whined, comforted by his friend’s familiar body warmth as they flowed out of the lecture hall along the river of other students. “What’s gonna happen to my grades if I give up now…?”

“If you’re going to sleep in class you might as well sleep in bed.” As their stumbling sent Avery skidding into the wall, he ducked out of Lucas’s grasp. “There’s no point putting in effort if it gets you nowhere.”

Hunching over and covering his face with his arm, Lucas let out a mock sob. “S... So mean...”

“I’m not being mean, I’m stating the truth,” Avery declared matter-of-factly, though he sidled closer once they left the lecture hall and stepped out into the cool air of campus. Grabbing Lucas’s arm, and he pulled them off to the side, out of the way of the other students. “You came back really late last night.”

“Aww, were you worried...?” Cooing playfully, Lucas stepped closer and brushed his friend’s cheek. A few students passing by glanced over in an obvious double-take, but Avery disregarded them, gazing back up at him instead with an unimpressed stare.

“No, I was about to say that things work out. We don’t have labs cause it’s the first week, so you’re done for the day.” Pushing Lucas’s hand aside deftly, Avery stepped away and pointed off to the distance. “Buy some groceries.”

“E-Eh...” Lucas stammered and tried to come close again, but this time Avery thrust out a hand to stop him. “I thought you were going to tell me to go home and sleep...”

“It’s a crisis, we’re out of instant noodles,” Avery declared firmly.

“Yessir, groceries it is.” Straightening abruptly, Lucas lifted his hand in a salute. At that, Avery’s frown loosened up with a sigh, and he gave Lucas a firm thump on the chest.

“I took notes. Not much happened cause it’s the first class, but I can give them to you later.” Avery turned and offered him a single-finger wave. “I have an honours group meet-up, gotta run. Do me a favour and try to stay awake while shopping, it’d be embarrassing if you collapsed.”

“Ugh, yeah, okay...” Sighing forlornly as Avery left, Lucas ruffled his hair and stood in the grass for an unfocused moment. The steady flow of students changing classes had begun to slow now, and he saw some people who were leisurely leaving their classes shoot curious looks in his direction. Suddenly feeling self-conscious of all the glances, he shrugged his bag higher over his shoulder and turned his back to them.

… Still feels like I’m asleep. Cutting across a grass field towards the grocery store, Lucas took a deep breath but broke off to muffle a yawn. He caught a glimpse of his watch as he lowered his hand – 9:08 AM. Gosh... normally, he’d still be asleep for another hour. What was that Avery thinking, giving them such early classes when they both had to stay up late for work...?

It's like he doesn’t need to sleep at all. He’s not human, that devil.

Grumbling drowsily to himself, Lucas made it to the main road and followed a mass of students across the street, to the university village at the edge of campus. There were a few people obviously just starting to head to their first class, and he eyed them jealously as they walked the opposite way.

Ah, I want to sleep...

How did he even get to class this morning? He couldn’t remember. Everything earlier than a few minutes ago had been entirely wiped from his brain. Why had he been up late last night? Work...? Right, he’d been called to a mission... surveillance footage had finally spotted a suspect involved in a stabbing spree from a week ago. Top it all off with him forgetting his key card and being forced to witness the shameful acts of that weirdo playboy, and Lucas was starting to understand why his brain had chosen to shut down…

Hanael, huh.

For some reason, the weirdo’s name appeared in his train of thought.

I haven’t heard his name before. Wonder if Rose knows about him…?

Rose, a friend he’d made in first year, was a writer for the Humans of Point Grey University – PGU for short – blog. If there was a flashy weirdo like that running around, she would definitely have noticed and asked for an interview.

Well, whatever… Not wanting to push his brain too hard, Lucas tried to shake his curiosity away. As long as he doesn’t do anything bad to those women, it’s none of my business.

Groceries, and then sleep – deciding to focus instead on his plan of action for the day, Lucas opened his eyes and veered through the town plaza, towards the grocery store.

Avery had sent him a text listing all the things they needed, which Lucas gratefully pulled up on his phone. Head down and sleepy, he walked through the narrow doorway of the small store without looking, and promptly rammed his forehead into something big, warm, and strawberry-scented.

Ah… what a nice pillow…

His first instinct had been to close his eyes and doze off – but once he heard the startled voice, he came back to his senses with a thrill of horror.

“Oh, sorry –” For some reason, the person he’d smashed into apologized first. It was a man’s voice, deep and soft in concern.

“Are you alright, Hanael?” A higher, female voice spoke up from behind him, and at that Lucas managed to overcome his shame and lift his head in shock.

“Ah, yeah, I’m fine.” Hanael had glanced over his shoulder to speak to the girl, but as he turned back, he met Lucas’s gawking stare with an apologetic smile. His ice-blue eyes were just as striking as Lucas remembered… even in the sun, where everything was bright, they gleamed with a frigid sheen that was more vibrant than daylight. “Are you okay? You hit your head pretty hard.” The man chuckled ruefully and rubbed his chest.

“Uh – I’m fine. S-Sorry.” Ducking his head as heat exploded over his face, Lucas squeezed himself as thin as possible and dashed past them.

“… Wow, ‘kay.” He heard the girl leave a dry remark and felt guilt sting his chest, but couldn’t bring himself to turn around and apologize more thoroughly.

It’s no big deal, he tried to tell himself as he pulled up Avery’s text again. Just get your groceries and move on. They’ll forget all about it in a few minutes anyway. Frowning, Lucas struggled to focus on finding the instant noodles aisle – but he wasn’t completely able to subdue the warm bruise on his forehead. 

It had been a while since he’d felt someone else’s warmth… it had been kinda nice… big, and warm, and strawberry-scented…

Damnit, Lucas! Realizing he’d fallen into stupor while scanning the wall of instant noodles for their preferred flavor, Lucas gulped down his drool and gave his head a thorough shake. Sanity. Sanity!

Spotting their favourite brand, Lucas dragged a few packs into his basket, then moved on to hunt for the dairy section. Milk, eggs, rice, tomatoes, bacon, chips, flour, meat, seaweed, kimchi… the wheels of his basket were creaking by the time Lucas made his way to the cashier.

Why’s that brat making me buy all this stuff when we’re just gonna end up eating instant noodles, anyway?

He huffed indignantly to himself while transferring everything to the cashier, but managed to give the worker a smile when he straightened to actually pay. Then, grabbing the five massive bags that he’d ended up with, Lucas lifted them off the counter with a grunt and limped for the door.

Sleep. Sleep…

Chanting encouragement to prepare himself for the fifteen-minute hike back to their dorm, Lucas stepped out onto the sidewalk and headed straight for the distant crosswalk. He would have blindly passed the man standing by the fruits display if he hadn’t suddenly heard his name.

“Lucas.”