Nnngh okay no more kissing. "No data," he agrees. "It's strange that you even have years and months and whatever. Like, there's a mechanistic reason why we have those where I'm from, here it's just sorta arbitrary."

"Think someone designed the world, and not as elegantly as you say yours is? That's one of the theories."

"It certainly looks designed. But then again, all magic does, yours is just more obvious about it."

"Well if we find the designer, I'm going to get them to fix rifts, and tile-crumbling, and interrogate them on why humans and mer get sixty to a hundred years while dragons get forever."

"—I just got this urge to twirl you in the air and kiss you."

"Heh. Go for it. How many twirls do I get if I swear to spread computing to the four corners of the expanding plane by the time I'm sixty?"

"If you do that I might have to take you somewhere private," he says, grabbing Terel by the waist, twirling him twice, and kissing him.

Wheee!

"Then maybe I'd better not just yet. Still have things to do today. Like lunch, and the ever-popular homework and classes. They sure do take up a lot of time once you stop and think about it."

"Sleep does, too," he whines. "I love you."

"Mm. I know I said no more cafeteria food but I actually have a lunch meeting with that golem team. But I think they get the idea that you don't eat now so you could probably follow as long as you don't sit at our table during the actual meeting bit."

"Sure. I, er, will be able to listen in unless I'm several tiles away."

"They don't know that, but we're not going to be discussing anything important and it's polite to pretend not to."

He starts walking towards the cafeteria, hefting that backpack again and offering a hand to hold. Because it is kinda nice to be Openly In A Relationship Of Some Kind With This Cute Guy.

Eeeee handholding. Sadde will have this look on this face like he is the luckiest man alive to have scored Terel. It's all the more effective because of just how sincere it looks.

They're both charmed by the handholding then.

The cafeteria cashier doesn't try to charge Sadde. Terel fetches food.

Leah, that girl who didn't like him the first time he met Terel, is whispering to a friend about Sadde, "No, that's definitely the same person. We're going to say it anyway."

Sadde's only half-paying attention, and mostly wants Terel's attention, so.

He eats quickly, is amused by the some of the things Sadde describes the internet as containing, heads over to his group's table with last week's work on the communal golem project.

The actual meeting part of their meeting goes smoothly. Everyone's satisfied at the step they've taken to the completion of a thoroughly mediocre and minimally creative final product. They agree to assign the next batch of work at the Wednesday meeting. Terel moves to get up.

Leah interrupts, "Wait, Terel. We need to tell you something. Guys, back me up please? I'm concerned for you, Terel. I'm worried about this 'Sadde' character."

"...What do you mean? Sadde's great."

"But how do you know that? They just swoop in, some kind of unfamiliar Fair Folk, claim to have all this knowledge from another world, some bunk story about hopping dimensions and fantastic foreign secrets, and we barely see you for the rest of the week. I honestly thought she - he - whatever - might haul you off into the mountains never to return, like a Ramusal or something. Just one day-"

"Hey wait a sec. First of all, you should have asked me if I believe Sadde. Which I do. I saw the evidence with my own eyes, I could have stepped into another world. And his insights are real so he either really does know all that or is unbelievably smart."

"Okay, but look at it from our perspective. Friends you've had for a year and a half and you just basically ignore all of us, and your classes, for most of a week? I think something's been done to you. You're being led on, or bewitched, we don't want you to get hurt. You need to stay away from Sadde and think critically about whether all this is for the best. We'll help you, Buck said you can stay with him, for your own good." A few people make noises of agreement. Two of them look pretty uncomfortable about it.

He gives a little sigh. "If you're going to be like that, fine. Point the first, you are operating in ignorance of some relevant facts. Chief among which is the evidence of other worlds I mentioned. I have been watching him, I have been thinking about it, and everything I've seen taken as a whole means it's quite unlikely that Sadde is anything other than what he presented himself as to me. "

"It could still be a trick. An elaborate con, he could be playing with you..."

"He would have done several things differently if that were the case, he's explained everything I asked about even when it disadvantaged your hypothetical ruse, he's bought a fair amount of stuff and never mind this isn't your business, and if that were the case there would be very little I could do about it, so I choose to operate on the assumption that it is not."

"But think about your future, he turned you bisexual-"

"Point the second, you are not my mother! Not only are any preferences not really your concern, I'm nineteen, you are not my girlfriend or anything, I have no history of substance abuse or other unwise decisions, I really think I ought to be allowed to decide what's best for me." Leah's starting to look fairly crushed, resorting to pleading looks instead of words. "Point the third, because it bears repeating, I have been thinking about it. Thoroughly. Point the fourth, you don't know what I want! I know what I want! Point the fifth... You know what, nevermind. I'm not going to list all the ways you're wrong here. I will see you all on Wednesday. Maybe."

He stomps over toward Sadde, fuming.

"Are you sure I can't whisk you off somewhere, because that was incredibly hot."

"You actually can, but somewhere I can punch something that won't break and isn't you first because crash it that was frustrating."

"—it would be kinda hot if you punched me but anyway, does a pillow at your place count?"