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Chapter Text

It was upcoming Anya's 11th year at Eden College and she had collected nine stella, making her an imperial scholar, and her father Loid, (or Twilight, if you knew him as such), had finally gotten to his target, Donovan Desmond, and has started to become closer to him. Even though it took eight years—she had gotten her eight stars when she was fourteen—no extreme signs of war had popped up.

Now that her father was gaining the information and trust he needed from Donovan, she didn't have anything else she needed to worry about: the world would soon be at peace.

She used to be scared Loid would stop being her papa, but from how much Loid had grown to truly love his (once) pretend family, she didn't need to worry about that.

However, Anya soon found herself on a mission of her own; it seemed Damian, (Donovan Desmond's second son,) had a crush on her! Who could've guessed?

And with the prestigious prom Eden held for their imperial scholars—who were over the age of sixteen, of course—was coming up, Anya knew this was her chance to get Donovan to warm up to the Forgers.

If she dated Damian, that would surely make their families closer—and the guy already liked her!

How hard could it be?

Chapter Text

"Anya!" Yor called out from the kitchen, "Sweetheart! Your alarm's been going off for ten minutes!!" The ravenette looked to her husband, her face a bit worried, "Could you wake her up for me, Loid?"

Loid looked up from his newspaper to his wife, a smile on his lips as he said, "Sure thing, Yor." His sweet smile turned to a small smirk as he joked, "I swear, that girl could sleep through an earthquake..." Yor couldn't help but giggle from the (probably true) joke. 

Loid smiled at the sight of his wife laughing, which was probably the only thing he'd be happy about this morning since Yor insisted on cooking breakfast for them—he's had food poisoning way too many times over the past ten years.

*Knock Knock Knock*

"Ugh..." Anya complained as she heard her father call out to her, "Anya! It's time to wake up." He politely spoke, but to Anya's very tired brain, it sounded like the most outrageous and rude thing he could ever say. And once he knocked again, Anya wanted to simply go back to sleep and ignore her papa, but unfortunately, he raised her better than that.

"Okay!... Okay..." The pinkette grumbled out, forcing herself to sit up. Anya stumbled over to her door, yawning, but once she opened her bedroom door, her mouth immediately snapped shut.

She could recognize that smell from anywhere: her mom was cooking.

Anya looked over to her dad who was standing by the door, her eyes wide, he just sighed and nodded, knowing that look was asking, 'Is mama seriously cooking?'—it seemed after all these years she would've gotten better, but nope, all she could cook was her western stew. It also seemed like her parents would show any signs of aging after all those years, and yet, they looked the exact same!

She used to think maybe they kept their youth from all that killing they do, but she decided that was ridiculous as she got older. (Even though she still considered it a possibility from time to time.)

Loid crossed his arms as he smiled at his daughter, "Go ahead and get changed," He brought his hand over her ear to cup it as he whispered to her very quietly, "If you take long enough, I can just send you off with a snack."

Anya couldn't help but giggle as he backed off, giving her a semi-worried grin. «I still have to eat Yor's food... but at least I can save Anya from food poisoning!» He thought, making Anya giggle even more. She gave her dad's cheek a kiss as she whispered, "Thanks papa!" Before going back into her room. Loid just sighed happily, how did he get so lucky? If he knew operation strix would've ended like this, he would've recommended they've done something about Donovan himself!

After Anya closed her door while Loid walked towards the kitchen—his stomach turning at the growing smell, but he chose to ignore it—smiling at the ravenette cooking; he walked up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist as he put his chin on Yor's shoulder.

"What's this about?" Yor asked chipperly—she used to freak out when Loid would do something like this and kick him into the living room, but after a bit of practice, (and house repairs,) she got used to it.

Loid smiled, swaying back and forth with her in his arms, "I just love you is all."

Anya happily stepped out of her school bus, a big smile on her face. She could tell that today was going to be an amazing day, because she had escaped death! (Her mother's cooking,) which meant that she could do anything!

"Anya!" Becky called out to her as Anya walked up the staircase into the school, the pinkette looked back at her friend, smiling brightly. "Hi Becky!"

Becky wrapped her arm around Anya, smirking at her. "So... who ya gonna try to get as your date for the 'imperial scholars exclusive' prom? You're gonna try to get Damian, am I right?" She asked with a wink. Anya just looked at her confused, squinting her eyes at the brunette. "...Imperial scholars prom? Second son?? Date???"

Becky blinked mindlessly, staring at her friend. "...Do you seriously not know what the imperial scholars prom is...?" She asked, and when Anya shook her head in the negative, it only made Becky gasp very dramatically. "You're the lucky one who actually gets to go!! I can't believe you don't even know what it is!”

Anya's eyes slanted as she looked at her overdramatic friend. "Well could you explain it to Anya then??" Becky just sighed, (once again, very dramatically,) "Okay, okay, okay... fine."

Becky took a deep breath in as they stepped into their first class, looking at Anya with a serious expression as she said very sternly, "Listen to me very carefully."

She took in one more deep breath in as they sat down before finally explaining so quickly Anya wasn't completely sure she was breathing in between. "The imperial scholars prom is an exclusive prom for the people in this school who are imperial scholars, (obviously,) and are over the age of sixteen. Since you are both of those, and since you like Damian and he likes you, I assumed that you'd both go together, because like, obviously."

Anya blinked a couple times, trying to process that mouth-vomit Becky just spilled out. But once she completely understood everything, she just blinked once more very slowly, looking at Becky, and then back to the right side of the classroom towards Donovan Desmond's second son, her eyes sparkling as she mumbled, "...Damian likes me...? I thought he hated me."

Becky's jaw dropped. Has her best friend seriously been this dull and she just never noticed??—Anya pouted at the brunette's rude thought, side-eyeing the girl—Becky pinched the bridge of her nose, "Girl..." She groaned out, "he's literally like... in love with you!"

Anya gasped, jumping back in her seat. First he likes her, and now he's in love with her?? Since when!?

Anya looked back at Damian with her mouth opened in shock. There was no way he was in love with her, she would've noticed! She would've realized when she read his mind!!

As Anya continued to stare at him in complete shock, Becky just tsked, "I can't believe you didn't notice. He's liked you since we were six!!"

Eventually, Anya's staring caught the target's attention, and when Damian saw her with her mouth wide open and her eyes in complete disbelief, his cheeks and ears went bright red.

"What do you want, uggo?!!" Ewen yelled while Damian just kept staring with flustered cheeks. Anya immediately looked at Becky, raising an eyebrow at the brunette as she pointed back at the boy in question, "Are you sure he like's Anya?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure!!"

Anya looked back at the second son who looked as if he was going to pop a blood vessel—and who was still blushing like crazy—and just mumbled (mostly to herself, even if it was completely monotoned,) "...Anya's going to go to the bathroom."

Becky furrowed her brows as Anya stood up. "W-wait! The teacher will be here any minute!!" She yelled, but Anya just kept walking to the bathroom.

As she walked away, Damian's—extremely loud thoughts—still reached their way to her mind, mostly because she was walking so slow, but also because he seemed to be freaking out himself, (but in a very different way than Anya was.)

«Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!!!» His brain screamed.

«Why was Anya looking at me?? Why was she looking at me like that. Did I do something?? WHAT DID I DO!!!!!»

And as Damian began to quite literally internally cry, Anya walked into the bathroom. And when it was finally quiet—besides the faint sound of Damian's inner voice. How had she never noticed he was acting like that before?—she knew no one else was there.

Anya looked at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. How did Damian like her? How did he love her? 

The pinkette groaned, falling onto the sink underneath her. He's loved her since they were six, if only he was obvious about his feelings! That would've made her father's mission ten times easier!!

Anya hummed curiously, slowly looking back at the mirror with her signature smirk; she could still help Twilight with his mission. If she got together with Damian, it would definitely make her dad's mission go faster. If she dated him, she'd have to meet his father, Donovan, and it would give her the opportunity to make him love the Forger family.

Anya grinned, throwing her fist in the air. "Yes!!" She yelled, it was a perfect plan!!

But after she thought about it a bit more, she deflated. She'd have to date Damian Desmond, the biggest jerk to walk on this planet! How was she going to force herself to do it?

Anya sighed, crossing her arms as she smiled, shaking her head softly. Luckily for her papa, (and Damian, apparently,) she would do anything for world peace. "Lucky sy-on boy," She tsked.

Unfortunately for Anya, it seemed when she yelled 'Yes,' it caught a teacher's attention, because she soon got caught by Housemaster Henderson, and was given a warning for playing hooky.

Chapter Text

As Anya ate her udon, (with peanuts on the side, of course,) she couldn't stop staring at Damian. It felt as if a brick got dropped on her head. Is she really so oblivious she didn't notice?? For ten years???

"Anya!" Becky called out, knocking the pinkette out of her thoughts. "You aren't listening to me at all!" She whined, "If you're so shocked Damian loves you back, just go ask him out!"

Anya furrowed her brows at the brunette, "What do you mean 'loves me back,' I don't love Damian."

Becky took a deep, long breath in, «The world's really testing my patience today...» She thought. 

Anya held back her offended face.

"If you don't love Damian..." Becky said calmly before shaking Anya like a mad woman, yelling, "THEN WHY WERE YOU SO OBSESSED WITH BECOMING HIS FRIEND FOR TEN YEARS??!?"

Anya froze—in her brain, at least, in reality she was still being shook back and forth—what was she going to tell her? The entirety of the friendship scheme??

Lucky for Anya, she was a master at coming up with excuses. So as Becky shook her she said, "A-a-n-n-y-a-a-a d-o-o-e-s-s-n-t-t-t k-k-n-o-w-w-w-w-!!!"

Becky finally stopped shaking her to give the pinkette a confused look. "...What do you mean you don't know?" Anya just gave the brunette her cheeky, signature grin, "I mean, I have no idea why I wanted to be his friend." She spoke, almost proud that she came up with such a 'convincing' lie.

Becky pouted, crossing her arms as she glared at her friend. "Y'know, for an imperial scholar, you're really bad at lying." Anya gasped, Becky just ignored her, leaning her elbow on the lunch table so she could sit her chin in her palm. "Listen, you don't have to tell me the truth—since I already know—but at least try to talk to the guy! I think you'd be cute together~"

Anya looked back to Damian, she still hadn't fully decided if it was a good idea to get with him or not. But when he stood up and walked away without his little minions, Becky told her this was her chance, and so, she followed him.

"Ugh..." Damian groaned, holding his hands over his head as he leaned his face on the table—he couldn't stop thinking about why Anya would be staring at him earlier. He was so distraught he couldn't even face her. He had to eat sitting his back towards her, (which made him think why he didn't just eat in the special lunchroom for imperial scholars, but he already made his bed, now he had to lay in it.)

"Uhm... Lord Damian...?" Ewen said nervously. Damian shot his eyes up at his friend, his pink ears poking out beneath his arms, "What." He snapped. Emile looked at the table behind them with an annoyed glare, "That uggo is staring at you again."

Damian immediately popped up from his seat, slamming his hands on the table as he did. He took un-even breaths as he stared into nothing with a bright red face. Emile and Ewen shared a concerned look before Emile asked, "Uh... Lord Damian? are you feeling alright-"

"Fine!" He announced, cutting the blond off, "I'm fine, I just need a moment alone," He insisted, even though no one was doubting him.

Damian stepped out of the bench-like seats, telling his friends he'd be back before classes began again before leaving into the hallway.

When he walked outside the dining hall and into the empty corridor, he sighed. «Finally, I'm alone.» He thought happily, but those happy thoughts left as soon as they came when he heard the lunchroom door open, followed by footsteps.

Damian groaned, «Did one of them follow me??» But when he turned around, he was shocked to see Anya Forger.

Damian immediately blushed. What was she doing out here?! "W-what are you doing, you shrimp!!" He insulted, hoping it would get her to go away, but Anya just crossed her arms, stomping up to him with a pout on his lips.

They stared at each other for a moment—Damian, a flustered red mess; Anya, pouting and suspicious looking—before the pinkette broke the silence.

"I wanna be your friend!"

Damian gasped, somehow becoming redder as he jumped back, «What on earth is happening today?!?!» He thought, «Why is Anya acting like this all of the sudden... Why is this happening to me!!!!»

The boy shuddered as he yelled back, "F-forget it!! I'll never want to be your friend! Never-ever!!" But his brain actively fought his mouth, his mind screaming back, «NOOO!!! why did you say that?! You'll never have a chance now you dumbass!!!»

Anya furrowed her eyebrows, why couldn't he just say what was on his mind? She already knew it anyways! 

"...Are you sure." She asked, Damian just blushed even more, he looked like he was about to blow a fuse. "OF COURSE I AM!!" He practically cried out, backing away even more from the pinkette—who, much to his happiness and destain, just followed him, being even closer than before—"Why would I ever want to be f-friends with you! You... you um... You stubby-legged freak!!"

«Damn it!! What is wrong with you?!»

He, once again ignored his thoughts: until he noticed Anya begin to tear up.

His heart dropped. What had he done? He'd called her all these things before and she never seemed upset, so why was she crying?

He took a step forward, looking at the sad pinkette with a worried expression. "...Anya, I didn't mean to..." Anya sniffled her nose, looking down at her feet as he put a comforting hand on her arm, "I-... I'm sorry, I was being rude..."

Anya shook her head, wiping away her tears as she looked up at the boy in front of her. He's never been this comforting to her, it was strange, but it was nice. "Is' not that..."—She never spoke sloppily anymore, only when she felt a strong emotion like that—"Anya's jus' f-feeling over-overwhelmed and confused... I'm sorwy..."

Damian bit his gums as he looked at her. This was all his fault, God, he was an idiot. "No! Don't apologize," He insisted, making Anya sniffle again as he put another hand on Anya's other arm, "I was being extremely un-gentlemanly. It would be delightful to be your friend, Anya; we are both Imperial Scholars after all," He cleared his throat a little as he whispered, "we should be together..."

Anya smiled lightly at him, putting one of her own hands on his arm as she used the other to wipe her tears, "F-fank you, sy-on boy..."

Damian felt as if he was going to pass out from how hot his face was becoming, especially after Anya touched his arm. He immediately pulled away, crossing his arms as he mumbled, "N-no problem..."

Anya just giggled at his internal freakout, Damian didn't seem that bad after all, maybe she could genuinely like him romantically?

«What?!» Anya thought. What was that strange idea doing in her brain? «What am I even thinking, there's no way that's gonna happen," She thought with a smile, but as she watched Damian nervously try to ask if she'd like to study with him after school, her brain couldn't stop itself.

«He is pretty cute though...»

Chapter Text

Anya twirled her finger around the phone cord mindlessly as she answered her father's many, many questions.

Damian had invited her to study with him after she asked if they could be friends, and unfortunately for Anya, Damian seemed to think that was the best way to make friends.

"Yes, papa, I'll be home by 5:30. No, you don't have to pick me up, Damian will take me home. Yes, we're going to actually study. Can Anya go now??"

After a few more incoherent mumbles, but a reluctant 'Yes, I suppose,' Anya hung up, speeding out a "Thank you papa! Love you forever!" Before putting the school phone back in its slot at the speed of light. 

Anya looked over to Damian, smiling softly at him despite slightly damaging the phone detailed with solid gold she was graciously allowed to use. Well, not really allowed to use, but Damian was allowed to use it, and he allowed Anya to use his. 

The school didn't really trust her with expensive things after the incident of '09. She wasn't allowed to touch things over three million dalc, and for some reason, Eden decided to make their phones the best of the best.

"Well," She spoke, knocking Damian out of his thoughts about possible tonitrus bolts. "are we gonna get started? We only have like, two hours."

Damian blushed a little—being around Anya this much sure did get his blood circulating!—nodding as he forced himself to look at the pinkette. "Y-yes, let's begin." He stammered out before stepping to the side, letting Anya go forward and take a seat at the table she wanted.

"Yes, I suppose..." Loid reluctantly said, immediately getting a swift "Thank you papa! Love you forever!" From his daughter before the line went dead. Loid took a deep breath in, calmly putting the phone down.

Yor looked over to him from the couch. Was he... shaking?

"Uh... Loid? Are you feeling alright...?" She asked, Loid just sighed, turning around to his wife with a soft smile, "Yes, I'm alright, it's just that... something Anya said reminded me I had an appointment tonight for work. One of my patients has been having psychotic breaks quite frequently, so I planned to be there to stop them before they do anything too damaging to their progress." He explained, also very calmly.

Yor pouted, hugging her knees to her chest. "I'm sorry, you deserve a break."

Loid smiled at the ravenette, she was so thoughtful of him. He walked over to his wife, giving her a gentle kiss on her lips. "Don't worry, love, it won't take too long. Just make sure to be here when Anya comes home if I'm not back by then." Yor blushed from the sudden kiss, but she just nodded, waving to Loid as he left the house, the blond happily waving back.

Once Loid left, however, his entire demeanor changed, from a happy husband, to an extremely concerned father.

What was Anya even doing? Last time he checked, her and Damian hated each other—which, to be completely honest, didn't really help with his mission, but he still didn't want Anya hanging out with that boy. He was Donovan's son! Who knew how'd he'd treat her? Especially after the years of teasing he's put her through.

The only way he'd allowed them to be together, was to supervise.

And since Anya wouldn't want him there with her, he had to put his spying to good use.

"So, if you subtract the 6 from each side, then you divide the 21 by itself and the 189 by 21, then you get 9! So x equals 9." Damian explained with a grin, "You understand?"

Anya glanced down at the math Damian was writing down, and then back to the green-haired boy, a light smile on her face. "...Why's there a letter in math?"

Damian's eye twitched as he took a sharp breath in, pinching the bridge of his nose. "...It is a miracle you are an imperial scholar..." He muttered before snapping at her, yelling, "How the hell do you have a B in algebra when you don't even know the basics?!?! You're in your 11th year!"

Anya groaned, dropping her head on the table. "Anya doesn't know!!" She longed out—that was a lie, she read her classmate's minds twenty-four seven—before groaning again. This was so boring! 

When she told Becky she was studying with Damian after school, she said this was basically their first date. But this felt like torture! If this was what dating was like, maybe romance wasn't her thing.

Damian let out a laughing-like sigh before gaining his straight face back, saying as nicely as he could, "It's okay, just get back up, I'll teach you." 

When Anya sat back up, his mind thought, «And since she needs to know more than what I can teach in two hours, maybe we can study together more... alone...» Which made him blush. 

Anya chose to ignore his terribly boring idea, and grab her notebook, looking up at Damian with her pencil in hand. "Explain to me the letters, sy-on boy!" Damian just chuckled a bit, smirking at her excitement, "Will do, Forger."

«Why are they alone together?? I thought there'd at least be a small study group!»

Anya's head popped up from her math, "Uh, are you alright, Anya?" Damian asked, but the pinkette just ignored him. She could've sworn she heard her papa, but why would he be at the school? She hadn't done anything that needed his invisible influence, did she?

"Um... Anya? Hello??" Damian spoke with a wave, Anya looked at him with raised brows, mumbling a little, "Sorry, I thought I heard something." 

Damian furrowed his eyebrows, looking around, they were quite literally the only people in there. Even the librarian seemed to be somewhere else. "You couldn't have, there's no one else here but us."

Anya hummed, looking down at the problem on her paper as she tapped her pencil against her cheek, saying mindlessly, "Yep, just us. All alone."

Damian blushed, nervously clearing his throat as he mumbled, "Yeah..."

Anya looked up at him with an eyebrow raised, trying to ignore his inner freaking-out voice. "Could we just get back to this problem?" she asked, Damian just blushed even more, nodding as he cleared his throat yet again, "Yes, yes of course..."

«Is... is that boy blushing?!?! At my little Anya!?!»

Okay, that time the voice was much louder. Her dad was definitely spying on her.

Anya sighed, trying to focus on where the voice was coming from—above? «Ah! dang it!!» Anya thought, «Is he spying through the sunroof?»

Anya faked a yawn, moving her head up and squinting her eyes—to where it looked like they were closed, yet she could see—and when she looked at the ceiling, there he was. Anya's father.

The pinkette stifled a groan. Why was he spying on her? Sure, apparently to Becky this was a 'date,' but shouldn't her dad trust her enough to let her study and date without spying on her?

Anya inhaled sharply before smiling at the green-haired boy, "Damian!" She called out, making her study partner look up at her, confused with a pink face. "Let's move," She suggested, "it's kinda hot under the sun."

Damian looked down at the table messy with school supplies then back at Anya, raising an eyebrow at her. "...Are you serious?" He asked.

Anya groaned yet again. How did she expect herself to date him when he was so annoying!

"Fine!" She stated, standing up and crossing her arms, "let's at least get a snack? Please?? Anya needs peanuts."

Damian sighed, standing up with the girl, "Okay," He compromised, "but just so you know, imperial scholars shouldn't take so many breaks."

As the two left the library—and Twilight, thank goodness, Anya didn't know if she could go through on her mission with him watching—Anya huffed, side-eyeing the tall boy next to her. "I'm already an Imperial Scholar! They can't like... take away Anya's stella." Anya sighed, taking her special cloak's hood and putting it over her pink locks, "We barely get anything for being one anyways," She complained. Sure, she got world peace (eventually,) but besides that, being an 'imperial scholar' was just as boring as everything else at school. "I mean, we get a special lunchroom and some weird prom, what else is there?"

Damian glared at the pinkette. "Well, being able to do fun things isn't really the point of being one." He explained in an annoyed voice before bringing up something she had mentioned, "But, I didn't realize you were interested in the prom,"

Damian's cheeks couldn't help but flush a bit as he muttered out shyly, "...Do you have a date yet?"

Anya looked at him, saying with a soft smile, "No, Anya does not." However, her smile soon turned into a cheeky grin as she asked, "Does second son have a date?"

Damian blushed a bit, looking forward as he answered, "No, I do not."

"Loser."

"Shrimp."

Chapter Text

As Damian's personal driver drove up to the Forger household, Anya couldn't help but feel a bit relieved. She didn't know why, but it felt like she had trouble keeping her heartbeat at a normal rate. Maybe it was because she was nervous about Operation C—the dating scheme, she thought of it all by herself, which she was very proud of—or maybe it was because she had those really salty peanuts during their snack break.

Well, no matter the reason, she just wanted to watch her show Bondman, eat dinner, (hopefully her dad was cooking,) and sleep.

Anya looked back to Damian, who was keeping himself busy with a book—apparently not noticing they had stopped. Probably because when Anya read his mind, the only reason he was reading was to keep himself from saying anything stupid, which didn't make sense to the pinkette, so she just ignored it.

Anya looked back to her house, he's never been inside her house, had he? Well, if he was her friend now, it would just be rude to not invite him in!

"Sy-on boy!" She practically yelled, making Damian jump in his seat, a hand over his heart as he looked at Anya with big, angry eyes. "W-what!?" He responded, stuttering from the jumpscare.

Anya smiled, leaning forward a bit as she asked, "Wanna come in and see Anya's house?"

Damian blushed at the invite. Go into her house? Anya Forger's house?? Go into the house of the cutest girl he's ever seen in his entire life??!

Damian blushed harder at that thought, «Ugh... stop thinking like that you weirdo... it's not like her house made her that cute- ACK! DAMIAN DESMOND!!!» The green-haired boy forced himself to take a deep breath, making his heartbeat slow down so he could answer casually—but not really that casually—"Yeah, sure."

When Anya showed him inside, he was... surprised, to say the least. Her living room was about a sixth of theirs at the Desmond Manor; in fact, their entire house was probably the size of his school dorm, and he thought that was small.

"Mama! Papa! I'm home!!" Anya called out as she took off her shoes, Damian doing the same, (it seemed like the polite thing to do.)  Anya looked back at Damian, a proud smirk on her face. "Well, sy-on boy? Anya's house is pretty nice, huh?"

Damian glanced around for about two seconds before saying blankly, "I have pantries bigger than this house. I didn't realize commoner's houses were so tiny and sad." A matching smirk to Anya's appeared on his face as he asked, "Is this why you are so small and short? You've been confined to this broom closet?"

Anya squinted her eyes at the boy, sticking her finger in her face as she threatened, "Don't forget, you're in Anya's house. I can kill you, say you broke in, and get completely off the hook."

They stayed in that position for a bit too long, which made Damian start to think she wasn't joking, but as soon as he began to think that, the pinkette backed off, turning back around and cupping her hands around her mouth. "Mama!! Papa!! Hurry up!!! I brought a friend!"

Anya groaned, crossing her arms as she stomped to their bedroom—when Anya was young, they had separate bedrooms, but when she turned around eleven, they started sharing one—Damian wasn't sure if he should follow her, so he just stayed where he was, slyly watching the grumpy pinkette slam her parents' door open.

After standing there for ten seconds, she turned back around, huffing angrily. "They aren't even here!" She complained, mumbling other stuff as she stomped back over to Damian, who, after learning that new information, was a flustered mess.

«We're alone? Together?? In the Forger household??? In the Forger household alone????» 

His brain practically fried, his face embarrassingly red. Anya blew a raspberry at his thoughts, elbowing him in the side. "Chill out, second son. I think mama and papa are just taking Bond out for a walk, since he's not here either."

Damian sighed, trying to regain his composure—hanging out with Anya really seemed to give him some issues in the 'perfectly calm and composed gentleman' department—"Um... Bond, isn't that your dog's name?" He asked, shifting his weight uncomfortably.

Anya smiled, her green eyes seemed to sparkle as she said, sounding surprised, "You remembered!"

Damian blushed, hard. He looked away from the adorably happy-looking pinkette, covering his glowing face with his hand as he did. "I-I just guessed," He lied. He totally remembered her dogs name. "your parents wouldn't be walking a hamster, or something stupid like that..."

Anya snickered a bit, taking a step closer to Damian—which he just reacted to by becoming more flustered—"You're just a big ol' softy, huh Damian?"

Damian was so nervous he started sweating. If Anya didn't stop soon he'd probably freak out so much he'd die from it. "N-no, I'm just intelligent. You might think walking a hamster is normal because you're, well, you, but—" Damian cut himself off when Anya wrapped her arms around his sides, putting her head on his chest—which only made this terrifying situation even more terrifying.

«Can she hear my heartbeat?! Oh good God... that's so embarrassing!!!!»

"W-what are you doing?!?!" He practically squeaked out, which was embarrassing in itself, but his main focus in that moment was to get her off of himself, run away, and never talk to that shrimp again. But there was a problem in his plan.

He didn't want her to stop hugging him.

Anya squeezed the cloak on his back as she mumbled against his school shirt. "It really means a lot, that you knew Bond's name. You acted like you hated me but you didn't, you cared."

She looked up at him, her cheeks lightly pink, which made Damian nearly faint. "W-well... just don't think about it too much, okay?"

Anya just smirked, rolling her eyes before sliding her feet out, holding onto Damian, and laughing manically as she did so. Damian immediately grabbed onto her back, looking at her with furrowed brows. "The hell was that for?!" He practically yelled, looking down at the giggling mess underneath him. Anya just gave him her signature cheeky grin, "I wanted to see your reflexes, sy-on boy."

They stood there in silence for a moment, not moving an inch until Damian broke the quietness, saying blankly, "You're an idiot."

Anya stepped back up, but kept her arms around the green-haired boy, making them closer than before; which, Damian couldn't tell if he loved it, or hated it. Anya smiled sneakily as she teased him, her smirk still on her lips. "At least I'm not as red as a firetruck."

Before Damian could even think of a snarky comeback, the front door opened, letting in Anya's parents along with a big white dog. 

The two looked at the three in the doorway, Yor looked shocked, Loid looked even more shocked, and Bond looked... angry?

"Hi papa! Hi mama! Hello Bond!! This is Anya's friend, Damian!" Anya greeted casually. Damian, (once his brain caught up with him,) immediately let go of the pinkette, backing off all the way to their kitchen island, a terrified smile on his lips. 

"G-good evening Mr. Forger, Mrs. Forger, Anya had invited me in and she was just erm... showing her gratitude. I had said something kind, you uh... you see..." He ended his embarrassingly awkward sentence with a very shy smile, looking at the parents who were slowly showing new emotions. Yor, excited, and Loid—well, he couldn't really explain his expression, but it was eerily creepy.

Loid cleared his throat as he walked in, placing a (somehow protective?) hand on his daughter's shoulder, smiling softly as he did. "That was very polite of you to invite him in, Anya."—He purposely didn't say anything about the hug—"However, I'm afraid we had some afternoon plans, so I must ask you to leave, Damian. Perhaps you'll be able to come over another time? When I'm here."

Damian nodded, walking up to Loid with a nervous smile, nodding to the blond. "Y-yes, thank you, sir." He held out his hand, Loid shook it politely.

Damian looked to Anya, giving her a nod with a small blush on his cheeks. "I'll see you at school, Anya..." He mumbled before going to Mrs. Forger and their family dog, shaking Yor's hand and patting Bond's head, before taking his leave.

As soon as Damian left, Yor let out a squeal, she ran up to her daughter with an excited smile. "Anya! I think that boy might like you!!"

Anya gave her mother her best-shocked face. "Whaaaattt??" She longed out, putting her hands on her face. Yor giggled, oblivious to Anya's sarcasm. "Yup! My little girl isn't so little anymore!! She's getting all those boys~"

As Anya nearly died from embarrassment from how much her mama talked about how all the boys are obsessed with her, Loid looked at Yor terrified. Was it true? Was his little girl really not so little anymore?... No, it couldn't be, it was just yesterday he brought her home from that sketchy orphanage—wait, no that was ten years ago... ten years ago?!?!

Loid nearly bursted into tears as he scooped up his daughter, holding her close to his chest in a little ball. "Loid!... Uh, how are you doing that?" Yor asked, kind of impressed. 

Anya tried to get away, complaining that she was 'too old to be treated like this,' but Loid just held her, telling Anya she wasn't allowed to grow up anymore.

And that boys weren't allowed to be in the house if he wasn't there too, of course.

Chapter Text

I sighed as I looked down at my graded pop quiz. I had gotten a 62/100, a mere three points away from failing.

"You feeling okay, Lord Damian?" Ewen asked me, but I just dropped my head on the desk in front of me, mumbling out a pathetic, "No..." 

What was my father going to think when he heard of this? Sure, it was a pop quiz, but I should've been prepared! I'm a Desmond, we don't screw up. We're perfect.

Emile soothingly rubbed my back, smiling at me, but he was clearly worried. "Don't worry Lord Damian! That pop quiz was super hard! I guessed half my answers!"

I sighed, I could tell he was lying from his voice. I sat back up, crossing my arms as I glared at the paper. "I appreciate you trying to make me feel better, but stop, it's making me feel..."

«...Pathetic...» I thought, but there was no way in hell I was saying that. "...Annoyed." I finished, taking my paper and crumpling it up in my hands. Who cared anyways? It was just some dumb paper.

I looked at my friends as I leaned back onto the bench, saying, "Let's study a bit during lunch, I obviously need to revise—AH!" I semi-screamed, falling back towards the ground—I could've sworn our benches had backs on them!

I braced myself for impact, squeezing my eyes shut and tensing my body, but I never hit the ground. When I carefully opened my eyes again, I was still falling, but there was only darkness around me.

I felt tears form in my eyes, where was I? How would I get out?... No, there obviously wasn't any getting out. My life was over, I knew it. I was going to be trapped here forever, falling deeper and deeper into the darkness; maybe this was a good thing, at least here my father couldn't be disappointed in me.

I closed my eyes, sighing deeply, it was quiet—it was nice, peaceful. I wish it wasn't so dull and sad though, maybe if I was falling through a pink void.

I laughed to myself, a pink void, what a ridiculous thought. That's something that would happen to—

"Anya has you sy-on boy!!"

My eyes snapped open. Was that Anya?? No, I was just imagining things. There was no way she was here. I'm all alone, in the darkness with no end.

But then, the walls suddenly changed colors—there was an end, and it was... pink?

I tried to look at what awaited for me below, but my head wouldn't move, so I just, (once again,) squeezed my eyes closed, tensing my body in preparation for the presumably very painful fall.

One,

Two,

Three,

Splat.

Or at least that's the sound I'd thought I'd hear, instead, I was greeted by a little giggle along with two warm arms under my legs and my back.

When I opened my eyes, I saw... Anya? What on earth was she doing here? And why did she have a rose in her mouth??? 

"What—" I began, but quickly got cut off by the pinkette holding me, "Shhh, shh my love,"—I immediately blushed as red as a tomato, what did she mean by 'my love'—"you have no need to worry any longer, for Anya is here!" She said proudly as rose petals fell around us.

I looked at her confused, quirking up one of my brows as I asked, "Anya, what is going on? why—..." My cheeks flushed as I continued, "...why did you call me your love?"

Anya just grinned, the rose still in between her teeth—and staying (somehow) as she spoke—"Because I love you, my little sy-on. And since you're in love with me, let's get married, even if my dad terrifies you."

I blushed even harder. What was I supposed to respond to that with? 'Yeah, your dad does terrify me.' I think not!

But after a few seconds, I just accepted the strangeness of what was happening, smiling up at the pinkette who was still holding me, saying, "I do love you, how'd you know?"

"Oh," She giggled, blowing a raspberry before continuing, "I can read minds."

What.

~~~

Damian gasped as he awoke from his dream, sitting up immediately and putting a hand on his chest. His heartbeat was out of control and he was sweating. Profusely.

What on earth was that dream about? First of all, he would never get that low on a test, even if it was a pop quiz. Second, why was Anya in it!?

Yes, he knew he loved Anya Forger. He's known since he was twelve—he actually knew when he was six, but he was so determined to stay away from those feelings he didn't accept it until he was in 7th grade—but he's never had a dream like that with her.

In his dreams with Anya, she never told him she loved him, never said they should get married, and she's most definitely never said she could read minds.

Damian sighed, standing up from his bed. In his dreams, shes only ever said what the real Anya would say. And despite how much he wanted Anya to say those things to him—well, maybe not the whole 'reading minds' part, but the rest of it—she never would. At least, that's what he told himself.

Damian crossed his arms as he began walking to the kitchen. He needed a glass of warm milk. It's what Jeeves would get him when he had night terrors back at home, so it was the perfect cure to whatever he just dreamt up.

But when Damian got into the kitchen, he saw his roommates and closest friends, Ewen and Emile.

He walked over to the fridge, grabbing the large glass bottle of milk from the fridge. "What are you two doing up?" He asked before closing the fridge door and walking to the kettle. Ewen leaned against the counter, smiling strangely, "We uh... we forgot to do the homework for tomorrow, so we're kinda doing it right now."

Damian glanced at the clock as he poured his milk in, his eyes going wide as he looked back at his friend shocked. "At four in the morning?! What on earth were you doing the rest of the day??"

Emile crossed his arms, rolling his eyes as he complained. "My family insisted on us being together this afternoon, it was quite literally unbearable."

Ewen huffed, looking at his friends annoyed, "Mine too! It's like they don't understand Eden College's rules! I almost have my sixth stella! If they could just get out of my way, I would've been an imperial scholar ages ago."

Damian took a silent sharp breath in, looking at his friends with a sliver of confusion. They were upset their families wanted to be around them? To take them out and show their affection? Damian would give up all ten of his stella if it meant he could have one day of that. 

"Anyways," Emile began, looking at the green-haired boy, "why are you up, Damian?" Damian just kept his eyes on his kettle, mumbling a quiet, "I had a bad dream."

Ewen looked at him worried as their imperial scholar roommate poured his warm milk into a glass. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

Damian simply shook his head, "No, it is fine." He spoke before taking a sip from his glass, and after he swallowed, he finally looked at his friends again, simply saying to them "Goodnight." Before walking back to his room and trying to get some actual sleep.

"Goodnight papa! Goodnight mama!" Anya called out from her room before collapsing onto her bed. Today was exhausting. 

First of all, she got scolded by her father to be wary of boys and not to trust them, and the only reason she got lectured was because she found out Damian had a crush on her. Speaking of which, she saw first hand that Damian had a crush on her. And she thought up plan C and now she would have to date him! 

Stupid, stupid Damian, and his stupid, stupid face. ...His stupid, stupid pretty face...

Anya blushed. Why was she thinking that? Ugh, she was probably just confused from the day. Yeah, that was it. Stupid Damian and his contradicting thoughts to what he actually said.

Anya sighed, flipping over to her stomach and hugging her plush Chimera close to her face. She just had to sleep off these weird feelings, and she'd be all better tomorrow.

~~~

I smiled as I walked through the schools' gardens, squeezing the hand holding mine as I pointed at some geese in a little pond. "Damian!" I called out, "look at the goose's!"

Damian chuckled softly, smirking at me as he corrected, "The plural for goose is 'geese,' dummy."

I gasped as my face went pink. I totally 100% didn't know that. Damian just laughed again, poking the redness on my cheek. "You look even more like a shrimp now." He teased, but I just hummed, easily teasing back. "At least I don't look like a tomato most of the time~"

Damian blushed from my (very true) words, mumbling to me, "If you weren't so cute, I wouldn't be so red all the time..." My cheeks flushed once again, but I just smirked. Leaning my head on his shoulders as I replied in a sing-song voice, "You're cuter~!"

Damian snickered, gently pushing my head off of him. "Yeah, okay stubby legs."

Chapter Text

Anya huffed as she sat in her class, looking at the board with grimace. This class, (Algebra II,) was always the worst. And sure, Damian was determined to re-teach her Algebra (since she barely pays attention in class and didn't know the basics,) but she didn't understand it all in one two-hour study session! She still had no clue what was happening!

Anya glanced over to her friend Becky, she looked like she was taking notes, but in reality, she was doodling. «Ugh, I wish I could be watching F•r•i•e•n•d•s right now!! I have a gut feeling Monica and Chandler are going to get together, but I won't know if I'm not watching it!» The brunette internally complained. Anya just blinked at the brunette before looking for someone else with some more interesting thoughts, because no matter how much Anya loved Becky, she despised her romance shows.

Anya looked to her other side to another desk, seeing Damian. The pinkette hummed curiously as she focused in on his thoughts. After she dreamed about him last night—of them being in a loving relationship, which was just crazy—she hadn't really looked at him, and since they had classes non-stop and he ate in the imperial scholars lunch room that day, she wouldn't have been able to talk to him even if she wanted to.

Well, yeah, she could've eaten with him, but she liked Becky's company much more than that stupidly cute boys.

Anya blushed, tucking her head on her desk under her arms. «No more looking at him!!» She silently told herself. After staying there for a few seconds—totally not because she was blushing and wanted the heat on her cheeks to go away. It was because she was bored, of course—she peeked through her arms and to the clock: only four more minutes left until the school day was over. She could wait until then.

"Okay class, you're dismissed for the day." Their professor stated, making Anya nearly cry from relief. Those four minutes felt like four hours!

Becky smiled at her friend as she packed up her things, giggling as Anya continued to bask in the glory of freedom. "Hey Anya," The brunette began, "you doing anything this weekend?"

Anya looked at her friend, a soft smile on her lips. "No, Anya doesn't think so." Becky smirked, putting her backpack on as she stood up, "Good, 'cause I'm taking you to the mall tomorrow. We're going on a shopping spree!"

Anya grinned, standing up as well and putting her own bag on her back. "I'll ask papa tonight, I'm sure he'll say yes. He loves it when we hang out." 

Becky sighed, putting her hands on her face as she swayed back and forth, "If only he'd love me as much as he loves us together: one day he'll be mine!"

Anya snorted, gently punching the brunette's arm. "Becky, no offense, but papa would never date you, he loves mama too much."

Becky just smirked, putting a hand on her hip proudly as she used the other to wipe a pretend tear from her eye, "Oh, Anya," She chuckled out, "don't you know if I really believe, my dreams will come true?"

Anya suddenly became terrified. Dreams come true?? What about her dream about Damian?!

"W-what do you mean dreams come true?!?" She asked, frantic. But Becky just chuckled at her reaction. "Y'know, like, if we really put our mind to it, anything can happen!" A little smirk appeared on her face before she snickered out, "Like me and your hot dad~"

"Good luck with that," Damian called out, adding himself to the conversation. Anya nearly had a heart attack as he came up behind her, crossing his arms at the Blackbell girl. "Mr. Forger is truly a terrifying man."

Anya turned around, glaring at the green-haired boy. "It's good that you see papa that way. The Forger family thrives on being terrifying." Damian just snorted, some blush on his cheeks as he looked at her big green eyes. "Sure they do."

Anya blushed in return, crossing her arms as she glared at her classmate. "Why are you even talking to me, sy-on boy? Don't you have some studying to do~?" The pinkette teased, but Damian just looked at her with a blank expression. "Yeah, I do," He said.

"We were gonna study together—for algebra, remember?"

Suddenly, Anya's smirk disappeared. Her cheeky and teasing face switching to embarrassed and surprised, her ears flushing in the process; and when Anya just stared at him with large eyes, Damian just sighed, picking up Anya's school bag and slinging it over his own, carrying both bags on his singular shoulder. "C'mon, let's go, I'll um... I'll carry your bag for you."

Becky nearly fainted, and Anya could hear her think, «Oh my... how romantic!!!» But she just ignored the brunette's inner voice. 

"Alrighty then," Anya accepted, turning around on her heels and walking towards the door, signaling for Damian to follow her lead, "Bye Becky! Anya will see you later!"

"Y-yeah!! see you tomorrow I guess!" Becky called out, waving to her friend as she and Damian walked off.

As soon as the two left, Becky looked over to Ewen and Emile, who were still packing up their things, but obviously curious about what Damian was doing with the pinkette. "Hey, boys," She called out, making the two look at the brunette, who had a devious smirk on her lips. 

"Wanna go spy on those two with me?"

"So..." Damian longed out as the two walked towards the library, "You excited for anything coming up? What about that soccer game this weekend? It is your favorite, right?"

Anya smiled at him, raising an eyebrow as she felt her face heat up a bit. "How'd you know soccer was my favorite sport~?" Damian just looked over to her, saying casually, "You got three of your stella from playing soccer, even a simpleton like you could've noticed you like it."

Anya huffed, flicking at his forehead as she fought back, "I'm not a 'simpleton,' you jerk!" And as Damian chuckled at her reaction, she tried to make herself stop thinking about how Damian knew she loved soccer even though she'd never told him, and how much she enjoyed that fact.

"Anyways," Anya began, crossing her arms as she put a proud smirk on her lips. "I am pretty excited for the soccer match! Papa says I should be getting another stella if I win," The pinkette nudged the boy next to her's side, her proud smirk becoming more cheeky. "Then we'll be tied again~"

Damian returned the flick onto her cheek. "Well, all that matters is that you caught up later than me." Anya huffed at his words, Damian just smiled.

"Oh, speaking of stella, and like, being an imperial scholar..." Damian spoke, looking at the girl next to him with pink cheeks, and by reading his mind, she could tell his brain was actively fighting him about what he was about to say, and yet, he said it anyways. "We had already talked about it a bit, but um... the imperial scholars prom, you are planning on going, correct?"

Anya nodded, her cheeks flushing a bit. "Yes, Anya was planning on it..."

Damian blushed even more, clearing his throat. «You can do this Damian! You got it!!» His inner voice repeated before he spoke with his actual one, "W-would you like to be my—"

"Oh my God!"

Becky immediately shushed Ewen as quickly as she could, glaring at him for a moment before looking back at the couple she was spying on—who were looking around confused. Which made sense, they were completely alone. Or so they thought.

Emile looked to the brunette next to him with large eyes, shaking his head in a way that said 'I can't do this anymore!' But Becky just nodded back that he could.

"That was..." Damian spoke out after a bit of searching, "strange..."

Anya just sighed—she knew those three were spying on her, after all, Ewen and Emiles guilty consciences, and Becky's over the top excited one were not quiet—crossing her arms as she mumbled, "It's Becky... I think she dragged Ewen and Emile with her to spy on us..."

Damian furrowed her eyebrows, bending down a bit so he could reach her ear, whispering back to the pinkette. "And why exactly would they be spying on us?"

Anya's cheeks turned a few shades of red before she just began walking again, keeping her arms crossed. "H-how should Anya know?! Just... hurry up, sy-on boy!"

Chapter Text

*Knock Knock Knock*

"I'll get it!" Yor called out before walking up to her front door, opening it to see her daughter's best friend, Becky Blackbell. "Becky!! It's so good to see you!"

Becky smiled—she'd rather see her precious Loidy, but Mrs. Forger was good too, even though if her strength was terrifying (and inspiring, the brunette had to admit)—"It's good to see you too, Mrs. Forger! Is Anya ready?" She asked. Yor stepped to the side, letting Becky in as she answered, "Yes, I believe so! She's in her room if you'd like to go get her."

Becky nodded, giving Yor a quick 'Thanks!' after taking off her shoes and heading to Anya's room.

Once Becky got to Anya's room, (which really didn't take much time,) she didn't even bother to knock. Instead she just opened the door and walked in, seeing Anya pop some cloud-shaped earrings on.

"Hiya Becky," Anya mumbled out, a peanut in her mouth as she struggled to put the earring in her ear. Becky just smirked, walking over to the pinkette and helping put in one of her earrings, deciding to tease her friend a little as she did. "Y'know," She began, barely holding back a giggle. "Damian's not gonna be at the mall, you don't have to look so nice~"

Anya gasped dramatically, looking at Becky with an insulted expression. "Anya is not dressing up for that stupid second son! I'm dressing up for my best friend!!—I thought it would be nice to be cute together."

Becky covered her smile. Sometimes how sweet her best friend was shocked her. "Oh, Anya!" She happily cried out, hugging the pinkette closely, making the girl being embraced giggle quite a bit.

After a few more moments, the two let go, making Anya focus once again on putting her other earring in, saying to the brunette, "This'll only take a second!"

But after about three minutes of sitting there in silence—besides the sounds of Anya struggling—Becky decided to help so they would get to the mall sometime that day.

Becky stepped out of her limousine as her caretaker—but at this point, Martha had become more like her mother—opened the door for her. Anya quickly stepping out after her, looking out to the mall in front of her; but something was wrong.

"Uh..." Anya mumbled, looking at the mall confused, "Are we at the wrong mall...?" She asked, but Becky just smiled at her. "No, why?"

Anya looked at the dozens of cars parked around, matching the dozens of people walking into the building—usually, there was no one else at the mall, (because Becky would just rent it out for the day,) so this was very different.

"Ohhh!" Becky longed out, realizing why Anya was confused, and explaining it for the pinkette. "This is a mall that has that new store! I've gone to it in Paris a couple times, it's called Chanel. Super cute stuff—" She trailed off mindlessly before catching herself, going back to answering Anya's question. "Oh! But um, the store is only here, and they refused to rent it out."

Becky smirked, wrapping her arm around her friends as she began to drag the pinkette with her. "Besides! It'll be fun to switch up our mall sesh's sometimes, right? We're gonna shop till we drop!"

Anya looked forward at the continuing flow of people walking in and out, it looked like an overwhelming amount of thoughts. But with Becky, 'switching it up' wouldn't be too bad.

Probably.

Hopefully.

...There probably wouldn't be much of a difference.

Damian sighed as he thought about the day ahead of him, tapping his pencil back and forth on the table beneath him. He was so excited for tomorrow. He was allowed to go to Anya's soccer game!—Which was a miracle in itself. Usually, he was too busy studying or with his extracurricular's, but since it was a school event, (and his German tutor canceled on him,) he was allowed to go—He could be her own personal cheerleader!!

"Hmm..." He hummed, that was a pretty good idea. He could buy a cheerleader uniform and cheer for Anya, and at the very end when she wins—because of course she'll win, that girl has a crazy gift for kicking soccer balls into goals—he could do a huge promposal! Really sappy and romantic!

But would he even be able to do that? He had to be honest with himself, Damian wasn't really the biggest romance guy. He gets bright red just from talking to Anya, how would he be able to pull off such a grand gesture??

But then again, maybe the cheerleading skirt would give him some extra confidence...

"Uh... Lord Damian?" Ewen spoke up, knocking the green-haired boy out of his thoughts. "Y-yes?" He spoke back, feeling his cheeks—which were already a little pink—light up from embarrassment.

"Are you feeling alright? You stopped answering my flashcards." Ewen noted, looking at his distracted friend with worry. "You said you really needed to finish your science test prep today, so I was wondering if you were just taking a mental break or...?"

Damian felt his cheeks redden even further—his friends didn't know about his crush on Anya. They still thought he hated her for punching him when they were six! If they knew about his feelings, it would be very... uncomfortable. They'd ask so many questions and Damian would be blushing so much the sun's heat would be dim in comparison, so it was better for everyone this way.  

"Y-yes!!" Damian stuttered out, his face pink. "Yes... I was taking a small mental break." He confirmed, clearing his voice.

"Ah, I knew it!" Emile said with a smirk, adding on with admiration, (his voice even breaking up a bit at his proudness,) "Brilliant as always, Lord Damian."

Ewen took a moment to agree with his dirty-blond friend's statement, wordlessly nodding his head before deciding it was time to get back to their memorizing. "Alright!" The blond suddenly said, smiling at the two studying with him—well, really only one of his friends were studying with him, the other had his head stuck in the clouds—"Let's get back to my flashcards then." 

Ewen picked up the small, well-taken care of deck of cards off the table—he was very proud of his flashcards—smiling lightly as he drew out the first card. "True or false?" He began, clearing his throat before saying the question. "Lasers work by focusing on sound waves."

"False!" Emile happily answered.

"And what is 'Laser' an acronym for?" Asked Ewen, smiling expectantly at Damian along with the dirty blond. But unfortunately for them, Damian was back to tapping his pencil back and forth on the table, daydreaming about the day ahead of him.

"Lord Damian!" Emile suddenly yelled, making the green-haired boy stop his crazy scenarios where he could actually be cool around his crush. "Hm?" Damian simply asked.

Ewen held back a sigh, looking back at his card and repeating his last sentence. "Laser is an acronym for...?"

Damian looked back down at his pencil, flipping the tool in his hand as he casually answered, "Laser is an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation."

Ewen smiled brightly. "Correct!" He beamed, but once he saw Damian go back to mindlessly tapping his pencil back and forth, he let out another heavy sigh.

Ever since him and Anya became friends, this was all he was doing. Not to mention a few days ago when Ewen, Emile, and Becky caught him about to ask the pinkette to the imperial scholars Prom—which he seemed to forget about.

Ewen glanced over to Emile, giving him an unimpressed look, to which Emile replied giving the same, (if not more,) unimpressed look.

Their best friend was in love with some stubby-legged commoner that punched him in the 1st grade. 

They sighed, looking back at their green-haired friend; they knew they had to help him out with Anya—no matter how great Damian was, he was not too fine of a bachelor. His personality could be... harsh.

And they would help him no matter what. He was their closest friend, and since he liked Anya, they'd be there to help him get with her. 

Even if they weren't too sure they liked that stupid, aggressive, raccoon face.

Anya groaned as she collapsed onto her living room couch—being in a mall with around four thousand thoughts was a little exhausting. Plus, her feet hurt.

"Oh Anya," Loid chuckled a little, walking up to his daughter with a warm smile, ruffling her pretty pink hair. "did shopping with Becky not go too well?"

Anya huffed, flipping to her back as she grumbled at her dad, who was looking at her with a smidge of amusement. "It didn't. We went to a public mall, and... you know how Anya gets around crowds."

Loid frowned a bit as he saw Anya's mad attitude dim a bit, showing her true sad and tired emotions underneath. His daughter had always had trouble with crowds, she had all her life!

"I'm sorry, sweetie. If you want to, you can go to sleep early tonight, I'll brush Bond for you." He sympathized before crouching down next to the pinkette, patting her head as he grinned, "Although... it would be a pity if you missed out on soba with my special peanut sauce~"

Anya gasped, and for a moment, she stood still... But as soon as that moment was over, she sprung up, hugging her dad with a happy grin. "Papa! that's my favorite!" She giggled out.

"But uh..." She mumbled quietly, having to ask before she got too excited, "Do I still have to brush Bond...?"

"Yes." Loid quickly responded, but Anya knew he was lying, because as soon as she whined and he chuckled, and they both walked towards the kitchen, his inner voice said, «I'll surprise her and brush Bond, she deserves a break before her big soccer game.»

Anya couldn't help but giggle out of nowhere, prompting Yor—who was preparing the family's bowls—to ask, "What's got you all chipper again?"

Anya just smiled at her mom, replying with a shrug. "Oh, it's nothing." But another giggle soon followed as she thought,

«Papa's a liar... but a sweet liar!»

Chapter Text

Anya ran after the ball as she kicked it, some of her opponents trying to kick it towards the other side of the field, but she side-kicked it to one of her team's midfielders just in time, smirking at the un-expecting player as she did so.

God, she loved reading minds.

Today was the day of her big soccer game, it is the game that will determine if she'll go to nationals or not. And if her father is to be believed, she should be getting a stella if she wins.

Anya continued to run towards the ball—they were in the midfield after all, and even though her teammate could score the goal, it would be easier for her to do it since she played striker—watching it as they skillfully kicked it across the lawn, almost getting it to another player, but mid kick the ball got stolen by the other schools forward.

Anya exhaled sharply, she had played against that particular striker before, and he was good. She ran towards him head-on, planning on kicking it right out from beneath him.

Unfortunately, their opponent's striker was much faster than Anya and ran past her—stupid boy's and their stupidly long legs!—but it wasn't over yet, because as soon as he passed her, another one of her fellow strikers got the ball from him. 

Anya cheered tiredly as her teammate easily ran with the ball, but her eyes went wide as she noticed her teammate was running the ball towards her.

Anya let out a small sigh before getting into position, preparing herself to accept the ball—it was nice winning all the time and being the 'star player' since she knew everyones plans the second they thought of them, but she wished sometimes her team would try doing it themselves for once. 

«Whatever, it doesn't matter,» Anya thought, a smirk forming on her lips, «As long as we win.»

Anya quickly accepted the ball, running to her rival's goal as fast as she physically could. One more goal and they'd win, and with less than a minute on the timer, she didn't have any time to spare.

The goalie squinted their eyes as Anya got closer, sidestepping towards where they expected the ball to go, and so Anya kicked it that way; except, of course, she used her special technique her mama taught her, and kicked her special curveball, catching the goalie off guard and scoring the last goal of the match, making Eden College the winners.

"WOO!!!" Damian cheered with the rest of the audience, watching Anya's teammates cheer and pick up the pinkette who got them that final win.

Unfortunately, he had not gotten the cheerleading uniform—they didn't sell his size in the stores, which he complained bitterly about—or the promposal planned out, because there was no way he would've had the confidence for that.

But, that was all okay, because seeing Anya win for Eden and being so incredibly happy about it made him forget about all his plans that went belly up; Anya had a tendency to do things like that, to make him forget all his worries.

Damian beamed as he kept thinking about Anya's win. It was so strange, the things that happened with her. The pinkettes wins felt just as good as his.

The green-haired boy let out a sigh, thinking about 'wins' made him remember all about how he still needed to study—he had forgotten all of what he had studied yesterday, most definitely because he was daydreaming about the soccer match.

Damian stood up, looking at Anya talk to her coach and parents—who had made their way to her to congratulate her on the win, he guessed, even though Anya looked strangely annoyed.

He let a small smile form on his lips. Even though he'd be studying until the library closed, (and after that back in his dorm,) it was worth it to see her play.

Even though Anya herself was regretting joining the soccer team at all at that moment.

"What do you mean 'again?!'" Anya cried out—her coach wanted to talk strategies. Again. He did this after every game, and after every interrogation session, he just couldn't accept Anya's answer; which was understandable, she always lied. She wasn't going to tell him she could read minds!

"Oh c'mon Anya, you enjoy soccer, wouldn't you like to talk about it with your coach?" Loid asked with a smile, but Anya just stared blankly at him. "I don't like soccer enough to talk about it for four hours."

Her coach laughed a bit, ruffling up the pinkettes hair a bit. "Well then, I'll try to shorten it down to three, eh?"

Anya just stared at him with an annoyed look, which just made him laugh even more, waving goodbye to her before leaving the field, saying "See you in my office, Forger!" As he did.

Anya groaned, looking back at her parents with a twitching eye. "You could save Anya from this boredom, y'know." But her parents just smiled back at her.

"Oh Anya, I'm sure it's not that terrible." Yor giggled out, but the pinkette just squinted her eyes at her mother, frowning at the ravenette with a bitter attitude. "You're only saying that so you can go on your date."

Yor gasped over-dramatically, placing a hand on her forehead. "We would never!" But after that performance, Loid didn't even try to hide their motives.

"Well, we can't change it now," Loid said, looking disappointed—even though his mind was telling Anya he really wasn't that disappointed.

Anya just looked at him blankly. "Yeah, you could. Pretty easily actually, my coach is just over there—" 

"We can't change it now." Loid said again, making Anya's annoyance rise even higher. Yor chuckled softly, rubbing her daughter's cheek lovingly. "Don't worry sweetie, Yuri will be there to cheer you up from your boredom."

Anya crossed her arms, glaring at her parents—she totally forgot her uncle was visiting, but it made a lot of sense they arranged their date night to be the night he visited. "So, I'm old enough to walk home alone, but still not old enough to stay home alone."

"You got it!" Yor said with a smile. Anya just looked over to her silent papa, thinking about how back then he would leave her home alone at hours at a time.

"Ugh..." Anya complained before throwing her hands in the air. "Fine!" She agreed bitterly, fisting up her hands. "Thank you for being mature about this, Anya." Loid thanked, before kissing her left temple, leaving the other one to be kissed by Yor.

 Anya just grumbled under her breath, saying an annoyed "You're welcome..." Before shooing the two off—but of course, saying 'I love you' as she did. Sure, she was annoyed, but her parents were still a perfect one hundred points. She couldn't be that mad with them.

Once her parents left, Anya sagged back against the chain fence holding the soccer field, taking a deep breath in, and out.

She supposed this was good, as a spy—which she totally was, or at least a spy in training! She's the heart of operation strix, which meant she was a spy, (or at least she thought so)—herself, she had to go through intense training, and talking about soccer for three hours was perfect training.

...If only it wasn't so boring!

Chapter Text

Anya sighed heavily, walking out of her coach's office with a grin on her face—after three hours of intense interrogation, she was allowed to go home! (And when she said 'intense interrogation', she meant it. Like seriously, she should see if she can get her dad to check that guy out, he might be in the secret police)—until, of course, she saw what the state of the world outside.

It was raining. Hard. When did it even start raining??

As Anya looked out the large windows, trying to think of ways to get home and stay dry—her uncle was home after all, she didn't wanna make him wait for her as she showered off the rain—a voice called out to her.

"Anya?"

Anya looked back to the voice, seeing a confused boy with messy dark green hair. "What are you still doing here?"

Anya crossed her arms, pouting a bit as Damian walked up to her. "Stupid coach doing stupid things like making me explain how I'm 'sooooo good' at soccer for the stupidest umpteenth time!"

Damian chuckled a bit at her anger, making the pinkette side-eye the boy next to her. "And why are you here?" She asked, humming curiously.

Damian pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out an annoyed groan. "I'd rather not talk about it." He grumbled out, but when his inner voice complained «I sped through all my studies earlier for her soccer game so I had to redo them... The Librarian had to basically kick me out so she could close...» Anya couldn't help but blush. 

He had done that? For her?? Anya thought he put his studies before anything else, to know he prioritized her soccer game...

"Well, anyways," Damian suddenly spoke, making Anya's cheeks glow ever so warmer from embarrassment—why was she thinking like that??—"Do you have a ride home? I know you usually take the bus but it's not really running at 8:00 pm."

Anya's crossed arms tightened around her body, making the pinkette hug herself as she looked out the window. "No, I don't. Coach told mama and papa that he wanted to talk to me again, and they said if I wanted I could finally walk home by myself! And so of course Anya said yes—even if they said it only because they had their date night tonight—but now it's too late to take it back..."

Damian raised a brow, looking at Anya confused. "Why don't you just call them? I'm sure they wouldn't mind pausing what they were doing to pick you up." He asked, but as soon as she gave him an unimpressed look, he immediately took it back, remembering she's not allowed to use the phones. 

And after he graciously allowed her to use his phone, he was temporarily banned from them as well. 

Damian sighed again, looking outside and curling in his lips, trying to think of a way to help the unfortunate shrimp.

"Well..." He mumbled, watching the rain hit the windowpanes with loud 'splats.' "I was gonna stay in my dorm tonight, so my driver isn't here." 

He looked down at Anya, seeing her also staring outside. "The dormitories really aren't that far away, we could get you an umbrella from my room."

Anya snorted into a laugh, looking at Damian extremely amusedly as she pointed outside. "Are you serious? That rain is tough enough to rip us to shreds!"

Damian rolled his eyes at her over-exaggeration. He clipped off his cloak, stepping towards the door and saying, "Then we'll use my cloak as an umbrella."

Anya looked a little shocked, looking down at the velvety black and red cloth, some kids would murder for that—including Damian—and he was offering to use it as an umbrella?!

"Uhm..." Anya mumbled nervously, looking at Damian with a raised brow. "Are you sure you want to use your cloak, sy-on boy?"

Damian flung the cloak over his head, using his hands to keep it up as he grumbled with a blush, "Just get over here before I change my mind."

Anya didn't waste any time doing what he said, getting under the cloak and therefore getting very close to the green-haired boy, getting some pink out of both of them, (but mostly Damian.)

Damian took a semi-ragged breath in as he opened the school's large door, blowing it out as the state of the outside grew much louder without the wooden door in the way. Damian looked to Anya, still being protected by the large awning so he could do so.

"Okay..." Damian sighed out, getting Anya's attention away from the practically apocalyptic outside world. "I know it seems wrong, (since you aren't that bright,)"—"Hey!" Anya yelled out, but Damian just ignored her, holding back a chuckle as he continued—"But it's better to walk normally in this scenario, if we run, then more rain will get on us."

Anya looked out at the rain, then back to the green-haired boy, raising a skeptical eyebrow at him. "Are you sure Sy-on boy isn't the 'not bright' one?"

Damian glared at the pinkette, his pink cheeks brightening as he yelled, "Of course not!!" Damian sighed, looking out again. "You ready to go out there?" He asked, Anya just gave out her own sigh. "Yup."

The two reluctantly took their first steps out together, the harsh winds and harsher storm hitting them instantly.

"HOLY MACARONI!" Anya screamed as the two battled their way through, pretty much getting drenched even with the cloak-umbrella.

Damian squinted his eyes as they continued to walk, simply yelling back "I AGREE!!" To Anya's statement—and after about fifteen seconds of walking through this misery, he mumbled "Screw it..." under his breath. 

"ANYA!" Damian yelled, significantly louder than before. "LETS RUN!"—When one is in a situation like that, the only thing left in their mind is to get out of the situation as quickly as possible, even if it meant getting wetter in the end.

Anya let out a heavy breath, looking at the green-haired boy relieved. "FINALLY!" She responded before the two sprinted towards the dormitories, arriving at said dormitories shortly after.

"Ugh..." Damian groaned as he walked into the dormitory's entrance, holding his soaked cloak in his hands. Why had he even tried to be gentlemanly? The rain got all over them anyways!

The green-haired boy looked down at the soaked velvet with destain. He complained bitterly about the state of his extremely important imperial scholar cloak—that he spent seven years getting, mind you—inside of his mind. But when he felt a new spray of water, it took his attention off the cloak.

"What the—" He began to say until seeing where the access water was coming from. On his right, he saw Anya, shaking the water off like a dog. 

Damian just stared at her, dumbfounded at what he was looking at. «Is this seriously the girl I've been crushing on for ten years?» He thought, making Anya let out an insulted gasp.

"Hm?" Damian simply asked, Anya just pouted at him with a pinkish blush, crossing her arms. "Nothing! Anya just um... wants to get that umbrella."

Damian rolled his eyes, a smirk on his lips. "Alright, follow me." He instructed, and so, Anya did.

The walk to his dorm was pretty quiet, but Anya didn't mind; it was actually kinda perfect, because she needed silence to think about what occurred.

Damian had used one of his most valued possessions, to protect her.

Now, did it actually help? No, not really. But the fact that he did it in the first place? That meant so much, not to mention he didn't even make that big of a deal about it—Anya noticed that about the green-haired boy. He would always get onto her about things that didn't actually bother him, the feelings that did get to him, he simply kept to himself, not trying to make her feel worse about her accidents.

It really meant a lot to her.

Anya blushed quite a bit, looking at the boy walking in front of her. His wet green hair somehow styled perfectly, his not-too-broad shoulders, his tall height—and sure, Anya always thought of him as lanky, (kinda like a twig, she often thought,) but right now, he looked kind of... Handsome?

"Okay, we're here." Damian spoke, knocking Anya out of her thoughts, (and making her blush a bit more as she looked at his face; was rain secretly beauty-enhancers for men??)

Damian looked over to the pinkette, looking at her with a serious expression. "We have to be quiet, Ewen and Emile are sleeping for the test tomorrow."

Anya blushed, noticing how Damian's brows furrowed when he was serious, how his eyes slightly darkened—seriously, when did he get so attractive?!—but once her brain caught up with what he had said, she froze, blinking at him mindlessly as she carefully asked, "...We have a test tomorrow...?"

Damian's eye twitched a little. He let out a deep sigh. "Yes," He said, "A science test."

Damian grabbed the key from his pocket, unlocking his door as he harshly whispered, "Now, save your freak out about it for later, and be quiet."

Anya laughed softly, giving the boy her signature grin. "Bold of you to assume Anya would freak out in the first place." She whispered back, making Damian's face flush an angry red.

«Dummy...» He thought as he silently walked inside, grabbing his umbrella and glaring at the pinkette behind him. «How is she even an imperial scholar? She doesn't even care.»—Anya held back an insulted gasp, but her previous blush crept back as he thought, «Well, whatever. I'm glad she is. It makes our friendship more acceptable, ...and maybe if a future romantic relationship formed...»

Damian bobbed his head towards the door before walking out, Anya going with him, and when the two were in the hall and they could speak again, the green-haired boy's sappy thoughts—that grew tenfold after that 'romantic relationship' idea—dulled in audio, his real voice overpowering it.

"So... do you need me to like, walk you home?" He asked, blushing a little, but Anya immediately shook her head, her stomach was feeling weird and she had a strange feeling it was from the second son.

Damian shrugged, "Alright," He accepted, and the conversation ended like that, which Anya really didn't appreciate. Now he was back to thinking stupid romantic things and—...Date ideas?! He hasn't even asked her to prom yet!

Fortunately for Anya's face's sake, he stopped thinking those thoughts when they got to the exit, because through the windows, they could see that the rain had stopped. 

The two stared outside in disbelief, just five minutes ago it looked like the world was ending, and now the sky was as clear as glass!

"Oh my God." Damian mumbled as he opened the door, walking outside onto the small patio. They ran through that rain for nothing! Stupid weather. 

Anya walked back after him, looking at the world with squinted eyes. "...Anya hates Earth."

Damian sighed, crossing his arms as he breathed in the new, rainy air, looking down at his damp uniform for a moment before looking back at the clear sky, the bright full moon shining. "Well, at least now you don't have to walk in the rain. But just in case,"

He looked over to Anya, handing her the umbrella, "here, you can give it back tomorrow."

Anya smiled down at the umbrella, accepting it. "Thank you," She spoke, but her sweet demeanor soon turned sassy, a big smirk appearing on her lips. "I'll give it back to you after they give me my tenth stella, and I become Starlight Anya once again!!"

Anya then ran down the stairs, giggling mischievously as she did. Damian bursted into a small fit of laughter, calling out to the pinkette, saying, "Oh whatever, shrimp!"

Once Anya got to the bottom of the stairs, she turned around, looking up to Damian who still stood at the top, waving to him with a happy grin. "Bye-bye Damian!"

Damian felt his heart skip a beat as he measly waved back, his cheeks reddening, "Bye-bye..." He mumbled, not being able to take his eyes off of the girl—the moonlight was shining down on her, smiling beautifully on her features, making her look just so, so beautiful.

Anya grinned once more before walking away, Damian watching her lovingly. The moon was sort of a star, and since she was in the moon's light, she technically was in the starlight, just like that silly name she goes by every time she earns a new star.

Damian chuckled softly, smiling at her as she continued to skip off, the moon still shining on her.

«She's my Starlight.»

Anya practically ran inside of her house, breathing heavily as she slammed the door behind her—she had heard Damian's little Starlight comment, and she felt like she was going to explode.

"Uh..." Yuri longed out awkwardly, looking at Anya with his teacup halfway to his mouth. "You good there?"

"No." Anya spat out with large eyes. It felt like her heart was beating a million miles per minute! Not to mention Damian was still on her mind... And that he called her 'his Starlight...' And why was he so damn cute!!

Anya looked to her Uncle, who was starting to look a bit concerned. She took a deep breath in, saying with a terrified face, "I think I like a boy."

Yuri stared at her for a moment before his brain caught up, and when it did, he immediately slammed his hands on the coffee table, nearly spilling his tea as he yelled. 

"WHAT?!?!"

Chapter Text

Anya groaned as she walked out of her Science class. That test was so difficult, even if she could read minds!—Because basically everyone seemed to have forgotten to study, even Damian.

Anya blushed a bit, thinking about Damian right then made her feel... a lot of emotions. 

Especially after that conversation—or more like gossip session: long story short, Yuri knows almost every detail about the infamous 'Damian Desmond'—with her uncle the night before.

Anya chuckled to herself, who knew her unkie was so good at boy-talk? And who knew Anya was so good at boy-talk??

Anya blushed again, thinking about why she was so gifted on the subject last nigh. Damian Desmond. Ugh... he was too cute. And he was too kind. Even if he made fun of her all the time, he never actually meant it.

"Anya!" Becky yelled in the pinkette's ear. Anya practically jumped, looking at her friend with wide, shocked eyes—not to mention a set of very pink cheeks. "You were staring at nothing and blushing like crazy, what's up with you?"

Becky gasped, wrapping her arms around her friend with a smirk. "Does it have something to do with last night? Y'know, when Dami—" 

"Shush!!" Anya immediately squeaked out, her cheeks so red it made her hair look pale in comparison. The pinkette could hear behind her that Damian was coming up to her, and she didn't want him to hear Beckys teasing. 

Anya looked behind her with large eyes, and when her brown-haired friend joined her, she got to see Damian walking up to them, waving with a smile on his face. Becky just snickered quietly, whispering a sly, "Good timing~"

Anya just huffed, softly pushing Becky away by her forehead before looking back to Damian, her heart feeling as if it was beating two hundred miles per second! "Hey Anya," He welcomed casually.

Anya immediately blushed, smiling nervously at the tall boy—while also ignoring Becky's knowing smiles—"H-hi Damian!! D-did you need s-something?" She stuttered, only making herself blush more. Why on earth was she stuttering?!?!

Damian gave her a confused grin, trying to think of reasons why she was stuttering as he spoke. "...I was just gonna see how you think you did on the test?"

Anya felt her sweat drip down her sides. Oh God, what if there were sweat stains on her uniform? Could he see the stains? DID HE KNOW SHE WAS NERVOUS???

"Haha..." Anya fake laughed, crossing her arms anxiously. "I'm uh... Not too sure! Doubt I get anything better than a C+!... ha..."

Damian kept the confused grin on his face for a moment before laughing it off, smirking amusingly at the pinkette. "Well anyways, are we still studying? You gotta work hard to get ahead of me again since you got your tenth stella, right?" He asked, pointing to the new star on Anya's cloak.

Anya looked down at the stella clipped on herself—she was awarded it that morning for her win at the soccer game—she nearly forgot it was there! Her mind was so nervous about Damian she barely even remembered.

Anya giggled, looking up at the green-haired boy with her signature smirk, feeling her nervousness wash away as she teased him. "Dang right I do, sy-on boy!"

Anya looked back to her best friend, running up to her and giving her a large hug. "Is it okay if I go study with him?" She asked, worried that Becky would feel neglected. But when the brunette whispered back, "Heck yes! Go get that prom-date girl!!" She realized Becky would probably be more upset if she didn't go.

Anya gave her friend one last squeeze before going back to Damian. Going with him to go to the library with Becky silently squealing about how cute they were as they left.

Anya smiled as she watched Damian pull out his school books, his mind thinking of ways to teach her more algebra.

«Oh! And then I can teach her about multiplying radicals! And maybe if we have some time after, I can sneak in a little history~!» He excitedly thought, making the pinkette rest her face in her palms as she watched him organize his pencils and pens. How had she never noticed how adorable he was?

She used to think he was just... well, Damian. Nothing special about him other than he was a Desmond.

But watching as his lips curled up as he kept thinking about the little parts of history he thought she would enjoy made Anya realize how blind she had been before. This boy was precious.

Anya giggled, smiling as she watched her sy-on boy organize his erasers. "You're so cute."

"...What did you say?"

Anya's face went bright red. She slapped her hands over her mouth as she looked at Damian's equally pink face. Had she seriously just said that??

The two stared at each other for an uncomfortably long time. Anya looking at him with wide eyes, Damian looking at her with his mouth open in shock. And of course, both of them were incredibly flustered.

"Did..." Damian suddenly spoke, his eyes hopeful as he asked nervously, "...did you just call me cute?"

Anya felt all the blood in her body rush up to her face. How on earth was she still breathing? And she definitely couldn't speak. It was like her voice box just disappeared!

"...Anya?" Damian said nervously, waiting for her response. But Anya just kept sitting there, covering her red face.

After a long fifteen seconds had passed, the pinkette finally ran off, squealing a quick, "Anya will see you tomorrow second son!!" As she did.

Damian furrowed his brows, standing up from his seat as he watched her sprint out of the library. "Wait!" He called out, looking down at the end of the table. "You left your bag!!"

But Anya was already gone.

Damian sighed, walking over to the pinkette's school bag and picking up the cute sheep charm connected to it. «Well, what now?» He thought to himself. Anya needed her schoolwork for the next day—that girl was always seconds away from getting a tonitrus bolt.

The green-haired boy looked down to the table, putting up his school supplies along with Anya's. «I should go by her house and drop this off, she'll need it for tonight.»

A small blush crept onto his face, along with a little smirk as he thought happily, (and flusteredly,)

«And maybe I can ask her if she really meant what she said...»

Chapter Text

Damian nervously cleared his throat before knocking on the Forger's front door, holding Anya's bag in one hand, and a single pink rose in the other.

He wasn't sure if the rose was too much, but after a lot of consideration, he decided that if Mrs. Yor opened the door instead of Anya, (and he was too embarrassed to say it was for her daughter,) he could say it was for her! It was a perfect plan!

Well, until someone else opened the door.

"H-Hello Mr. Forger!!" Damian stuttered out, smiling nervously at the tank of a man staring him down.

Usually, he would use his power as a Desmond to his advantage, but the way Mr. Forger had been speaking (or even looking) to him lately, made him feel like he was some meaningless worm.

"Hello, Damian." Loid said coldly, looking down at the idiotic teenager's hands—he knows he really shouldn't be so rude to Damian, he was trying to connect with Donovan still, and it wasn't the best idea acting this way and putting the mission in danger: but could you really blame him? This kid looked like a wet cat for god's sake! There was no way he was letting this crush on his little girl stay any longer—seeing Anya's school bag, and a single rose. "Did you need something?"

Damian felt like he was sweating the pacific ocean, his grin showing his nervousness despite his years of learning how to fake his emotions for his future career. "Y-Yes!" He awkwardly spoke. "Anya forgot her bag at school, there's some homework due tomorrow she still needs to do..."

Loid hummed, accepting the bag and flat-out ignoring the rose, giving the young man a curt nod. "Thank you, Damian." He said, his voice showing the slimmest amount of genuineness possible. Which made Damian feel like he had just cured cancer. "I'll let her know you were the one who gave it to her."

Damian suddenly let a very excited smile flash onto his lips, but he quickly tried to disguise it with a cough, letting a much more nervous expression appear. "T-Thank you, sir."

Loid gave him an unimpressed 'mhmm' before closing the door, leaving Damian outside to re-think his entire conversation; which he did.

Very thoroughly.

"Anya!" Loid called out as he walked to her room, heading into it since the door was open. He walked to her desk and sat her bag on it, looking over to his daughter sitting on her bed. "Damian brought your bag by, he said you forgot it at school."

Anya's eyes immediately lit up from his words, repeating a quiet "...Damian?" Before hopping up from her bed and to her door, peeking out through the frame and into the living room. "Is he still here?" She asked.

"No," Loid responded. "He had to leave, probably to do that homework I heard about?"

Anya immediately looked disappointed, but Loid could tell it wasn't from his homework mention. It was something else. And the only other thing she could be sad about was...

Loid looked at Anya with a raised brow. "Anya...?" He said questionably, could it be that she...

"Do you... 'like' Dami—"

"Oh, would you look at the time!!!" Anya yelled, practically squealing from embarrassment. "Anya really has to get that homework done! Due tomorrow, you get it!" She rambled, going behind her papa and pushing on his back with all her strength. Pushing him out of her room with some ease—probably because he was so shocked by his realization that he couldn't plant himself down for interrogation—"Thanks, papa! You're the best! Love you, bye!!"

When Loid had finally gotten his head wrapped around the fact his daughter had romantic feelings for a boy, (and Damian Desmond no less!!) It was too late, because Anya had already slammed her door behind him, successfully ignoring his terrifying question.

She had barely come to terms with her newfound crush herself! And her dad was already catching on??

Anya sighed, falling back onto her bed and grabbing Chimera once she landed. She held the plush close to her chest, feeling it rise and fall with her uneven breaths.

She was supposed to date him for operation strix! That was all!! Instead, she fell for his stupidly cute face and dumbly adorable personality. What on earth was she doing? She would never be a good spy: she hadn't even asked her target to go to prom yet!

...

God, she really needed to ask Damian to that dance.

"Ughhh...." Damian groaned, laying face first on his dorm's couch, rose still in hand. That went terribly! He was sure Anya's father hated him even more now. He even flat-out ignored the rose he brought. 

"What's the matter, Lord Damian?" Ewen asked, but Damian just groaned in response, saying a sad, "Nothing."

Emile chuckled, pointing at the rose in the green-haired boy's hand. "Are you sure...?"

Damian immediately huffed at that question, sitting up to look at his friends with a grumpy expression, his nose wrinkling. "Yes, I'm sure! It's not like Loid Forger hates my guts, because I'm a Desmond! No one hates me!!... Except a lot of people... But definitely not Mr. Forger!!!"

His friends looked at him with faces that practically screamed they didn't believe him. Damian sighed, sitting up completely and looking at his friends with a guilty expression.

"I-... I need to tell you two something..." He mumbled. It was about time he was honest about his feelings for Anya—it was probably due ten years ago. "I..." Damian took a deep breath in, "I like Anya."

"...Romantically."

Ewen and Emile shared glances as Damian sat there in a puddle of nerves. He's never told anyone he liked Anya. Heck, he's only said it out loud a handful of times!

"We uh..." Ewen mumbled, looking at the embarrassed—and therefore flustered—green-haired boy. "—we already know?" Emile said, finishing the blond's sentence.

Damian's mouth dropped. They had to be kidding, at least for his sake. "You're joking." He asked, saying it as if it was fact, but when his friends confirmed to him they did indeed know, Damian felt his face burning.

Emile gave his red friend's shoulder an encouraging pat. "There's no need to be embarrassed, Lord Damian!" He comforted, "Now we can help you two go out! You wanna ask her to the prom, right?"

But whatever his friends started saying went through one ear and out the other, because Damian was so flustered by even talking about liking Anya—and knowing people knew he liked her all along—made him unable to function.

How on earth was he going to ask her out without acting like a fool?

He definitely needed some help.

Chapter Text

"Okay okay okay..." Ewen repeated rapidly, holding his face in his hands as he took a sharp breath in. "try that again, but less... what's the word I'm looking for?"

Emile hummed, tapping his chin before letting out a questionable, "Pathetic?"

Damian's jaw dropped. He couldn't remember a time when people had been so blatantly rude to him. What happened to the Ewen and Emile who threw themselves into dodgeballs to protect him?

Damian took a deep breath in before rehearsing the line his friends gave him. "Hey, Anya!" He said, trying to be less 'pathetic,' whatever that meant. "I was wondering if you'd want to go to the prom together! The one for imperial scholars? S-since you are a scholar and I am a scholar, we could uh... we could go! ...Together?"

Emile sucked in a sharp line of air between his teeth while the blond just nodded sympathetically. "Um, good job...?" Ewen congratulated(?)

"Just don't seem so desperate and you're great!!" Emile encouraged.

The green-haired boy felt like he just got smacked by the terrifyingly backhanded compliments he was receiving. God, was he really that bad? "Well, could you show me how it's done then?"

Ewen gave a small round of applause. "Flawless idea, Lord Damian!" He cheered, trying to make his friend less upset.

Emile cracked his knuckles, a smug look on his face as he got into a comfy position. "Alright, I'll be you, Lord Damian, and you'll be Anya."

Damian gave his friend an unimpressed brow, but he agreed nonetheless, saying a simple "Okay." Before watching the dirty blond get into character.

"Hey, Anya," He welcomed, his tone chill but his expression intrigued—and how on earth was he smirking like that? And why did it look so good??—"Would you wanna go to the prom with me? I think we'd have a lot of fun." He spoke, finishing his question with a little wink.

Now, Emile wasn't the most handsome boy in their school, and he definitely wasn't living up to the male beauty standards—after all, he was a bit on the chubbier side, he was kinda short compared to his friends, and his front teeth never seemed to grow proportionately to the rest of his face. But oh sweet Lord, could he flirt. Damian was about to ask him to the prom instead of Anya!

"Woah," Ewen spoke, breaking the stunned silence. "How are you so good at that?"

Emile just smirked, shrugging his shoulders as he leaned back into his chair. "Just part of the Elman heritage."

Damian took a sharp breath out, combing his hands there his hair. "Well, I'm sure I can copy your 'Elman heritage,' after all, I have the Desmond heritage." The green-haired boy slyly bragged before leaning back in his chair like his friend and finally attempting his promposal for (hopefully) the last time. 

"Hey, Anya!" Damian called out, a bead of sweat already rolling down his forehead—God, how was he going to ask Anya out? He can't even say it to his friends!—"Would... you wanna go to the dance? With me??" He nervously chuckled out, "I think we'd have a lot of—... I CAN'T DO IT!" He practically screamed, falling back onto the couch and putting a pillow over his beet-red face.

The group stayed quiet for a moment; Damian internally screaming, and his friends looking at him wondering if the Lord Damian, the second son to the Desmond empire, truly just did that girly stunt. But eventually, Damian sat back up, his face still extremely flushed as he said, "This isn't going to work. I am bringing shame upon the Desmond name every time I attempt this."

"Of course it will work, Lord Damian!" Ewen chirped, ignoring the last part and giving an enthusiastic look on his face, Emile chiming in as he did so. "You just have to study this and Anya will have no choice but accept your promposal, Lord Damian!!"

Damian groaned, sinking back into the top of the couch as his friends continued to praise him, saying 'Lord Damian' after every sentence. «Why is it every damn sentence?!» He thought before snapping at them. 

"Would you stop calling me that??"

The two looked at him confused, so the green-haired boy continued. "We've known each other for ten years, almost eleven, and you're still calling me 'Lord Damian.' Just call me Damian. We're best friends, I consider you two on my level for God's sake..." He mumbled, crossing his arms.

His friends looked shocked, the two glancing at each other. They hadn't even considered it was making him upset by calling him that. They thought just 'Damian' would've been disrespectful!

After their second of surprised looks, the two looked back at the green-haired boy. "Sure thing, ...Damian." Ewen said, before laughing a bit at himself. "Man, that felt weird!"

Damian and Ewen laughed a bit with him, but after a few seconds, the blond ended the laughter with some words and a grin. "Enough of that," He said, his grin turning into a smirk as he continued. "You have some more studying to do, Damian."

Anya snapped finger guns towards her reflection after saying the ugliest pickup name known to man, thinking to herself «Yes! Perfect!!» But even though that was perfect in every way—at least to her terrible standards—a small bit of herself told her to call Becky to make sure; and so, she did.

"Hi, Becky!" Anya introduced, holding the phone her parents let her keep in her room close to her ear. "I need you to listen to a pick-up line for me, okay?"

"Oooo a pick-up line? For Damian, right?"

Anya sighed, her face pink as she said grumpily, "...Yes." Making the brunette giggle uncontrollably.

Anya gave her another sigh, but hers turned into a chuckle. The two laughed together, but after a bit, Anya reminded her that she needed to tell her the pick-up line, and after Becky agreed, Anya delivered her fabulous flirt.

"Hey~" Anya flirted, a smirk on her face that Becky could hear over the phone. "Has anyone ever told you that you look like Princess Honey? Because I wanna save you from unavoidable kidnappings again, and again, and again~"

After a prolonged silence filled with confidence that really shouldn't have existed, Becky broke the quiet air with a blank tone. 

"...That was like, disgustingly bad."

Anya scoffed, her eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean?? Anya's line was perfection!" She insisted, but Becky just tsked over the phone.

"No, no, no. Here, I'll tell you what you should really say."

Yor snorted as she heard the two converse, covering the speaker to the phone as she said to Loid—who was in bed next to her—"Loid! You gotta listen to this!!" She snickered out. "Anya is talking to Becky about asking out Damian and she's insisting on asking him out with a Bondman reference! Isn't that adorable??"

Loid sighed, putting down his book and looking over to his wife, who was using the landline to listen into Anya's conversation. "Spying is bad, my dear. Especially on our teenage daughter." He insisted, ignoring the hypocritical feeling in his gut.

Yor grinned at him, putting the phone up before scooting closer to the blond. "Oh Loid," She giggled, "You can just say you don't like Damian. "

Loid looked at the ravenette with large eyes. How did she know?? Was he getting rusty??

Loid eventually cleared his throat, smiling at his beloved for a moment before opening his book once again. "I don't dislike Damian; I'm friends with his father."

Yor rolled her eyes, a smile on her face as she cuddled up with her terrible liar of a man. He could lie about his entire identity, but he couldn't lie about liking Damian.

"If you say so~"

Loid snickered to himself, tapping the ravenette's cute nose as he did. "Don't act so cheeky now, Yor."

Yor yawned, snuggling up even closer to Loid as she did so, mumbling a soft, "...I'll act however I want..."

Loid just let a lovestruck grin lay upon his lips as his sweet slowly fell asleep on him. 

He'll never understand how he got so lucky.

Chapter Text

Anya bounced her knees up and down on the school bus, all the anticipation in her showing through her anxious movements.

Today was the day she asked Damian Desmond to the prom.

It shouldn't be so scary, right? She already knew the guy liked her! But Damian was so... confusing... the things he said he didn't mean, and when he did mean it, it was something about school or his dummy bloodline.

But if she had to be honest, Anya wouldn't be able to handle it if he said all of his thoughts about her—like that time he thought she was his starlight. God, was he trying to kill her?

If he knew she could read minds, he probably would say stupid stuff like that all the time to mess with her. Or if he knew she could read minds, he would get her taken away and...

Anya shook her head. No, Damian wasn't like that. ...Besides! Even if he was, the real reason she was doing this was for the mission, she would never have to tell him anyways.

And it was fine if she liked Damian too! After all, papa fell in love with mama and the missions still going well. Why would they be any different?

Anya let out a sigh as the bus stopped in front of the school, letting all her sappy—and scary—thoughts leave her. It was time for her to ask him to the prom.

How terrifying.

"Damian!!"

Damian looked back at the bathroom door with wide eyes, his hair sticking to his forehead from the water he just splashed on his blushing face.

"Oh, come on Damian! Everything will turn out fine!"

Emile and Ewen were standing outside of the bathroom, trying to convince the green-haired boy to come out. But Damian didn't know how he could possibly achieve his friend's wishes—because he was on the brink of a panic attack.

It was Thursday.

Oh sweet lord it was Thursday.

Now sure, maybe he was pushing this promposal thing a bit close—the day he had decided it was time to ask Anya was Monday, and the prom was on Saturday—but he had to study the act of flirting! If he wouldn't go into a test without studying, he wouldn't ask out Anya without studying. 

Anya was just as important as an A+, if not more! She deserved him at his best.

...Unfortunately, Damian did not feel like he was prepared for the ever-so-important test that was asking Anya Forger to the prom.

She would probably say no—scratch that, she was going to say no. He'd been a jerk to her for almost their entire lives! She would be very justified if she were to punch him again because of this!

Damian sighed, looking at his pathetic reflection. He really didn't want to be punched by Anya Forger again.

...But he knew he had to ask her.

Suddenly, Damian turned around and flung the door open, all in a very swift and smooth motion. The green-haired boy gave his friends determined looks, hoping that his intensity would hide his quivering lip.

"I'm ready to ask Forger!"

The two scrambled for a moment before straightening their backs and hitting their hand to their foreheads. Saluting the brave man before yelling out in unison.

"Yes sir!"

"Oh..."

"...fuck."

Ewen and Emile gasped at the second son's inelegant language, but Damian was too nervous he couldn't even react to their shocked breaths. He was too busy staring at the pinkette talking with her annoying best friend.

Oh god, he could already feel his stomach turning. Not to mention his face was burning. This would be nearly impossible, if not fully.

And to add to his anxieties, Anya seemed to have spotted him as well.

"Sy-on boy!" Anya suddenly yelled, looking directly towards him and into his soul. Damian could swear he'd read about this before. What was it, what was it... oh, yes! 

She was looking at him just like a t-rex would look at its prey!

...

And that meant he was the prey.

Damian barely had any time to react before he was pounced on by the apex predator. Anya ran up to him—seemingly breaking the laws of physics—and ended right in front of him.

"Hi!" She said, a nervous grin on her lips. Damian held his breath securely inside his lungs. Maybe if he didn't move, she wouldn't see him.

Unfortunately for him, Anya had some human DNA in her dinosaur brain.

"I..." She nearly hissed out, backing up from the green-haired boy a bit, giving him some room to breathe, which he highly appreciated. "...I need to ask you something."

Oh sweet Jesus. He knew exactly what this was about. She was going to ask him to kill himself because he was the grossest human being alive for wanting to take her to prom. She knew he wanted to ask her. Anya Forger had a knack for always knowing—well, unless it had to do with school—and she was so disgusted by the idea of going to the prom with him that she was going to ask him to kill himself.

Which, deserved, really.

"...G-go..." He coughed out. "go ahead,"

Anya looked from Ewen, to Emile, to Becky, before letting out a tsk and grabbing onto Damian's cloak with a firm hand. "Not in front of them, it's private."

Damian wanted to protest, but the nervousness in his stomach stopped him from doing anything else than let the pinkette tug him away with a nervous—and a bit angry?—expression.

«Stupid sy-on...» Anya's mind grumbled. His brain really went a million miles a minute when he's stressed, huh?

She wished he would've taken the initiative so she wouldn't have to do such an embarrassing task—sure, she knew Damian liked her, and she knew she liked him, but it was still so embarrassing!

Once the two were far enough away—that being far enough away that they couldn't hear Becky's 'ooo's—Damian finally brought up the courage to speak.

"So..." Damian mumbled, looking at the hand still tugging on his cloak. "...what did you want to ask me...?"

Anya took a sharp breath in, snapping the hand off his cloak and straight to her leg. She suddenly felt like she couldn't speak. What was happening??

"Anya?" He asked nervously, but he still asked rather quickly, making the pinkette rush out a scrambled, "If-you-weren't-so-cute-it-would-be-easy-for-Anya-to-say!"

Anya immediately slapped her hands over her mouth. How on earth was she supposed to be a spy when she couldn't keep her mouth shut?

Damian blinked, and after he processed what Anya said, his cheeks flushed a bright red. And out of instinct—what instinct? Hell if he knew—he grabbed onto Anya's face, bringing it close. "That's the second time you've called me that."

Anya's face matched her hair. She was so flustered she could barely say anything but a quiet, "Excuse me...?"

Damian blushed along with her. Where had this newfound confidence come from?

"You've called me cute! Twice!!" He said, holding Anya's squishy face even closer. "Do you really mean that?!"

Anya swallowed hard. She couldn't even focus on his thoughts. He was too close. 

Way too close. 

Anya still couldn't manage to speak, so, with all her strength, she gave him a firm nod.

This action made Damian nearly pass out from how warm his face had become. But he managed to (somehow) regain his composure and let go of Anya's face, taking a step back to show his apologies for his ungentlemanly moment. "Well then," Damian spoke, dusting off his uniform even though there was nothing on it. "I think it makes sense when I say you should..."

He blushed again. "y-you should..."

Damian cleared his throat, fumbling with the bottom of his shirt.

"You should go to the imperial scholar's prom with me!"

Chapter Text

"Wait a minute, how did he ask you again?!" Becky asked, her jaw open as she pulled down her sunglasses to add to the effect. 

Anya rolled her eyes at the brunette's dramatics. "Second son just said 'You should go to the imperial scholar's prom with me.' Nothing weird."

Becky laughed out a cackle. She looked to the front seat towards her dear Martha. "You hear that, Martha?" She snickered, "He said 'you should!' Of course the Damian Desmond would demand a prom date!"

Anya rolled her eyes, crossing her arms as she looked at her best friend. "It was more of a suggestion, if anything." She played back. "Anyways, all that matters is that Anya and Damian are going together, right?"

Becky huffed, slouching back into her limo's soft cushions. "I guess..." Becky grumbled before sliding even more towards the ground with a groan, ignoring Martha's words of 'sitting like a lady' and yelling, "It's just more fun to make fun of him!! ...Damian is so lame."

Anya laughed at that, nodding with a stupid smirk on her face as she thought about her prom date. "He is,"

After the two girls giggled together for a bit, the car stopped at its location. And as Anya looked out the window, she felt a bucket of relief fall over her. «Becky rented her usual mall,» Anya thought. «thank goodness...»

Once the duo—plus Martha—got inside the mall, Becky almost immediately sprinted with Anya in her hand, running as fast as possible to the prom stores.

"B-e-e-e-c-k-y-y-y-y-!" Anya called out to her friend, who was dragging her to the closest 'Nadines.' "S-t-o-o-o-p f-o-o-r-r-r a m--i-n-u-u-u-i-t-e-e-e-e-e-!-!-!" She begged, but Becky just ignored her friend and stuffed her into the nearest dressing room, immediately tossing as many dresses as possible over the door—to keep the pinkette occupied, of course—before turning to the workers with a serious expression.

"Attention!" She yelled out, the workers all saluting immediately—besides Martha: she just laughed to herself. "Today we are finding Anya Forger a prom dress. She's going to the prom with the man of her dreams!"

"Shut up! Anya is so not!!" Anya yelled back, but just as earlier, Becky ignored her comeback, brushing it off with a simple, "Anyways,"

Becky crossed her arms, bringing back her seriousness. "The dress code forbids strapless or any upper thigh showing. Anya looks best in blues, yellows, whites, and reds—but no pinks!! It'll clash with her hair!" She reprimanded, even though no one had even suggested that color. "Now go! This is my best friend here!!"

The small army of mall workers yelled back, "Yes, Miss Becky!" Before running off in all sorts of directions, trying to find the perfect dress.

"Ugh..." Anya groaned from behind the curtain. "These dresses you gave Anya are too heavy! How is she expected to dance in this?? I can barely pick it up!"

Becky snorted at her best friend's complaints. "Oh, sweet, sweet Anya," The brunette sighed out. "Don't you know the only reason people go to prom is to dress cute and kiss? There's really no other reason."

Anya gasped, her whole worldview crashing around her.

That couldn't be the real reason, ...could it?

"T-there's no way!" Anya squeaked. "Second son would never invite Anya to some... kissing party!!" She insisted, ripping the dressing room curtain open to stare at the girl giving her such terrifying information.

"Ugh... you're right," Becky complained, upset by her realization. "Damian is too much of a wuss to do that—hell, you'll probably have to kiss him first!" The brunette cackled.

Anya blushed hard, looking at Becky with an annoyed expression, but before she could inform her friend on how gross kissing was, dozens of workers came flooding back, holding beautiful—and no doubt, wildly expensive—dresses.

Becky gasped, gazing at all the sparkles with eyes that nearly sparkled even more. "Do any of these dresses call out your name, Anya? Because they sure call mine!!"

Anya stared blankly at each dress, looking through all the ball gowns. "...Not really. They're all too... oh!" She suddenly spoke, her eyes giving a glow.

It was her dress.

"You chose the best dress!" Becky giggled out, holding onto Anya's arm as they walked back to the limo. Martha walking behind them with two dresses—Becky decided she needed one too; what if she somehow qualified last minute??—a pair of shoes, and some accessories. 

Anya couldn't stop the smile on her lips. She really did. She never really cared for dresses and the such—sure, she got excited about new outfits, (or ootfits, as she used to say,) but they never made her feel like she felt when she saw that dress. It was perfect.

"You're gonna look spectacular for prom! Damian is gonna drop dead when he sees you!!" Becky added in.

Anya gasped, looking at her friend with terror. "Do you really think so?!"

The brunette laughed a bit, nudging Anya with her elbow. "Obviously not,"

Anya sighed, partially from relief and partially from disappointment—it would've really helped her future career as spy/professional peanut eater/assassin if she could kill someone with just a glance of her dress.

After the two sat in Becky's limo and Martha began to drive off, Becky wrapped her arms around her best friend, giving her a wicked grin. "I can't believe the romance chapter of your life is starting; and before mine too!"

Anya couldn't help but laugh at that, hugging her friend back. "I doubt it'll last," She mumbled. There was no way she could seriously be with Damian; how would she tell him about her telepathy? That seems like something a serious partner would need to know. And it seemed terrible to use someone she truly liked for her mission, even if her parents were doing it and they were happy, it seemed different somehow. 

Becky gasped, letting go of the girl's torso and grabbing onto her face. "You can't say that before it even starts!!" She insisted, "Or you're dooming it!!!"

Anya smiled softly, although it got a bit smooshed by how tight the brunette was holding her face. "Becky's right,"

Becky smirked, letting go of Anya so she could lean on the pinkette's shoulder. "'Becky' is always right." She said, making Anya laugh again. She leaned her head back onto her best friend, repeating her words.

"Becky is always right..."

"...not!"

"Hey!!"

Chapter Text

"Oh my!" Yor gasped as her daughter walked into the room, her best friend Becky walking behind her with a big grin. "You're beautiful, sweetheart!"

Anya couldn't help but blush. She felt pretty—Becky had done her hair and her makeup, and she did love the dress she chose. Her dress was periwinkle and quite sparkly, and besides that fact, the design was pretty simple. A small v-neck with a tight top and spaghetti straps, then flowing out into a not-too-heavy skirt; which was perfect for Anya. What if there was an enemy ambush??

Loid wiped a little tear from his eye before standing up, and, without any words, hugged the pinkette. Anya let out a laugh as he squeezed her, yelling out, "Papa!! You're gonna mess up my hair!!"

But, despite Anya's complaints, Loid didn't let go.

"You look flawless, Damian!" Ewen praised, "There is absolutely no reason to be nervous!"

Damian anxiously adjusted the collar on his shirt, feeling as if he couldn't breathe. There was absolutely a reason to be nervous! He was going to prom with Anya Forger! His crush since the first grade! One mistake and ten years of pining would lead to nothing. This was one of the most important days in his life.

Damian looked himself up and down in the mirror. He was wearing a black suit that he had zipped up—and had ended about halfway—with a black button-up underneath, along with a black bowtie. He also put on a small, silver chain necklace and black dress shoes, ending it all with a periwinkle corsage to match his date's dress. Which, he hadn't seen yet, but was informed by Ewen and Emile who was informed by Becky—who was not informed by Anya, because Anya didn't even think to tell him—that it was a periwinkle color.

Damian side-eyed the blond, asking with a worried tone, "Are you sure? I feel like I look like I'm attending a funeral."

Emile shook his head, popping a hand on the green-haired boy's shoulder. "Nah, you look rad: chic, modern, classy—chicks dig that."

Damian couldn't help but snort, looking back in the mirror with those new words in his mind. Chic, modern, and classy. He did look pretty cool, huh?

"Don't call Anya a 'chick,' she's a proper lady—" Damian cut himself off, a soft smile on his lips. That girl was not proper, nor a lady, really. 

"...she's just Anya."

When Anya arrived at the prom, she felt like she was going to explode. She was so anxious—it was her first date! And with Damian Desmond too... what a terrifying party.

Anya let out a deep sigh. She was being ridiculous, this wasn't a big deal. 

Anya side-eyed the snack table. Maybe some cookies would help her nerves.

The pinkette took a few nervous steps before speed-walking to the snacks, grabbing a plate, and wondering where her date was. She looked around her as she grabbed nearly a dozen mini quiches; this prom seemed lame. 

Yeah, everyone was dressed nicely and the food looked delicious, but there wasn't cool pop music playing like Ray Charles. Instead, there was a slow live orchestra playing; which, would be cool... if she wasn't trying to enjoy a crazy fun night! 

Anya grumbled something under her breath as she put another after another chocolate-covered strawberry on her plate. This night was already starting off painfully bad.

Luckily, there was someone there to make it a bit better.

"Hey, Anya." Damian suddenly said out of nowhere, making the pinkette jump. She was complaining so much in her head she hadn't even heard his thoughts!

Anya jumped in her skin, looking over to the green-haired boy with a watermelon slice stuck between her teeth. She had to admit, he looked pretty handsome in that suit.

Anya pulled the slice away from her lips and sat in on her plate, barking back a playful, "You sure took your sweet time, hm?" As she got a glass of punch. 

Damian rolled his eyes, looking down at her full plate of snacks. "Looks like you kept yourself busy." He said, Anya just stuck her tongue out at him.

She took a sip of the punch and coughed a bit, making the green-haired boy raise a brow. "You okay?" He asked, but Anya just nodded. "It's kinda... spicy? I guess?? It looks like there are peppers in here so that's probably what it is," She explained before taking another sip, the punch going down smoother than before.

Damian raised an eyebrow, his mouth showing disgust as he asked, "...You like peppers?"

Anya ignored the burning in her throat—because the drink tasted delicious—and asked her own question. "Does sy-on boy like carrots?"

A smirk appeared on 'sy-on's' lips as he grabbed a quiche off the pinkette's plate, saying a sly, "I do like carrots." Before popping the tart-shaped treat in his mouth.

Anya chose to ignore the fact he stole her snack, (mostly because she had realized she grabbed too much,) and just replied, "Gross, Damian."

Damian rolled his eyes, looking around the party with his hands in his suit pockets. "The only thing 'gross' is that drink you have. I despise peppers, y'know."

Anya finished her drink in one last chug, picking up another cup of the same punch, muttering under her breath as she took a sip of the new cup. "And you also used to despise me, but now I'm your prom date."

Anya immediately realized how the tension between the two stiffened. 

And it was going so well too!

But after a semi-long pause, Damian looked back to Anya, stealing another quiche off her plate. "I'll only ever 'despise' you if you keep drinking that devil pepper punch."

Anya grinned, happy that even after she said something stupid, it wouldn't be awkward. "Guess I'll have to be despised," She spoke before drinking the whole glass in one go, making her date yell out a little 'Calm down!' before she continued. "Because this stuff is delish."

Damian watched as she got yet another glass, saying with a raised brow, "Does this little punch addiction of yours mean we have to stay by the snack table all night?"

Anya let out a loud laugh, gesturing to the rest of the room. Everyone was standing around with their own dates, not daring to make an appearance on the dance floor. Which, Anya thought, could barely be called such; it could fit about twenty people tops, and there were about fifty imperial scholars. 

"What else would we be doing?" She asked, taking yet another sip, the burning sensation slowly going away with each gulp. "The music is even boring; how do they do that??"

Damian laughed as she dramatically rolled her eyes, crossing his arms as he judged the room they were in. It really wasn't the prom theme he thought of, it was more... business and ballroom.

"Did you expect anything else from Eden College?" He asked, meaning it to be a good thing—the prom was still very beautiful!—but Anya snorted, taking yet another sip of her punch before saying, "You're right. We aren't allowed to have any fun, huh?"

As Damian disciplined her for saying such things about their prestigious school and how he found learning fun, Anya could swear she heard a boy close to them say something to the degree of «Good thing I added that extra 'fun' to the punch then.» in his mind, but if he did, Anya didn't really seem to care too much. 

She took another sip of the punch, watching as Damian continued to spew on about what an honor it was to be an imperial scholar and attend this prom, and how they were lucky Eden had even thought to throw such a thing.

Eventually, when Anya finally got a chance to add to the conversation, she said, "Man, I thought sy-on boy wanted to go to prom with Anya—maybe he should've asked his homework instead?"

Damian chuckled, "My homework wouldn't be drinking punch with peppers in it," He noted, but after he reached down to Anya's hand—which made Anya blush an excessive pink—and interlocked their pinkies, he couldn't stop himself from saying with a bashful smile,

"But I still prefer you."

Chapter Text

"Buahm, buahm, fhwap!!" Anya sang out, swaying to the slow orchestra playing Clair de Lune.

How on earth did Damian get himself into this situation?

First, he was going to prom with the girl he'd loved since he was six years old. It was amazing! A dream come true!!

...But now, he was at the prom with the girl he'd loved since he was six years old, and she was acting like a lunatic.

"You look like a lunatic, Damian!" Anya called out as he nervously tried to pull her away from knocking any more food onto the floor from her dancing, thinking about what a coincidence it was that Anya had said that after he thought it.

"Are you sure you're okay, Anya?" Damian asked, even though he asked the same question many times in the past hour.

Anya blew a raspberry, poking the tip of the boy's nose with a smirk. "Anya has no idea," She answered, sounding like she just won an argument. "All Anya knows is that someone added fun to the punch!" She giggled out before tapping the side of Damian's face. "You're lucky I don't punch you, Mr. Desmond. You'd prob be disintegrated just like that one frog girl."

Damian furrowed his brows, looking at Anya like she was some strange specimen. "What do you mean 'frog girl,' what—" He began to say, but then he finally registered what Anya said before that.

'All Anya knows is that someone added fun to the punch!'

Damian looked down at the pinkette, who was now clinging onto his nice dress suit like her life depended on it. Did someone really spike the punch? At Eden College of all places?? He would never thought an imperial scholar would ever...

His mouth suddenly went into a straight line. «If Anya could become an imperial scholar,» He thought, «so could some degenerate punch spiker.»

Anya suddenly pushed Damian away, making him fall back into the wall with a heavy thwap—and even break the wall a little bit, when did Anya get so strong? And how was she so strong while under the influence??—pointing a finger in his face and saying "I'm an amazing imperial scholar!!"

Damian put his hands up in defense, surprised that no one else was interested in what was occurring; maybe they were also drunk?

"I never said you weren't!" He cried out, but he soon sighed and let his hands drop. Now that he knew what was happening with her, she really ought to go home.

"Anya," Damian suddenly said, taking the woozy pinkette's arm. "Let's take you home, okay?"

Anya stumbled in her flats, making Damian make sure she didn't fall before responding with a sloshy grin, "Okie dokie artichokie!"

Damian grumbled something under his breath as he looked outside from under the awning. It was raining. Again. Why did it always rain when he was with Anya?—At least it wasn't as bad as last time, only a light spring shower.

He looked over to Anya, who was struggling to stand. She still hadn't given him back his umbrella, so they'd have to walk in the rain.

Anya however, just pointed to his jacket, seemingly knowing what he was thinking from how she said, "Just use that,"

Damian looked down at his own jacket. Was he really going to use his clothing as an umbrella. Again?

"Yes, of course you will! Everyone loves Anya!!" Anya yelled out, Damian just ignored her meaningless chattering. He took off his jacket and looked over to Anya, feeling a surge of deja vu as he said, "You ready to go out there?"

Anya gave him a sloppy nod, stumbling over to him and almost falling again before Damian stopped her from doing so, letting the pinkette hold onto his shirt so he could hold up the jacket. And with one small sigh, he stepped out into the rain, making sure Anya was safe as he did so.

As the two walked towards Anya's apartment complex, Damian couldn't stop thinking about how oddly... nice it was.

Anya was clinging onto him and giggling to herself while Damian was focusing on keeping them dry, chuckling a bit along with her.

Maybe this night wasn't a bust.

It was pretty fun before she started showing her intoxication.

...

He really did love her.

Suddenly, a new, louder burst of giggles came from the stumbling pinkette.

"What's got you all giddy?" He asked, ignoring the fact she was already quite giddy from the alcohol.

Anya let out another laugh, looking up at her sweet sy-on. "I love you too, Damian."

Damian stopped in his tracks. 

What did she say...?

"W-what do you...?" He mumbled, but his stutter just made Anya laugh even more. The pinkette pulled Damian down a bit, forcing his head to be on the same level as hers so she could loudly whisper, "I'm gonna tell you a secret~"

Damian looked at her nervously, but he still allowed her to wrap her hands around his ear and tell him, "I can read minds!"

Damian couldn't stop himself. He laughed out, so hard his head swung backward. This action was not appreciated by Anya because she just huffed, crossing her arms—and almost slipping on the rainy sidewalk, but she somehow found her balance. 

"Anya is not joking!" She insisted, which just made Damian laugh even harder. 

"Sure—" He stopped himself, letting out another chuckle before continuing. "—Sure, let's pretend you aren't: can you prove it?"

«Anya sure is a strange one. I guess it's because she's drunk—speaking of which, I really need to find who did that and report them...» Damian's mind sped off, but Anya cut them off with her voice.

"Anya sure is a strange one," She repeated, quoting the green-haired boy and making his eyes go large. "I guess it's because she's drunk—speaking of which, I really need to find who did that and report them." She finished, poking Damian's nose and smirking as she added her own thoughts. "Which, Anya would like to add is not ness-ess-sorry; Anya feels amazing!!"

Damian just stared at her. «How the fuck did she just quote my thoughts directly. Can she really...?»

"Language!" Anya yelled before leaning onto the boy, a smile on her lips. "Anywho... Yes! Anya really can, and she has been for her whole life!"

Damian felt like he was leaving his body, becoming a ghost, and watching himself react to this crazy reality.

Anya Forger could read minds.

He supposed this made sense. She always knew what he was thinking—she always knew what everyone was thinking. And that would make sense how she heard that person 'say' they spiked the punch; no smart person would admit something like that aloud.

Oh God. If she could read minds... that means she knew. She knew he was in love with her. She knew it all this time and was silent. Is that why she always wanted to be his friend? Was she trying to become closer so they would actually have a chance??

Well, now they did have a chance—wait a minute, they had more than a chance. Anya had just told him mere seconds ago she loved him! They could be together!! And from the fact she told him she could read minds, he was certain she wasn't a 'lying drunk' kinda girl.

"Anya—" He began to speak, ready to tell her with his own voice that he loved her. But when he looked down, he saw her leaning on him, drool leaking from her lips and a soft snore coming from the same spot.

This night—scratch that, this day was certainly... 

A day.

Anya woke up in her bed with a pounding headache—actually, it was more like a body ache. Still, her head hurt the worst.

"Ugh..." Anya grumbled, sitting up in her bed and holding onto her poor head. What happened last night? She went to prom, ate some yummy quiches, drank some spicy pepper punch, and hung out with Damian.

Then she drank more punch, and then some more, and then some more... and then she danced a little bit, and her head was feeling heavy, and then she and Damian started walking home...

Anya gasped, even the sudden soft sound hurting her head.

She had told Damian she was a telepath.

She'd never told anyone before, so she supposed it made sense why she would tell him after holding it in for sixteen years; well, more like fifteen, but still.

Anya forced herself to stand, looking down and realizing she was put into a big t-shirt and sweatpants, probably by one of her parents. Her legs ached as she walked out of her room, making her way to the living room and seeing her papa and mama sitting on the couch with blank expressions, and Damian sitting on the side chair with a cup of coffee and a terrified look on his face. 

"...Mornin' papa, mornin' mama," Anya glanced over to the still terrified, but a little more happy Damian. "...Mornin' sy-on boy."

"Anya! Sweetpea!" Yor called out, running towards her. Loid doing the same except he didn't speak, just running to his daughter and hugging her with his wife.

Anya blinked in her parents' arms, looking over to Damian who started looking much more relieved.

After a long moment of hugs, Loid finally spoke, saying very sternly, "You are never allowed to go to prom again."

Anya's jaw dropped and she looked at her father in shock, but, just like her gasp, the action hurt her head even more.

Once Anya was finally let go of and was allowed to sit down, she was given a glass of water and some sort of pain medication. "Why is second son here?" She asked before taking her pill, chasing it down with a big gulp of water.

"He made sure you got home last night," Yor explained, smiling at the young, terrified boy. "but it was quite late, so we let him sleep here."

"Thank you again for your hospitality, Mrs. and Mr. Forger." Damian made sure to add. Anya could almost feel the embarrassed heat radiating off of him.

"You're very irresponsible for drinking that punch even after you heard what that boy said." Loid scolded, making Anya tilt her head in confusion. "First, I didn't know that's what adding 'fun' meant. Second, how did you know?" She asked, leading to Loid telling her that Damian told him everything—«Except the mind reading part, if that even happened.» Damian wordlessly added in, which Anya was really grateful for.

"Okay," Yor suddenly said, standing up in a swift motion. "Enough talking—you have to get back in bed, young lady! I can't even imagine how terrible your head feels." She pitied, picking up Anya softly.

And even though Anya would usually complain about being treated like a child, her mom was right. Her head did hurt. So she let her Mama take her back to bed.

After Anya got spoiled with hot cocoa, her Papa's special udon, peanuts, and a ridiculous amount of water, Anya and Damian were finally left alone—but Loid made sure they both saw him open the door as far as it would go.

"So..." Damian longed out, looking at Anya with a smirk. "I think this is karma for drinking punch with peppers in it."

Anya laughed a bit, her headache starting to fade. Damian giggled a bit with her, but eventually, he couldn't stop the reoccurring question running through his mind, so Anya ended up answering it. 

"Yes." She said, seemingly out of nowhere, but they both knew. "What I told you last night, I can read..." She sighed, feeling her eyes prickle with tears. She'd never even considered saying those words to anyone before.

But it was nothing like her nightmares. Because instead of being called creepy and a freak, Damian took hold of her hand.

"It's okay," He said, smiling. "It honestly makes sense that you can—the only bad part is how embarrassing it is... you know I've..." He blushed, "you know I've... loved you... all our lives."

Anya couldn't stop the relieved breath she let out, interlocking her fingers with Damian. "I kinda didn't," She admitted, "I'm a bit oblivious; I never realized that your thoughts meant, well, that, until a couple weeks ago."

That sentence really made Damian's face fluster. His eye seemed to twitch as he thought, «Oh my god... you're an idiot, Anya Forger.»

Anya huffed, letting go of Damian's hand so she could cross her arms. 'I know you just thought that so my papa wouldn't hear.' She mouthed, happy that Damian could understand because Loid was listening into their conversation, that spy.

Damian chuckled again, smiling at Anya with a warmth on his cheeks. "Hey, I'm pretty smart—especially compared to you."

Anya raised a brow, looking condescendingly as she asked, "How do you think you'll stay an A+ student if you're distracted by me all the time?"

Damian blushed harder, but he still played back. "I've never been that distracted before, why do you think it'll change now?"

Anya grinned, and then, before the green-haired boy could move, she leaned forward, giving him a soft peck on his cheek.

"Because now I'm your girlfriend."

Damian held onto his cheek, his eyes sparkling as he cautiously asked, "...You are...?"

Anya gave him a nod, her face also quite red.

Damian couldn't stop smiling for the rest of the week.

Chapter Text

Damian softly held Anya's back as the two of them practically flew across the dance floor, the both of them smiling at each other as the high sped song Grande Valse Brilliante played around them.

It had taken four months, (four, excruciating months,) but eventually, Anya had convinced her papa to let her attend her senior prom—as long as she didn't drink any punch—and now, she was there.

Her best friend Becky had become an imperial scholar that year, and now she was standing in the corner in her impossibly beautiful, (but also impossible to move in,) prom dress. Rejecting boy after boy, saying to them, "You aren't Loid Forger."

Ewen and Emile had also gained their esteemed positions as imperial scholars, but unlike Becky who was rejecting, they were busy trying to pick up girls.

Anya giggled as she and Damian finished their dance, letting him trail her away from the floor with a kiss on her hand.

"I love you, Miss Anya." Damian told, and even though he thought it quite frequently, she still loved to actually hear it from his lips.

"Anya loves you too, Mr. Damian." She grinned, and when they had finally stopped their walking, she gestured over to the snack table. "Wanna get some punch?"

Damian didn't even try to smile at that, instead flicking his girlfriend's forehead—but of course, it was so light she barely noticed. "No thanks, I don't want your father killing me."

Anya snickered at his response, wrapping her arm around the green-haired boy with a smirk. "Now, now, you should be scared of mama too!"

Damian shivered, thinking of Anya's terrifying parents.

"I am."