#ccanon

They swallowed a yawn and picked up the next book in the trolley, checking the numbers with a glance and placing it back in the middle of the shelf. God, how were there so many left? It felt like they’d been trundling through nonfiction for forever, and yet the trolley felt basically full still.

This day was never going to be over.

“Rem, is that you?” a soft voice said from behind them. They turned to see a woman in a neat bun and dark-framed glasses poking her head around a shelf. 

“Logan, hey gurl!” they drawled, flipping their classmate a peace sign. 

Instead of being immediately charmed, she frowned, emerging fully around the corner. “Weren’t you here this morning before class, too? It’s nearly 9pm, how many hours have you been working?”

“Ya know, work-study, gotta get that hustle!”

Logan pursed her lips. Even for a masters student, she managed to look more like a professor than a pupil. But that was definitely something to do with her commitment to wearing a collared shirt and tie every day, deviating only to add a sweater in the winter. Or maybe it was the general aura of put-together-ness that so few grad students managed to achieve.

Or maybe it was that ability to look down her nose despite only being just over five feet and making her target feel absolutely scrutinized. Like Remy felt at this particular moment.

“We share a full class schedule, there is no way that you can fit in that, all our coursework, and more than a single shift at the library into a single day.”

“Maybe I’m just that amazing, sugar,” Remy replied with a wink. They hoped it would exasperate her enough that she’d leave and they could just finishing re-shelving. If they finished before 10, they might have time to finish that reading for tomorrow they’d only gotten through half of over a frantic lunch break.

Instead, Logan’s frown deepened. She crossed her arms as she asked, “And are you ‘amazing’ enough to do all that and get a proper night’s sleep?”

“Oh, of course!” They lied. They cupped their face in one hand, fluttering their lashes at the much shorter woman. “You think I get all this without beauty sleep?” Why wouldn’t she leave? Flirting was all fun and games but Remy really needed to finish this.

“I don’t believe you. Therefore, I will help you.” Logan walked over decisively and picked up a book from the trolley, studying the label and the shelf with the same intensity she brought to all her studies.

“Wait, what?”

“You are clearly stretching yourself too thin. Burning the candle at both ends just gets you a metaphorical pool of wax and singed fingers. I care about your wellbeing, so, I will assist you in finishing this task.”

Remy blinked at her. Then they looked down at the book they’d just picked up. The numbers looked fuzzy for a moment, then resolved back into clarity. Oh, yeah, that would be the 18 hours straight of wakefulness making itself known. Maybe bunhead had a point.

“Wait, you care about my wellbeing?”

Logan didn’t turn towards Remy. She just kept shelving, steadily working through the trolley. If it wasn’t for a slight dusting of red in her golden cheeks, Remy would have thought she didn’t hear them. 

“Also, I apologize,” she said, as if she’d responded. “Most of these books were checked out by me, so I am partly to blame for the amount of work you have to do.”

Remy nodded. That part made sense at least. They looked at the titles. “So, astronomy?”

“Yes.”

“…stars?”

“Among other things, yes.”

“Cool.”

“I find it to be quite fascinating, yes.”

“Or should I say, not cool, because burning gas!”

Logan paused in reshelving. “Was that a pun?” She glared down her very short nose. “You better not be a pun person.”

“Don’t you mean a punny person-”

“No, desist, cease-”

Remy grinned. “Fine, I’m done. Too easy.”

Logan sniffed with dignity and kept shelving. Remy resumed as well, and soon the section was complete. 

“I need to move this to history, next, but thanks for the help, Lo.”

Logan shrugged. “I can continue helping, I have no pressing deadlines.”

Remy stared. “You didn’t take out all the history, too, did you?”

“No, but I enjoy- uh, the activity. It’s satisfying, don’t you think? Putting everything back in its rightful place?”

Remy pushed the trolley as they responded, “Yeah, that’s true. Easier to see the physical progress with this than slogging through Levinson’s reading assignments, amiright?”

“Oh, absolutely, and we never even finish discussing the material!”

“Professors, my dude, they’re a trip.”

They resumed shelving in relative quiet, but comfortably so. It was much better than the oppressive silence that was a normal shift in the stacks. 

“How many hours a day are you working?” Logan asked after a time.

“Uh, as many as I can cram in, really. Loans are a bitch.”

“Yes, but you do need to maintain your health, too-”

“I’ll sleep when I’ve got my degree, I’ll be good.”

“Remy, that’s a terrible mindset,” she said sternly, putting a book down to glare. “You’ll burn out and then none of this will be worth it!”

Remy looked down. “Yeah, but I mean. Can’t really afford it otherwise.”

“Pardon my language, but bullshit,” Logan responded. “You’re incredibly clever, there are so many organizations that would give you a scholarship. There’s even a queer alumni group that specifically awards academic achievement in the queer student body, I’m sure you could get that and others.”

“Lo, hun, I’m not exactly Ms. Future Valedictorian like you, I don’t get that sort of thing.”

“Not when you don’t try!” Logan’s eyes were alight, like she got in the middle of in-class debates. “I can help you!”

“I really don’t get why you’re so concerned with how I’m surviving this existential prison we call grad school.”

Logan looked down. A hair fell loose of her bun, a single black straight across her cheek. “I’ve noticed you in class. You barely speak, but when you do it’s always so insightful, even if not phrased as artfully as one could imagine. I think you’re really quite clever.”

Remy felt themself blush. “Hardly, not compared to you. Everyone knows Logan Ngyuen is the one to watch. Hell, if I stay in this program too long you’ll probably be teaching me in five years.”

“I speak the language the professors want, it’s true. But you always bring in the human perspective that academia loses sight of. And I think that’s really important. I think you’re important, Remy. And your health is too.”

Remy wasn’t sure how to respond, so they just shelved another book, sliding it into place. “Thank you,” they said finally.

“Anytime,” Logan responded, her cheeks still a little pink. “Do you need to do anything else to wrap up your shift, or is this the last of it?” Remy looked down and saw that the trolley was finally empty. 

“Uh, just gotta put this at the end of the stacks and tell Ms. Falstaff on the way out.”

“May I accompany you? I’m heading back to the the dorms anyway.”

Remy smiled. “I’d like that. Thank you, babe.”

Shinsou strikes me as someone who would be fairly relaxed and understanding when it comes to his relationships (whether romantic or not). I think understanding people better seems like it would help him use his quirk more effectively (I don’t know if there’s anything like if he knows them better, they’re easier/harder to mind control. I think that could be neat- but I digress). Even if there isn’t anything like his closeness to them affecting how vulnerable they are to him, he still needs to be able to trick people into responding to whatever he says, so I think he’d naturally try to understand what kind of a person they are…

That being said, I think Shinsou would be pretty good at figuring out what makes his s/o tick, and how to help them if he knows a situation is getting to be too much for them and they just need to get out of there. He would also quickly learn what situations he knew they could handle but they didn’t think they’d be able to, and help them through said situations to get over a little of their nerves.

When he first meets them, however, Shinsou assumes their shyness to be because of his quirk. If they try to interact with him, he’ll probably be a little confused. He may even think they’re making fun of him somehow by talking to him (or acting on a dare, or something like that)

But eventually he sees that this is just the way they are with everyone, and his suspicions subside somewhat. (He’s still a little confused as to why they’re trying to interact with him. They’re so shy and nervous! Wouldn’t it just be easier not to talk to him at all? What do they have to gain from this??)

After they start hanging out/get together, he’s very understanding of their timid disposition and does whatever he can to help. He’s totally fine with more calm, private dates and minimal or no pda, if that’s what his s/o wants!

Iida is not a particularly shy person, and does tend to jump to conclusions about people almost as fast as he runs. It might take him a while to remember that you most likely know that there’s no cause to be worrying as much as you are; you just can’t help it

(But if you don’t realize there’s no reason to worry so much, he’ll gladly point out the logical side of the situation for you. Whether it helps or not. He hopes it helps. He’s confused but he’s doing his best)

It’s probably best if you just explain the situation to him. Tell him what makes you nervous and why, what you’re thinking, etc

As soon as he knows this, he understands more

I think that in this situation, straightforwardness is the best way to go. Just tell him what kinds of things help you and what don’t! He doesn’t want you to be uncomfortable, and he’ll do anything he can to make things more bearable for you. He’s very appreciative of you simply telling him what works and what doesn’t

I think this kind of candor would help you too. It takes guts to plainly tell someone outright about this sort of thing, but it will get easier with time!

After a bit of trial and error, Iida is much better at dealing with your nerves. He’s also done quite a bit of research on what to do in this kind of situation (when is it better to confront the fear and when is it better to just leave the situation, that sort of thing)

He does anything and everything to help you get over your nerves (his intensity may be intimidating at first, but he doesn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. Actually, I think if you learn to get used to it, it could be very helpful to you)

Midoriya is pretty nervous himself, so I think he would understand the most from personal experience. It’s probably pretty awkward at first, with both of you getting so easily flustered and nervous around each other.

Before you got together, he would probably analyze everything you did to try and figure out whether you liked him back or not, and still second-guess himself so much that he would think himself out of confessing

I mean, he still would over analyze and second-guess even after you got together

Midoriya: [nudges you awake at 3 am] do you like me?

You: I married you

Midoriya: yeah but as a friend or like, a husband. Unclear

Since you’re also shy it would probably take quite a while of this before either of you confessed

Eventually your friends get tired and either talk one of you into confessing and/or set you two up somehow so that it happens

He’s very understanding of your nervousness, and is fine going on dates that don’t make you so nervous.

That isn’t to say he won’t do his best to help you get over it though! Because he definitely will do that

You will Get Stronger Together, he says

And he’s so sweet and adorable that you hardly even notice as you become braver

One day you realize that, when he’s around, things aren’t so scary

It’s great

Oh, and that isn’t saying that he thinks there’s anything wrong with you! It’s not that he minds your nervousness; he just knows how frustrating it can be to be too shy to do the things you really want to do (he thinks back to before he confessed to you and smiles)

This boy just wants to help everyone, especially those he cares about most (like you)

One day he realizes that, when you’re around, things aren’t so scary