au yeah autumn challenge

[sunrises]

Soulmates - Riku / Namine (Kingdom Hearts)
College - Lloyd Irving / Colette Brunel
Single parent - Tyler Lockwood / Caroline Forbes
Enemy - Ochaco Uraraka / Izuku Midoriya
Laundromat - Peyton Leverett / Maxine Hunkel
Hogwarts - Stefan Salvatore / Misty Day
Famous - Tom Bronson / Sharpay Evans
Kwami swap (Power Swap) - Yato / Hiyori Iki
Summer Camp - Evan Tildrum / Tani (Ni No Kuni II)
Secret agent - Izuku Midoriya + Bakugou Katsuki
Mermaid - Senel Coolidge / Shirley Fennes
Royalty - Stefan Salvatore / Jesse Wells
Fake dating - Stefan Salvatore / Freya Mikaelson
Reincarnation - Jason Grace / Piper McLean
Life Swap - Stefan Salvatore + Eugene Woods
Neighbors - Roxas / Olette (Kingdom Hearts)
Sidekick - Iris West + Ashley Williams
Circus - Shizuku Mizutani / Haru Yoshida
Reverse Crush - Katsuki Bakugou (MHA) / Leila (Riordan-verse)
Coffee shop - Ryuji Sakamato / Makoto Niijima
Childhood Friends - Stefan Salvatore / Elena Gilbert
Crime - Tenko Midoriya + Hana Midoriya + Izuku Midoriya
Historical - Barry Allen / Iris West
Office / workplace - Sebastian Debeste / Kay Faraday
Friends with Benefits - Goro Akechi / Haru Okumura
bff swap - Sean Diaz / Ally Parker
Internet - Masayuki Hori / Yuu Kashima
Gym - Eijiro Kirishima / Katsuki Bakugou
Time travel - Max Carson / Lester Papadopoulos
Roommates - Jeremy Gilbert / Kol Mikaelson
"Dealer's Choice" - Roland Crane + Evan Tildrum

PROGRESS: 31/31

Comments

roommates - Jeremy Gilbert / Kol Mikaelson | wordcount: 1,983

[sunrises]

Jeremy's roommate might as well have been a ghost.

They had met a couple of times during the first week of class, when they had both set up their rooms and delegated chore duties. Beyond that, the roommate had shown little signs of life. He left behind no dirty dishes. His jacket been sprawled across the couch's armrest for five, six days? Their poor succulent was wilting, and the fairy lights hanging from the window hadn't been turned off in equally as long.

Hell, the fridge held no leftovers. Sometimes, Jeremy would bring back burgers or fries from his food service job, labeled 'PLEASE EAT ME,' and lo and behold - it would be eaten. Those missing plates of food were the only tangible sign, other than the occasional opening and slamming of a door, that Kol Mikaelson, performing arts student, actually existed.

At first, Jeremy figured Kol was crashing at his girlfriend Davina's place, or that he had fallen into some weird acting cult. Considering the crowd at Whitmore (and how dang loud theater students were in the library), the latter wasn't unlikely.

Most nights were quiet. Jeremy could pull out his tablet and sketch his homework in relative peace, taking solace in their eternal fairy lights and the cars passing their window outside. Sure, the walls were thin, but headphones circumvented all personal gossip and drunken shenanigans.

They did not, unfortunately, prevent someone from barging through the door and point a long staff at Jeremy. The sharp, pointy end, jolted Jeremy to attention and he sat straight, slowly sliding down his headphones. Whoever this was, he wasn't Kol. He was too blond, with tight, curly hair, and a scowl that would've made Lord Byron proud, and his clothes were loose fiting, like he had just walked off a runaway.

(Given that that fashion students also lived in this building, that possibility wasn't far off.)

Yet the stranger's gaze didn't waver. He snarled, with a loud voice that pierced the music, "Kol, I swear to God, if you actually answer your phone –"

Then, as if realizing exactly where he was, he stared, with his eyes almost bulging out of his head, and swore.

"Yeah," Jeremy snorted, resisting the urge to point the pointy staff away from him, "I know. I'm disappointed I'm not the living ghost either."

"Living ghost?"

"Put your staff away," Jeremy said slowly, holding up his arms in defense, "And I'll tell you everything I know."





The stranger, as it turned out, was Kol's older brother Klaus, and Kol had ghosted more than his roommate: he had turned his back on his entire family, brothers and sisters alike. After the first week of classes, Kol had become a blip on the map. He showed up to classes - his professors had confirmed as much - but he hadn't bothered to maintain any of his personal relationships.

His sisters' emails had gotten ten-word answers, and his brothers had been left on read one too many times. Worse: Kol had switched his phone out of 'Find my Friends,' and no phone locator could place him anywhere. Even when he was at class.

"One, who actually uses that app, and two, there's five more of you?" Jeremy repeated, feeling a headache coming on.

Just when he thought he would be living alone for a semester, Kol's brother bursts through the door and all thoughts of a peaceful life go out the window. Worse: the brother was kind of hot, in an untamed and ruly kind of way.

"We do, all the time," Klaus had answered, his expression crumbling into one of disappointment. "Don't you do it to check up on your sister?"

"Noooooo." Jeremy gave Klaus a skeptical glance. "Nor do I ever plan on it."

Klaus shrugged, with rigid, uncertain movements that betrayed his true offense, "Your loss."

"If you were hoping I'd know where your brother is, the truth is... I don't. I haven't seen him since Orientation, but." Jeremy paused. "He does eat everything I bring back for him. So I know he at least comes home at some point during the day. Probably when I'm in class."

Klaus turned his head towards the fridge, where both Kol's and Jeremy's schedules rested, along with their split-up chore duty (x's for Jeremy, o's for Kol, and frowny-faces for the weeks where neither of them accomplished what they'd meant to).

"So we wait for him - skip class. Pretend you're out sick or something."

"What, and skip anatomy?" Jeremy almost squawked. "I can't, that's like a fundamental art class and I really need to polish up my –"

"I'll teach you whatever you miss." Klaus sighed, folding his arms and scrutinizing Jeremy with a discerning eye - like Jeremy was a model, and Klaus was about to sculpt his likeness out of clay. "You've never seen my brother, so of course he never told you, but my professional name's Nic Ansel."

"Nic Ansel, as in the Nic Ansel...?"

The Nic Ansel who revolutionized fantasy comics with a wry sense of humor and clean, crisp lines that wouldn't have been out of place 50 years ago? The Nic Ansel who had inspired Jeremy to venture down the same path towards art school? This - this fashion model-looking dude was the same guy Jeremy had admired for a good portion of his life?

Jeremy's awe and surprise must've spoken for him, because Klaus's (Nic's?) expression softened, and for the first time all day, he laughed with genuine amusement.

"Yes, we're one and the same. Now come on, we've got a little brother to wait for."





They spent the whole night brushing up on Jeremy's anatomy. Which, out of context, sounded way worse (and Klaus taking off his shirt to help Jeremy didn't help any). They warmed up with figure drawing: Klaus would time Jeremy for ten seconds, then thirty seconds, then a minute or two, to build up his artist's eye and loosen those muscles in his shoulders.

Then they would spend longer on various poses, drawing out the lines of action and what mattered most about a model's movement. What emotions and nuances Jeremy should capture in longer paintings, and what grand strokes he should master in shorter bursts. They left nothing up to chance, especially since Jeremy was missing a precious 8 AM for this master class.

As the clock ticked 7:30, then 7:45, then 7:55, Klaus put his shirt back on, reaching for a cup of coffee he had brewed earlier.

"He should be back any minute."

Jeremy stared at him and tried to fight back a yawn. "What makes you so sure?"

"If he's still the little brother I know, he'll come back when he's certain you're not home, which is in three... two...."

The door clicked open, and like Klaus predicted, Kol Mikaelson strolled through the door, tucking his housekeys in his jacket pocket.

He took his shoes off at the door, exhaling with relief as he turned towards the fridge and pulled out the takeout boxes that Jeremy had left. In swift, practiced motions, he then placed those same takeout boxes into a lunch box, and reached for the tea kettle to brew his morning coffee. His fingers brushed against the metal and - and he recoiled, staring at the hot metal.

Then he turned his shoulder back towards the living room, and his expression crumbled upon the sight of Jeremy and Klaus.

"What're you doing here?"

Klaus's expression remained stoic as he stepped forward, resting an arm on Jeremy's door frame.

"Funny you should ask, because I've been trying to find you for weeks now."

Kol glared. "If this is about Mom, or Freya, or any of their stupid drama, I'm not getting involved. You and Rebekah should be able to pull them out of the coven all by yourselves."

"It's not just about the coven." Klaus sighed, turning his attention towards Jeremy. "You've been clearly avoiding your roommate. Your schedules aren't even that different, and Davina told me you broke up long before you got here."

Jeremy could feel yet another headache coming on, and he wasn't sure what was prompting it: the news that Kol had lied about his girlfriend, or the news that Kol's sister (and mom?!) were part of a cult, or even just the realization that Kol had been avoiding him. On purpose. What had he ever done to give off that impression, besides acting like a stereotypical art student?

"I have my reasons," Kol settled on saying, biting his lower lip.

"Yet you eat all the food he brings back for you."

Kol avoided both their gazes, turning his back on both brother and roommate.

"Hey, man," Jeremy interrupted, rushing to physically place himself between the two. He didn't know what he could do, but he felt like he had to do something - and maybe apologize for swooning at Nic Ansel's feet. "I don't know what I did, but I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean to make you feel like... whatever it was that made you avoid me..."

With that, Jeremy reached out and grasped his hand on Kol's shoulder.

Kol froze, drawing in a deep breath. "Hey, Jeremy..."

"Yeah?"

"When did you know you liked your boyfriend? That Tyler guy?"

"I don't know, it was a series of moments that led up into him kissing me..." Jeremy squinted. "But you also know we broke up, right? Like we've been broken up since like, that first week?"

Tyler had visited them, that first week, and while he had kissed Jeremy in full view of Kol, he had also decided to end the relationship in one swift motion. They were attending different schools, he had said; they wouldn't have a future with their diverging career paths. At the time, Jeremy had cried and insisted that they could fight their destinies.

Now, he could see what Tyler had - and he was grateful that Tyler hadn't roped him into the life of a werewolf's significant other. There was more responsibility and family than a fledging runner like him could've accepted. No, would've ever accepted.

He needed freedom. The same freedom that art school had provided.

"You've been what?" Kol spun on his heels, squinting at Jeremy, really peering into his eyes. "You've been single this whole time?"

Jeremy swallowed, wondering just why Kol was scrutinizing him as if he were a specimen under a microscope, or yet another sculpture ready to be molded - "Yeeees?"

"You fucking idiot," Kol murmured, right before planting a desperate kiss on Jeremy's lips, fingers intertwining with his unbrushed hair, hands sliding right down to the nape of Jeremy's neck.

He was upset, furious even - but Kol refused to let go, not until he had to breathe.

Klaus clicked his tongue, half in amusement, half in genuine annoyance, "So will you answer your sister's emails now, you moron?"

"You're the one who chased me down here, so..." Kol craned his head to look better at his brother. "Let us have a moment."

Jeremy froze.

"Wait..." He felt like the biggest idiot in the world here, but he was on the verge of a big realization here, "You were in love with me?"

"Yes, you doofus," Kol snickered, right into another kiss. His voice was breathless as he added, "I've been in love with you this whole damn time."

His living ghost - his favorite burger beneficiary - would return to the land of the living, Jeremy realized, as Kol held onto him for dear life. So in celebration of this, and of his favorite idol coming to teach him, he returned the kiss, wrapping his arms around Kol's neck.

Klaus's voice was soft, almost faint as he passed them, but Jeremy could hear that scoff and -

"I'd tell you idiots to get a room," he said as he side-stepped them, "But it looks like you've already done that."