in which subtle artists do not all work the same way

"Yeah," he says with a grin, "I actually came around wondering about that, but then somebody offered me money and I got distracted."

subtly_artistic

Bella laughs. "Is that how you started doing this."

Cheerfully: "Yep!"

subtly_artistic

"And Professor Winters told us it usually took a few weeks to filter in volunteers from the ad in the school newspaper and we shouldn't expect anyone but us to work with for the early sessions, and then there was you."

"I like money and I don't have a lot of privacy issues," he shrugs.

subtly_artistic

"Are you paying your own tuition or something?"

"Nope, I've got landowners for that," he snorts, and all kinds of signposted thoughts pop up around that word.

subtly_artistic

Bella drops out of the read again. She writes her time. 4:36. "End of lab," she announces.

"'Kay," he says. "See ya."

And he bounces up out of his seat and wanders off.

subtly_artistic

Bella turns in her notes to Professor Winters and heads to Basic Knife.

The next time she sees him, he is giving a blowjob to a tall brawny human boy outside the dining hall.

subtly_artistic

Of course he is. She goes around, and has lunch, and goes out again to attend history.

That evening, the kitchen on their floor is emanating delicious smells.

subtly_artistic

Bella meanders in that direction, her history homework under her arm.

Celo is baking.

Celo is also, at the moment she enters the kitchen, laughingly telling another hallmate that he doesn't want to fuck while he's got cookies in the oven.

subtly_artistic

Bella sits in a corner of the kitchen and spreads out her homework to wait for cookies.

"Come on, dude, have some, like, species pride," says the hallmate. "Only difference between a naked person and a nymph is that the nymph is down to fuck."

"This nymph is baking," says Celo. "If my cookies burn because I'm too busy experiencing your glorious cock to check on 'em, I'm gonna be sad. You don't wanna make me sad, right?" He bats his eyelashes outrageously.

subtly_artistic

Bella snickers in spite of herself in her corner.

"Dude, I can't wait for your cookies, I have a club meeting, come on," says the gloriously cocked hallmate. "I mean, you say you're a nymph, you gotta be happier fucking than waiting for the oven to beep."

"Nymphs have hobbies, too, hon," he says. "Don't worry about missing out on the cookies, I'll save you some." He winks. "Save you something else, too."

subtly_artistic

"Why're you making this difficult, I said I didn't wanna wait, the point of you is that you aren't supposed to play hard to get," says he of the presumably glorious cock, reaching for Celo's shoulder.

Bella is watching the interaction more warily now.

"I'm busy," says Celo. The tone of his voice is distinctly flatter, the flirtatious note disappearing from both it and his body language. He steps back, out of the hallmate's reach, leaning his hands casually on the counter behind him.

subtly_artistic

"You're just standing there, I bet you could've got me off in the time you've been taking to argue about it," complains the glorious cockbearer. "If you're even any good."

Bella asks Celo silently: Do you want me to get an RA? and listens for a reply.

"Well if I'm not any good, I guess there's no point fucking me," Celo says brightly.

Depends whose side you think the RA is gonna take, doesn't it?

subtly_artistic

"I'm not picky," says the unpicky and gloriously cocked hallmate. "But I'm in a hurry, dude."

I bet you RAs are not in favor of burning cookies in the shared kitchen? offers Bella dubiously. ...If you want the path of least resistance you could go off with him and I could take them out when the timer dings.