Seraphine

five

Nico

It was risky to ask Seraphine how she was feeling, but Nico felt like he had to. He'd been searching for years for the perfect person and here she was, but something was off. 

Sure, she had a boyfriend, but that was nothing the four of them couldn't take care of eventually. This was something else entirely. 

Her half-lidded blue eyes had almost made him gone feral, wanting to take her on the wooden desk right then and there, with her friend waiting outside the door. She smelled of wildflowers and fresh, running water, and he'd wanted to scoop her up into his arms and melt into her. He'd crawl inside her soft skin if it were possible. 

Luca's threatening gaze comes back to Nico's mind as he calls him, along with his words from Monday: I'm fairly certain what she did today was enough to get him riled up. 

Nico's eyes are immediately drawn to the door of the room, following Seraphine as she stiffly exits. She meets Liliana Howard, another student of his, outside the room, and glances over her shoulder just as Luca picks up the phone. 

"Hello?" 

"I asked her if she was okay. She said yes, and to tell you that she's grateful for your concern, but everything's fine. All in all, she's a good liar." Nico's eyes meet Seraphine's, and they stare at each other for a moment longer before Seraphine whips her head back around and leaves his line of sight. 

Luca sighs. "I knew you were going to ask her, prick." 

Nico grins and runs a hand through his hair, turning away from the door and walking around the desk. 

"I never listen to you--what made you think I was going to start now?" He starts packing up his laptop into the slim, leather messenger bag he calls his own. He never understood how Luca and Damien could deal with physical copies of assignments when there was a much more convenient way to assign, receive, and grade online. Him and Enzo were definitely ahead of the two older men. 

"So, what do we do now, oh smart one?" Nico recognizes Damien's voice on the line, and he smirks.

"Don't tell me Enzo's there too--I thought we agreed to never work without all of us present?" Nico checks his watch as he slings the bag over his shoulder, stalking to the door and flicking the lights off as he exits. 

"No, no, he's got a class in a few minutes. Seraphine's, actually. Damien and I were just...experimenting." At this, Nico's eyebrows fly up. He navigates the long, winding hallways of the dated Psychology building, making sure to keep his voice down. 

"I thought you two tried that in college," he says, knowing exactly what they're talking about but deciding to tease them anyway. Damien coughs, and Nico grins as he imagines Luca dragging a hand down his tired face. 

"Nico..." 

"I'm kidding, old man, learn to take a joke," Nico laughs as he pushes open the first set of double doors leading to he outside. The sun is high in the sky, and he has to lift a hand to shield his eyes from it's blinding light as he gets to the next set of double doors. 

"I can...take a joke," Luca argues, and Nico snorts at his childish behavior. There's shuffling on the other side, and then a grunt of pain. Nico lowers the volume on his phone, glancing around to see if anyone was paying attention to him.