章 15: 15: STEALTH!
"So what'd you think about your first college class, Fishies?" Gwen asked, smirking as she, Adam, and Ruby walked out of Professor Yen's lecture hall.
"It was fascinating," Adam answered. "I don't think I've heard that story before. At least, not in detail. I knew about Wizard Hunts, of course, but not in Hallow specifically."
"I knew most of it," Ruby said. "From Mom… She was, uh, really into the whole 'Witch' aesthetic and history and stuff."
Ruby and Adam exchanged a glance. They both knew that was an understatement. Summer Rose had been the goth, witchy equivalent of those new-age crystal-hippie moms. It was only recently that Adam found out there was some truth to her beliefs and that Ruby had inherited that truthful legacy.
"Dope. So dope," Gwen gave a genuine smile. "I always loved when Professor Yen talked about that kind of stuff last year. The whole supernatural and dark magic aesthetic? Such a vibe. And Professor Yen is really knowledgeable about the history there. I wonder if she did her PhD thesis on it or something…?"
Another glance passed between Ruby and Adam. As far as they could tell, Gwen wasn't aware that the supernatural was real. Which was something of a surprise for someone who'd lived in Hallow their whole life. Adam had a feeling it was more 'willful ignorance/acceptance' on Gwen's part rather than her being lucky enough to never stumble across something unexplainable.
Professor Yen, on the other hand… Well, Adam thought it was almost certain that she knew more than she let on. You didn't get to be a history professor at HU by being complacent. She had to have stumbled across something suspicious. In his mind, it was only a question of how involved she was. Was she an outsider, aware but just looking in on the moonlit world? Or was she… more personally involved…?
A part of him knew the answer to that already. There was something about the good professor that sent goosebumps running along his skin. It wasn't necessarily a wary or dreadful feeling but there was SOMETHING more going on with her. Inky had been suspiciously quiet, clamming up the moment they laid eyes on Yennefer. And as much as Adam wanted to tease his Shadow for being scared of the big, bad (potential) Witch, he kind of agreed with the other half of his soul.
Yennefer's gaze had been… piercing. Adam had felt it on him and Ruby more than once during her lesson. It was as if she saw EVERYTHING. But even then, she wasn't hostile. Merely… intrigued. Which wasn't an impression Adam was all too keen on. It was only his third day in Hallow and already he'd attracted attention from a shady cult, a clan of Vampires, and now quite possibly, a dangerously powerful Witch.
Yet, he had scarce resources to call upon for himself. Ruby, certainly. She wouldn't leave his side no matter what and Adam knew that as readily as he breathed. The thought left the ghost of a smile on his face. But other than her? Well, there was Mavis but they'd just met last night.
Despite how friendly she was and how much he liked her, he didn't know how much help she could actually be. She wasn't some ancient powerhouse Vampire. She'd told them herself that she was 'young' (as far as Vampires went) and sheltered. Last night had been her first night out in the mortal world. So while Adam was almost certain he could count on her help, he didn't know if that would be enough to fully escape the trouble Hallow seemed primed to throw his way.
Other than Ruby and Mavis, Adam didn't know anyone else. Not anyone he was aware of anyway. Adam himself was still trying to figure out what the Hell he was, what he could do, and what he WANTED to do. All he knew at the moment was that more information was always welcome.
Wait… there was one more, wasn't there? The strange girl from yesterday morning. The one who claimed to be his 'soulmate', whatever the Hell that meant. She'd said she was watching over him and promised to keep him safe but… Had she even given him her name…?
Adam couldn't help but snort to himself. Strange, strange girl. Adam didn't know if her priorities were perfectly in order or completely out of whack. He supposed the only thing for it was to find her again. She certainly claimed to be on his side but he wouldn't count her for anything until he knew more. Like her name for a start…
'She — my half of her, anyway — always was a crazy bitch,' Inky's chuckles echoed through inner shadows. 'In the best way, of course. And it's been so long that that might have changed but… Yeah, I doubt it.'
'You said she's in the same situation as me, right? Shadow in her soul, all of that?' Adam asked internally. 'That and the whole 'soulmate' thing should probably count for something. If I believed in soulmates other Ruby…'
'Simp.'
'For Ruby? Proudly.'
"So are all college lectures like that?" Ruby asked Gwen curiously, pulling Adam from his inner musings.
"Nah," Gwen chuckled. "Professor Yen is special. The rest of your classes should be more normal. Class information, going over the syllabus, grading curves, that kind of thing. Actually, do you two want me to look at your schedules? I might be able to tell you what classes to drop outright in advance."
"O-Oh! That, uh, you-…! There's no need to waste your time on-!" Ruby stuttered, overwhelmed by something akin to a 'normie' friendship.
"That'd be lovely. Thank you, Gwen," Adam came to her rescue, flashing a grateful smile.
Neither of them were used to this kind of friendliness. Despite her prickly, goth exterior, Gwen was just straight-up sociable. She was friendly, likable, and simply cool. The kind of 'cool' that got along with everyone without being arrogant, haughty, or putting anyone down.
It was honestly refreshing to talk to Gwen when it seemed that everyone else they came across was linked to the supernatural in some way or another. Their supernatural worries didn't matter so much when Gwen wanted to get to know them for them. She was a much-needed dash of normalcy in Adam and Ruby's hectic first days at HU.
The trio wandered aimlessly around campus for a while, simply chatting and getting to know each other. Or more accurately, Adam and Ruby were getting to know Gwen and vice versa. To Gwen's internal amusement, they made a pretty good impression of a budding harem's recruitment and interview process. Of course, neither of them could see what they were doing, much too innocent to even subconsciously realize the vibes of attraction they were putting out.
Gwen, however, had a bit more experience than the adorable not-couple. She'd never been in a committed harem but she'd been 'scouted' — as it were — more than once. Of all those times, Adam and Ruby's not-couple, not-attempt easily took the cake. They weren't pushy, they gave Gwen good vibes, and they honestly wanted to be her friends instead of viewing her as just another harem piece to fill some unspecified diversity quota or some shit.
Plus, they were adorable together, tied at the waist even if they hadn't acknowledged it as far as Gwen could tell. And of course, it helped quite a bit that Adam was delicious to look at and quite personable beneath his looks. Ruby, Gwen wanted to take under her wing and teach everything to help make the younger goth girl into the brilliant harem leader Gwen knew she could be.
Eventually, Gwen had to take her leave from the adorable not-couple. She gave them her number before she did, telling them 'Don't be strangers'. Gwen liked the pair. She didn't know if their unconscious 'scouting' would go anywhere but she kind of hoped it did. She'd have to introduce them to Rogue too. Mostly so she'd have someone else to bet with on when the two of them would inevitably get together…
IIIII
"… I think we should follow her."
With her statement, Adam stared at Ruby incredulously. They were back in his dorm room after finishing their classes for the day. Like Gwen had said, none of the other classes were anything worth mentioning. Not after Professor Yen's story. It along with its storyteller stuck in their minds for the rest of the day.
As it turned out, Ruby had noticed something funky with Professor Yen just like Adam had. She couldn't say exactly what either. But she knew a sneaky secret when she saw one! Something about the professor resonated with her… called to her… Ruby felt practically driven to get to the bottom of it!
"Do you really think it's a good idea to stalk a professor after hours?" Adam asked.
"Yes-… No-…" Ruby hesitated before throwing her hands up. "Look, I don't think it's a good idea but I think we HAVE to do it!"
"It just seems… risky," Adam hedged. "Really risky. If it goes poorly and we're wrong, we'll be outright creeping on our professor. That's… very much not how I want to start my university career."
"Grrrr~…" Ruby 'growled' adorably. "And what if it goes right? Did you think about that, Mister? She might be our best bet for learning stuff we NEED to know if we're going to be living in this town for four years! A-! A spooky-natural mentor figure or something!"
She poked Adam in the chest with each sentence, emphasizing her points. Her other hand was curled into a fist on her hip as she stood 'intimidatingly' in front of him. Even with him sitting on the bed, Ruby's fierce silver eyes were glaring up at Adam. It made for easily the best scene Adam had seen all day — his adorable shortstack pipsqueak glaring up at him with his and her best interests in mind and a willingness to take what she felt was a necessary gamble.
"Alright," Adam yielded, holding up his hands and chuckling. "I'm willing to try it. As you said, we could really use a 'spooky-natural' — great word, by the way — mentor for all the shit that's happening."
"Exactly!" Ruby chimed, beaming a bright smile at him. "And as much as I liked Mavis, I don't think she's the person we need for that job."
"I agree," Adam nodded. "Doesn't mean we won't include her, of course."
"Should we… call her tonight?" Ruby asked hesitantly.
"Not worried about being seen as too eager~?" Adam teased.
"Urk~!" Ruby's eyes went wide and she froze slightly with a sudden stab of social anxiety. "O-Oh, God, she's going to think we're so needy! She's going to find out we're losers and-! And then she's not going to want to hang out with us! Dangit, dangit! I'm so not used to this! W-What do we do, Adam?!"
By the end, Ruby was outright hyperventilating as her mind and anxiety ran away from her. Gently, Adam took her by the shoulders, spun her around, and nonchalantly settled her into his lap. Ruby froze again, this time for a whole new reason. A different sort of anxiety pierced her heart.
"A-Adam…?"
Adam hummed, hugging her tightly to him with his chin resting on her head, "Hmm~, yes?"
"I-I'm overthinking things, aren't I…?" With those words, Ruby allowed herself to relax back into his embrace.
"You are," Adam agreed.
After a few more moments of content silence, he continued, "I think it's fine if we don't call Mavis back right away. Hell, it's probably a good idea if we don't drag her into something as shady as stalking a professor in a university town. This was our idea. I think we should handle it on our own."
Ruby sighed, "Yeah… Yeah, okay. Just… in a bit, yeah? I want to stay like this a little longer."
Smiling, Adam squeezed her in his arms, "As you wish."
IIIII
Exiting her office after wrapping up her duties for the day, Yennefer paused for the briefest of moments. The hesitation was practically unnoticeable from the outside. On the inside, however, she laughed freely. They thought they were so slick and sneaky. It was cute. They were much, much too early to ever fool a Witch like her.
Two pairs of eyes watched her from the end of the hallway. Summer's daughter and the magnificent young man from Yennefer's first class sat around as if there was nothing better to do. As if there was nowhere better to hang out than a 'random' hallway in one of the university's buildings. To be fair to Adam and Ruby, they at least 'tried' to make it look like they were doing something other than waiting for Yennefer.
Of course, that was still being rather generous to their skills. They sat with their heads together over a notebook of some kind. Ruby chattered away excitedly as Adam seemingly drew. But Yennefer saw through their 'busy' front rather easily. They didn't have any experience tailing someone and their glances up at her office door like clockwork gave them away.
Yennefer pretended to not notice them. She went about her business as if nothing were amiss, locking up her office and making her way out of the building. Once outside, she stopped for a moment. Unintelligible words were muttered under her breath. Two tiny threads of magic were cast on the doorway behind her. Satisfied, Yennefer continued on her way.
Unaware they'd already been made, Adam and Ruby followed their professor. Adam walked along normally. Ruby snuck the only way she knew how. She crept along on her tippy toes, hugging every wall and peeking around every corner. She was STEALTH! She was a whisper in the night! She-!… pouted as she noticed Adam openly laughing at her…
"Adam~!" Ruby hissed. "This is serious! Hurry up! What if she had a broom hidden away somewhere?! She might be getting away!"
"That's a thing?" Adam asked, still barking with laughter.
Ruby looked at him weirdly out of the corner of her eye, "Well, duh! What kind of witch doesn't have a broom?!"
"You don't," Adam pointed out. "And we don't even know if Professor Yen is a Witch."
"Hmph~! Well, she could be!" Ruby huffed. "And the only reason I don't have a broom is because I'm planning on using a sniper rifle instead!"
"That… makes way too much sense for you, Rubes," Adam deadpanned. "Only you would think of flying around on a sniper rifle instead of a broom."
"Aww, thank you!" Ruby beamed at him, not noticing or outright ignoring his sarcasm.
Chuckling, Adam caught up to her at the building's outer door. The same one Yennefer left through. Sneaky, sneaky-style, Ruby peeked her head out, whipping it left and right to find their target. She quickly found Yennefer with her back to them, strolling as if she had all the time in the world.
"There! C'mon!" Ruby exclaimed excitedly.
The pair passed through the doorway. Straight through the magical tripwires, Yennefer had left waiting for them. Neither of them noticed their professor's magic. They did, however, notice when Yennefer paused her stroll for a moment.
Thinking quickly, Adam darted behind a nearby bush, sweeping Ruby along with him. Ruby squeaked at the sudden rush of movement. Adam covered her mouth to prevent further noise, holding her close just in case. Ruby's eyes went wide as Adam held her right up against him, adrenaline doing funny things to her stomach. Yeah, adrenaline… That was it…
For her part, Yennefer didn't turn around. She just briefly puzzled over the curious consequence of her magic. With Ruby, the spell had worked as intended, leaving a thin, web-like strand of magic that Yennefer could trace and track. With Adam, however, Yennefer's magic simply… disappeared. As if it was swallowed by an impenetrable shadow the moment it made contact with him.
How… intriguing. With her interest even more piqued than before, Yennefer continued on her way. Adam breathed a sigh of relief, releasing Ruby. To his slight confusion, her body lingered against his for a moment.
"Ruby?" He asked. "Now, she really is getting away."
"Huh~?!" Ruby stared up at him with wide silver eyes. "O-Oh! Oh, yeah! L-Let's go!"
It was only as she scampered away in a hurry that realization hit Adam like a ton of bricks. He chuckled to himself. Flustering Ruby would never get old. Of course, now that he'd noticed, he had to subtly adjust himself in his pants. As it turned out, turning on Ruby turned him on too… It was fate. It had to be. Adam would accept nothing else for him and Ruby.
Shaking strange thoughts from his head, Adam quickly caught up to Ruby again. It was a good thing he did. As they continued following Yennefer, he almost immediately had to stop her from going back into 'sneaky, sneaky mode!'. As adorable as Ruby may have been, made for sneaking, she was not.
They stalked their professor from a distance for a good while. Yennefer didn't look back once. She didn't have to. Her spell-trace on Ruby had worked, after all, and she wasn't worried one bit about them following her. If anything, they were playing right into her hand. Instead of having to bid her time and approach them, Summer's Daughter and the Young Man of Shadow and Magic were coming straight to her.
Occasionally though, Yennefer would toy with the pair for her amusement. Leaving campus and walking through town, she stopped in front of a reflective window to 'fix her appearance'. In the window, she watched as Adam hastily pulled Ruby into his side, laughing as if she'd just told a joke. Ruby froze up slightly at the intimate contact, giggling along nervously.
With a chuckle of her own, Yennefer continued on her way. She cut through an alley. Adam and Ruby moved to follow her. Then, Yennefer doubled back as if she'd made a wrong turn. In a flash, Adam had Ruby pressed up against a nearby wall, looming seductively over her in a scene that had even Yennefer gaping.
Ruby was more than 'merely' gaping. Her legs almost gave out beneath her. Her mind stuttered and crashed. Adam leaned against the wall over her and leaned down suggestively, his lips practically brushing against hers. His body caged her in. His scent invaded Ruby's nose. Ruby's stomach didn't just do a flip. It rose into her throat and left her nerves jolting with disbelieving thrills.
She sputtered like a pull-started engine, "A-Awawababababba~!"
Yennefer chuckled in the background, still feigning ignorance, "Ah, youth…"
She moved on but her mind was stuck on that scene. If they were trying to go unnoticed, they did a very poor job of it. Seeing a man be that aggressive was a rare and interesting sight. Still, Yennefer supposed that if she hadn't known they were following her, she wouldn't have thought so after that…
The moment Yennefer turned away, Adam grabbed Ruby's hand and dragged her after him. Ruby allowed herself to be pulled along, her mind not working right at all~! She giggled giddily, stuck back in the moment when Adam had her pinned to a wall.
Their current mission had utterly vanished from her mind. 'W-What are we doing again…? *Gasp* Is Adam dragging me away to have his wicked way with my body as payback for that morning~?! W-Wait~! M-My heart isn't ready~!'
Fortunately (unfortunately…?) for Ruby, that wasn't what was happening. Adam was still focused on tailing their professor. He wasn't entirely unaffected by his own actions but he pushed away his arousal for the mission at hand. He pulled Ruby around a corner into an open plaza… where he found Yennefer waiting for him on a bench with a knowing grin on her face.
"Hello, students~… I believe we should all sit down and have a little chat. Mostly about the propriety of stalking a professor, your professor… And about… some other things we may have in common~…"
There was a tense moment of silence as Adam swore to himself, seeing now that Yennefer was just playing with them. Then Ruby — her mind still in the proverbial gutter — squeaked, breaking the mood, "S-So no l-lewd payback…?"
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