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It all started with the school festival.
As an Imperial Scholar and the class elected president, Damian Desmond had become known as somewhat of a dictator. Once upon a time the class would have been on their hands and knees to blindly follow any of his orders - now he was met with a regular stream of complaints.
“We’ll start preparations at 5 am.”
The class let out simultaneous groans at his instruction and few brave souls even dared to complain out loud.
“No complaints, we’re already way behind the other classes. I expect everyone here on the dot.” He said nothing more as he stormed out the room, his cape fluttering behind him - that probably would’ve looked cool if he wasn’t giving off the vibes of a villain.
Well, to his credit, one person did think he looked cool.
Anya jotted down the final notes for the class meeting unaware of her audience as the class waited for the door to shut firmly behind the grumpy president.
It took seconds for her to be immediately surrounded once it shut.
“Anya could you please get Damian to push the meeting time to a decent hour?”
“Pretty please!”
“We’ll let you copy our math notes!”
“Science too!”
Anya, in her confusion, held up her palms, “Woah guys, I would really love to change the time too but Dami-“
“That’s why we want you to ask him to change it!”
Anya was still blissfully unaware of their intentions, “Why would me asking change his mind?”
“Are you kidding?”
“Guys, unfortunately, she is not.” Becky finally commented, having been flipping through a magazine silently beside Anya. She’d already been planning on convincing Anya to speak with her boyfriend about his ridiculous demands but the class had beaten her to it.
“What do you guys mean?”
“Anya, you’re his girlfriend!”
“Yeah?”
“That means you got girlfriend privileges!”
“Girlfriend privileges?” Anya tilted her head. Still not fully understanding.
“Yeah, you know, like if you want your boyfriend to do something he wouldn’t usually do he would do it because you asked!”
Anya shook her head, “Maybe for regular boys, but this is Scion boy we’re talking about. You guys have met him. Heck! The whole reason we’re having this conversation is because he is the way he is. I don’t think this girlfriend privilege thing applies to us.”
The girls around her giggle, “Oh please don’t be so hard on yourself Forger, the guy looks at you like you hung the moon.”
“He worships the ground you walk on.”
“I once saw him take a sip of water from a bottle you used and there wasn’t even any water in it!”
“Remember the class trip? The votes came down to you two and he chose whatever you wanted. Even though he hated it!”
“You’ve got girlfriend privileges. Use it. Please for the sake of classroom peace.”
Anya didn’t for a second think Damian would change his mind just because she asked but she knew her classmates would not let this go until she tried. So she let them push her out the door so that she could track down the brooding scholar.
She found him at their spot, sitting on the bench in the overgrown garden at the back of the school most students outside the gardening club ignored. He was no longer wearing the scowl that had been etched on his face all day. Instead he looked peaceful and calm as he read.
Anya watched him from a few feet away, basking in his radiance underneath the afternoon glow. He’d grown into a fine young man, with one of the kindest hearts she’d ever met. It astounded her everyday to know that he loved her.
“Why are you watching me like a creep?” He didn’t look up from his book, turning a page as he acknowledged her presence.
“I
was
having a moment but you ruined it.” She grumbled, taking a seat right beside him. After a glance around, she scooted closer and rested her chin on his shoulder. “Whatcha reading?”
“The book we’ll be getting assigned for our next term. I wanted to read ahead so I can help out any of the other students if they have trouble understanding.”
Anya’s heart skipped a beat.
This was the Damian she’d fallen in love with. Sure, the tyrannical side of him had provided her with years of entertainment and their relationship was built on their back and forth bickering, but she’d probably been the first person to see the real Damian Desmond. Damian, with all his pride and bravado, who put others before him. Who wasn’t afraid to step in front of deadly dodge balls or defend her from teasing remarks from others. Who’d stayed up late to help her through hard assignments when she’d begged and pleaded. Damian, who’d taken the role as class president with the utmost seriousness of an actual political leader to be.
He might have been a pain in the ass but he had all the best intentions.
Knowing this made it harder for her to utter the request of their fellow classmates.
But still, she couldn’t help but be curious if she really had this girlfriend privilege they spoke of.
“Hey, Damian, about the meeting time tomorrow… Do we really need to be here so early? I was thinking, if we cut back on breaks, maybe we could crunch down the time. Say, maybe meet at seven?” Thankfully, the others had provided her with a more tolerant alternative.
Anya waited with baited breath for his response. He seemed to contemplate her words for a moment before he nodded, “I guess that does sound reasonable. Sure, we can change it.”
“Really?!” She couldn’t help but let out a gasp of shock, she hadn’t been expecting him to agree, at least not so easily.
He ruffled her hair before standing, closing his book, “Yeah, I’ll go tell the others the change of plans. Hopefully they’re all still here. Or else I’ll be up all night trying to reach them all.”
Anya watched him walk away, she was in absolute shock at her new discovery of power.
After her initial shock wore off, her more calculated side of her brain began to contemplate if the others were truly right or if Damian had simply changed his mind because the suggestion was more sane than his own. He was smart, top of their class and class president for a reason. He was a pain in the ass but not without reason. He was a workaholic so naturally his brain had conjured up the most ridiculous of plans that made sense to only him.
So, it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility that it had just been common sense to change his mind rather than Anya’s own power.
There was only one way to find out.
She had to test it out.
PDA amongst male and female students was against Eden rules. And as class president, Damian had a duty of reporting and stopping such actions.
Despite having a girlfriend of his own, Damian had stuck to the rules. Rarely ever showering Anya with any physical affection while they were one campus. Sometimes they’d sneakily hold hands under the table in the library or hug when no one was watching. And sometimes when they found themselves alone in the garden Damian would steal a kiss or two but these moments were rare and Anya respected Damian enough to be a good girl and hold herself back.
But that didn’t mean she didn’t crave being a little more open like other couples. Sure, everyone was aware of their relationship status and they were the school's IT couple but Anya heard the thoughts of doubt from the other students about their relationship.
“How are they a couple? They don’t even hold hands.”
“I bet Forger is blackmailing him.”
“If I was Desmond I wouldn’t be able to keep my hands off her. Why is he holding back?”
These thoughts usually came from students outside their classroom as everyone in their class was well aware of the DamiAnya love story, having been witness to it for 10 years. But that didn’t make her less insecure.
The class was in good spirits with lessons being canceled as everyone prepared for the festival and everyone having gotten a normal amount of hours of sleep thanks to the change in schedule. Damian too, was in a good mood despite the stress of urgency to get everything done perfectly. He’d even made time to meet her at the front gates to walk together to class in the morning.
They were in the back of the class, with Damian filling out some final forms of permission while Anya was cutting and folding decorations.
An idea struck her as she watched Damian from the corner of her eye.
He looked especially handsome today. His hair was a fluffy mess just waiting for her to run her hands through it. His cheeks were flushed from having been running around - though - her foot which she’d unknowingly been rubbing against his leg could also be to blame. His lips were pursed with concentration and he smelled like fresh pine, clean and relaxing she couldn’t help but lean in to him.
She couldn’t hold back. With one glance around to confirm everyone was too busy to notice, she slipped her hand into his lap and used the leverage of his leg to lean over and plant a kiss on his neck.
He just about jumped out of his skin at the sudden contact and she very much enjoyed his frazzled expression.
She waited for him to scold her like he would have had he caught another couple doing this but he didn’t say a word. He did give her a very stern glare but otherwise let it go, returning back to his paperwork.
A very big mistake on his part as Anya now had confirmation of the power she wielded.
She struck next at lunch.
When she entered the Imperial Scholar hall, she noticed Damian sitting alone on one of the luxurious lounge chairs in the corner of the room. Professors rarely ever entered, trusting the top brass of their students to hold themselves with the utmost elegance with their absence and with how hard becoming an Imperial Scholar was, the room usually only held a few handful of students.
It was practically empty as she marched her way towards him, devious plan in mind as she did.
She’d really be pushing his limits with this plan but she needed to know exactly how far she could take this.
He looked up from the book he was reading, sending her approach, meeting her determined gaze with a curious one of his own. His eyes widened in shock when she didn’t stop to sit in the open adjacent seat like she usually would have but instead rounding the small coffee table and stopping just in front of him. He raised an eyebrow at her, a silent “ what are you doing?”, rang in her head but she ignored it as she pushed the book to the side and plopped herself right on his lap, back to his chest.
“What are you doing? ” He hissed, gently trying to push her off him.
If he really tried, he could’ve easily pushed her off but he didn’t so she pushed back, looking up to meet his frantic gaze, batting her eyelashes in a way she knew he couldn’t resist, “You haven’t held me in days, I just want to cuddle for a little bit.” She topped it off with a pout.
His eyes frantically looked away, glancing around the room to the other students milling around. Her actions hadn’t gone unnoticed by the few in the room but they all pretended to be busy with their own tasks, pointedly not looking their way in fear of meeting Damians burning gaze. Most of the Imperial Scholars consisted of the nerdy straight laced types. Not like the other gossiping or normal students who would have easily complained or made a scene about it. They all feared Damian despite being on equal footings so Anya knew they would not be snitching any time soon.
After a bit, Damian relaxed, probably coming to the same conclusion - though she could still tell he was on alert. He wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on her shoulder, “Alright you can stay but don’t distract me, I’m reading.”
She could feel the warmth of his blush on her cheeks and couldn’t help but relax into his arms, listening to the soothing sound of his thoughts as he read, letting her eyes flutter close in the comfort of it all.
She could definitely get used to this.
Anya thought she’d gotten away with the perfect crime but after school, Damian met her at the gates of the entrance, pulling her off to a hidden corner - where he got back at her with his own revenge.