Mira woke up to the rummaging of clothes and the padding of feet. She yawned leaning up in her sleeping bag she’s cooped up in for a few weeks and looked over to the bathroom where Deimos frantically came tumbling out of. His wet hair was plastered to his face and he shook it as he walked over to the kitchen to start boiling water. Then he scurried over to his desk and chair where he had laid out the clothes he was going to wear. He was only in his underwear now, just some grey boxer briefs that were tight in all the right ways. Quickly, he slipped on a grey bralette to match and shimmied on his pants. Just as he was going to slip on his white shirt, he caught Mira’s peeking eyes.

“Oh, shit, good morning, did I wake you?” He said in one breath. Mira tried not to stare too long at the sight of Deimos disheveled in tight black jeans and a grey bralette.

“It was inevitable,” she mumbled, yawning and sitting up fully. “Today’s your English exam, isn’t it?”

He nodded vigorously and slipped on his white tee and grey sweatshirt. “Yeah. I-I’m just a little nervous. I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night.”

Dizzily, Mira got up and stretched. “You’ll do fine. Are you running late?”

“I want to look over my notes in the library beforehand,” he said quickly, pushing his wet hair out of his face. The electric kettle dinged when Deimos was midway in gathering his supplies and left him in disarray. Mira shooed him off from the kitchen.

“I’ll make you coffee and breakfast, gather your stuff,” she said sternly.

Deimos sighed and nodded.

By the time Mira buttered a bagel and made him a coffee, Deimos was packed and ready to go. He was vibrating as Mira gave him his stuff, asking calmly if he grabbed his pencil case and didn’t forget his phone charger.

“Ok,” he said quickly, zipping up his bag and taking the mug from Mira. “I think I’m good.”

“Good,” Mira smiled, a little bit more awake now. “You’ll do great.”

He looked pale and he nervously gnawed his lip. Suddenly, he set down his bag and mug again and hugged Mira tightly. For a solid minute, he embraced her tightly until his trembling calmed down. At first, Mira stood frozen in shock until Deimos let out an exasperated sigh. She melted to his sigh and hugged him tightly as well, rubbing his back in circles. It was like he was recharging, slowly regaining more and more confidence the longer he held her.

Then he unwrapped his arms from her and grabbed his bag and mug with a more serious, steely stare. Mira smiled at him and he smiled back.

“Ok, I think I’m even better,” he said. Mira was about to say another word of encouragement, but stopped instantly as Deimos suddenly leaned down and kissed her cheek quickly before running out the door.

Mira was left in his apartment, shell-shocked.

Deimos paid for three energy drinks, two party size bags of chips, a pack of iced tea, and six chocolate bars. He hoisted up the heavy bags into his truck and slammed the door loudly. Calmly, he ignited the engine and drove for two minutes to the nearest pizza place and ordered two large pepperonis with extra cheese and some cheese bread. Then, he drove for twenty minutes up the dark highway to the university where he parked his car in front of the Visual Arts building and paraded in with bags of food and treats. With one hard kick, he smashed the sculpture room door open and walked inside. Five pairs of eyes landed on him.

“Holy shit,” Mira blurted out. She was there, in her paint-stained overalls, covered in sawdust and glue, in front of her year-end project. It was made of wood, a sensual figure, painted in bubbly and vibrant colours and decorated with yarn, stick-on gems and iridescent stickers. She had sniped a table for herself and it overflowed of said yarn, stick-on gems and iridescent stickers, as well as cups of paint water, tools, tubes of paint and papers. A textbook precariously balanced on the edge that overflowed of notes on a different subject completely.

Her posse of friends were also in a similar messy situation with their own respective artworks and zoned in on the bountiful food Deimos had just walked in with.

“Holy fucking shit,” Dede repeated.

“Where’s the cleanest table, I can’t see,” Deimos responded. Immediately, Mira scrambled to grab two nearby desks and made a long table for Deimos to settle all the food on. Her friends jumped at the sight and Mira stood motionless, shocked and looking up at him. Then, ever so slowly a huge smile stretched across her face.

“I could kiss the shit out of you right now,” she said in one breath.

“You’re covered in glue and paint, no thanks,” Deimos responded after he regained the ability to talk. For a moment, he lost himself.

Hastily, Mira ran over to wash her hands before diving into her meal. One of her friends fake-cried and blessed Mira for having such a considerate friend. After the many months of him poking into the studio now and again, they’ve gotten used to him.

“You have no idea how much I love you right now,” Mira said after she chugged down her first energy drink. “It’s one in the morning, our sculptures are due this afternoon, and I have an exam afterwards.”

“You’ll do fine,” Deimos rubbed her back. Mira looked at him and teared up.

“You’re so great, how did I ever deserve you?!” She wailed.

“The answer is you don’t,” Dede teased as she scarfed down her fourth piece.

“You really don’t,” Frank egged on.

Mira glared at them hotly and cuddled up to Deimos. “At least I have someone who cares for me.”

“Well, that’s debatable,” he teased. “I just don’t want you being prissy when you come home tonight.”

Mira’s jaw dropped in shock. Everyone howled in laughter.

“I’m home,” Mira called out feebly.

Deimos was lying on his bed playing with his phone. “Welcome back,” he replied. “How’d it go?” He heard her drop her bag and kick off her shoes. Seconds after, she flopped on top of him, sighing. She was warm, her heart beating fast against his chest. That was probably because of the trek up to his place, not because of him.

“It’s done and over and I don’t care,” she groaned. Deimos patted her back. “I handed in my painting on time, I even had time to varnish it, and with Frank and Dede’s help, got my sculpture into the class without breaking it in half. My other exam on whatever went ok I guess, I don’t even care anymore.”

“You did well,” Deimos chuckled.

“You too. You had four exams, I had one and a half.”

“Yes, well, but I didn’t have sixty hour-long projects to finish.”

“Touché,” she snickered. They were quiet for a second, Deimos still scrolling through Instagram at this point, until Mira sighed and relaxed against him. “I want to sleep for a million years.”

“On top of me?”

“Yes, you’re comfortable.”

“Thanks.”

“Ok, cool, bye, I’m actually going to sleep,” Mira muttered, curling up on him. Deimos smiled and let her.