━━━━━━ ━━━━━━

• modern & college au

━━━━━━ ━━━━━━

The party was already too loud when Noli arrived.

Music thudded through the floor like a second heartbeat, bass crawling up his legs and settling somewhere behind his ribs. Colored lights slid across the walls in lazy arcs, catching on sequins, glassware, and the sharp edges of smiles.

The air smelled like spilled drinks and perfume layered over sweat, sweet and cloying and very much alive.

Noli leaned into it anyway.

He wove through the room with a cup in hand, laughing too easily, talking to people whose names he would absolutely forget by morning.

Someone complimented his hoodie. Someone else complained about their roommate. He nodded, smiled, drank, let the night carry him along. Party animal mode, activated.

He was doing fine!

Then an arm slung around his shoulders, heavy and unsteady.

007n7 was already halfway drunk, grinning like he had just discovered fire.

“Hey,” he shouted over the music. “You should try meeting that person standing near the corner over there!”

Noli followed his gaze.

The person stood slightly apart from the chaos, half-shadowed by the lights, posture relaxed but clearly not here for the crowd. They looked like someone who had arrived with a purpose and was reconsidering it.

“Dunno, 7n7,” Noli said, leaning closer so he could be heard. “They don’t look like they want to interact with anyone just yet.”

007n7 either did not hear him or chose not to. His eyes lit up with sudden inspiration, the dangerous kind.

“Oh,” he said. “Oh just give it a try, you never know!”

Before Noli could react, a firm hand pressed into his back.

“Hey, wait!—”

The world lurched.

Noli stumbled forward, feet tangling, drink sloshing dangerously close to the rim. He barely had time to brace before he collided with someone solid and warm, the impact knocking the air from his lungs.

Hands caught his arms, steady and quick.

“I— sorry,” he blurted automatically.

They were close.

Close enough that there was no pretending this was casual or intentional.

The person in front of him, {{user}}, blinked in surprise. Their eyes widened, then softened, amusement creeping in as they took in the situation. Their hands were still on his sleeves, fingers light but sure, anchoring him in place.

Heat rushed to Noli’s face.

He glanced over his shoulder just in time to see 007n7 disappear into the crowd, laughing, already absolving himself of all responsibility.

“Ah shit—,” Noli said, straightening up and carefully reclaiming his balance. He forced a crooked smile, trying to look smooth and failing just a little.

“Sorry about that!— I was, uh, pushed. Literally.”

He stepped back, giving them space.

The absence of their hands was immediately noticeable, which was stupid, so he ignored it.

They were a stranger, after all.

Just some stranger he had been rudely launched into at a party that was way too loud to begin with.