Raven couldn't stop smiling. She hated the rush of excitement she felt, but this was the rush of falling in friendship-love. That's what Raven called it anyway, when you met someone for the first time, and they became your friend and all you could do was be giddy with excitement, and nod with eyes wide every time you found common likes and dislikes.

But this was more than that. Raven could see Anya's gentle nature bleed through everything she did, and buying Raven breakfast was something, somehow, no one had ever done for Raven before.

Raven felt like she was walking on a cloud, even as she stepped out into the sharp evening cold to brave the dining hall. She was going to meet up with Clarke and Monty, who were her partners on this research project. Most of the people in her suite were honestly advanced as fuck, which, was probably why they were living together apart from how good of friends they were.

"What's up, homies?"

"Shiiiit dude." Monty initiated their secret handshake and pulled her in for a hug. Monty and Clarke were pretty much the only people allowed to touch Raven without getting backhanded.

"Bro I had a dream we fucked." Clarke intoned deeply.

"Fuck off, Griffin." Raven rolls her eyes.

"Dude we basically have no idea what we're doing here." Monty looked serious, which Raven appreciated. He actually got work done at the end of the day, while Clarke would usually fuck around until 2 am and then panic. They all did it together though, so Raven didn't judge. She appreciated Clarke's company to pull her out of hyperfocusing that would make her nitpick at homework for hours after it was done. Also, without Clarke's sense of humor, she probably would have gone crazy by now.

Raven grinned. "Neither do I, but we shall suffer together, as is the law of academia."

Walking back from the group meeting, Raven felt good. This was the first time this semester, though it was already half over, that she really thought she was excelling, not just scrambling to get everything done every night. Even though she had gotten into this school chiefly on merit, and frankly was overqualified for it, (and probably should have gone to MIT, Raven wasn't cocky, she just knew her skills and valued them how they ought to be valued,) this semester hadn't been easy, despite how she'd bragged to Anya the other night.

She decided it was the perfect night to treat herself to something sugary from Starbucks, a vanilla bean frappuchino with a shot of caramel and chocolate, please.

She reluctantly forked over the $4.90 it had come to. Honestly, the prices were ridiculous, but somehow, it made the drink taste just that much better.

She sat down in one of the booths, pulling out her phone, and deciding to people watch for a little bit. And her heart nearly stopped when she saw Anya.

Anya's hair was curly, and Raven realized she must recently have washed it. She looked almost ethereal, with the glow of the street lamp from the other side of the window reflected off the snow and onto the frames of glasses which Raven had never seen before, but were completely endearing. Anya was also wearing flannel, which, GAYEEEEE.

Raven laughed to herself a bit before attempting to nonchalantly walk to where Anya was sitting, failing miserably, of course, but trying nonetheless.

Anya, however, apparently had better things to do than acknowledge Raven standing there, though she was sure Anya had recognized her, as she didn't have earphones in.

"Hey, stranger."

Anya didn't look up immediately, brow furrowed in concentration, but she nodded in acknowledgement when she did, tongue pressing against her lips.

"What's up?" Raven leaned over the table.

"It's just...this...fucking...EBSCO Host bullshit, who the fuck designed such a crappy UI?"

Raven laughed. "I don't know but they should be paying me to use it. Here, let me see, what's the topic of your paper? Is it your senior thesis?"

Anya peered at her. "I'm a junior, actually."

"Oh! Sorry, just, because you said you were 22, I thought..."

"Nah. I started school late. What about you, how old are you?"

"19."

Anya nodded, mind still clearly on her paper. "That's good."

"I can help, seriously, I'm a research expert. I mean, I usually use JSTOR, but..."

Anya sighed, "I don't care at this point. I honestly know this topic well enough that I could write this without any sources at all, but I need reputable ones because this fucking insane professor actually reads them." She dug her fingers into her own scalp, massaging her temples furiously. "I need a bathroom break, anyway, honestly, I don't want to keep you too long, but any help you can give me would be incredible. I think my intro paragraph and the prompt will give enough insight into the topic?"

"I got you, boss."

"Thank you so much."

"It's no problem."

Sure enough, Anya, Raven realizes, isn't typing the right things into the search bar. She smiles triumphantly when Anya comes back, already having found five incredible resource wells in the time Anya was gone.

"You did all that while I was peeing?"

"It's no problem, chief," Raven winks. "You want me to talk you through the rest of this paper? I honestly love writing papers. I feel like engineers who hate writing were just never exposed to how to do it without it feeling like busting your ass to get nowhere."

Anya's relief was palpable. "Please."

Raven smiled, "Let's start with a mind map."

Anya groaned. It was going to be a long night.