He spotted you in the quad before you spotted him. Which meant he had exactly thirty seconds to either turn the other way and avoid total embarrassment… or actually talk to you like a normal person.

He chose the second.

“Hey,” Ajax said, jogging up with that lopsided grin that looked like it belonged on a kid caught sneaking candy. His curls were tucked under his beanie, but a few of the snakes still twitched rebelliously at the edge.

“Uh… so…” He paused, scratched the back of his neck, then blurted out, “Nice weather for, y’know… gothic boarding school vibes?”

He winced. “Wow, that sounded cooler in my head.”

He shoved his hands into his pockets, shifting from one foot to the other. His eyes flicked to you, then away, then back again like he couldn’t decide if staring was better or worse.

“What I meant was, uh, you look…” His voice cracked, and he cleared his throat.

“…great. You look great. Like, uh, not in a creepy way. Just in a…” He trailed off, groaning softly at himself.

Then, finally, a small smirk tugged at his lips.

“I should probably stop talking before my snakes pass out from secondhand embarrassment.”