#polyacademy

Darem is doing his best squaring-up-to-fight posture, and barely resisting a grin himself. “Oh yeah? Think you can take me, right here?”

Caleb rolls his eyes and pulls Darem into the nearest classroom. 

When they finally pause for breath, Darem looks around. There’s an alcove just off the classroom, for tech stuff. Bigger than the storage closets. He nods at it. “Enough space for you, your highness?”

There’s something guarded in Caleb’s eyes as he considers it. Darem does his best not to take it personally. His not-boyfriend doesn’t live in the same state of constant hypervigilance as he used to, his first months at the Academy, but he’s still a ridiculously private person. Darem is trying really hard not to push him to tell everyone — or anyone — about their little making-out hobby anymore. He’s begun to wonder if Caleb just wants something that’s his, and whether he’s ever had that before. 

“Good enough,” Caleb declares.

Darem shoves him inside — not that he gets much resistance. Caleb doesn’t seem interested in taking the lead today, which is fine by Darem, who pushes him up against the wall. The half-growl, half-chuckle he gets back is enough to drive him wild and turn his fighting instincts back on, all at once. 

Caleb smirks. “Is that the best you can do, Reymi?” 

Predictable. Darem pins him against the wall, hands braced either side of his head. “We’re about to fuck, Caleb. You could at least try to remember I have a first name.”

“Presume, much?” Caleb is breathing harder. As ever, Darem is keeping half an eye on whether that’s a problem. Caleb can be weird about sex, sometimes. The hungry look in his eyes suggests it’s far from a problem today. Not to mention other parts of him, getting hard against Darem’s leg. His breath is hot on Darem’s face and his hand is clammy on his hip, sliding under the hem of his pants. 

Darem flashes him a triumphant smile. “You’re such an idiot.” 

“Yeah—” Caleb agrees, breathless enough that he can’t get a whole sentence out in one go— “but I’m the idiot you’re fucking, so who’s worse?”

Darem kisses him hard enough to shut him up for a week.

An hour or so later, they’re curled up against the wall of the alcove, and Darem is trying not to smile too hard about it. Caleb doesn’t get cuddly very often. It doesn’t help that the beds in their room are too small for the two of them to do anything there for more than a few minutes before someone rolls off or gets a cramp. Darem is not often jealous of Tarima, but it must be nice to be small enough to cuddle all night with her boyfriend.

He starts to move away.

Caleb pulls him back. “Going somewhere, asshole?” he murmurs in his ear.

Darem sinks back into Caleb’s arms. “Guess not.”

“Good.”