"Wake up, love."

I was stirred from sleep by his voice, gently pulling me into consciousness. I could feel him pressed along my back, one arm draped across my side. I was so comfortable; the warmth emitting from his body made me snuggle back into him, and my mind began to drift back into sleep.

"Theta, come on."

My eyes opened suddenly at the sound of his voice again, dragging me back from my half-asleep state. I groaned, curling up into a ball and pulling the covers tighter around myself. I felt him hug me close, his body curving around mine and pulling me into him. I could tell he didn't want to get up either, but I also knew that we didn't have much of a choice.

With a sigh, I half sat up, missing the days when we were younger and could ditch the Academy anytime we pleased without much more than a slap on the wrist. Things were different now though. We had exams in a few weeks, and we needed to stay committed to our classes. I yawned, raising my arms above my head and stretching, muttering something that was incomprehensible even to me.

"What?"

"How long have we got?" I repeated, wishing we could spend a little time together before going our separate ways for the day. Although we shared the same classes, we really couldn't be near each other all that much in the presence of our classmates, not to mention the professors.

"About an hour," he said, yawning as well. I smiled, glad to have some time. "Come on, Theta; get in the shower."

"Don't wanna," I pouted, wanting to stay curled up with him in bed. "Can't we just lay here for a bit?"

"No," he told me, but I could sense the reluctance in his voice. "We gotta start getting ready. You know how long it takes you." I groaned, throwing the covers off myself and shuffling into the bathroom. He followed, pressing his chest to my back when I stopped in front of the mirror. I looked into it, happy to have him here with me.

"Kos," I murmured, leaning my head back to rest on his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around my waist, holding me tight for a brief moment before reaching down to turn on the water. I let out a sigh, beginning to take off my clothes. I looked over, seeing him doing the same, and raised a brow.

"What?" he asked, giving me a knowing smile. "Might as well conserve water." He grinned.

"Whatever you say, love." I stepped into the shower first, letting the hot water smooth down my hair, dark blonde strands hanging over my eyes. He stepped in behind me, playfully pushing me out of the way so he could get to the water. I watched him admirably, loving the way he let the water run down his face, clumping his hair into dark, wet strands. He looked up at me through blue eyes, water dripping off his eyelashes and running over his lips temptingly.

Taking the initiative, I stepped forward, throwing my arms around his neck and pulling him in for a kiss. I could feel his smile as he kissed me back, water running past our lips and slipping into my mouth with his tongue. I hummed appreciatively, sliding my tongue against his and running my hands down his slippery back. Too soon, it seemed, he pulled away, and I whined from his absence.

"Hush, Theta," he murmured. With a mischievous grin, he put his hands near either side of my head, stretching his arms out so that his hands were flat against the wall. He leaned in close, and I remained perfectly still. When his lips just barely brushed mine, he stopped, and I wondered what he was doing. Just as I made to close the distance between us, he pulled back with a smirk, wiggling a bottle of soap in my face. I scowled, wanting to stick my tongue out at him for tricking me.

He smiled that crooked smile, before popping open the bottle and squeezing it out onto a washcloth. He brought the cloth up to my chest, rubbing it over my skin, along my shoulders, and then around to my back. He hugged me close then, rubbing soothing circles into my back with the washcloth. I never wanted this to end.

XXX

I passed by him in the corridor, and he merely glanced at me, eyes filled with sadness as he continued walking. I went on in the opposite direction, walking to our lesson a different way than him. From where I was, the walk was the same distance either way. We had decided that it would be better that way so that we wouldn't arouse any suspicion. A relationship such as ours wasn't exactly considered normal on Gallifrey, so we had to keep a low profile whenever we were in public.

When I walked into the lesson, my eyes automatically flicked over to where Koschei sat; his eyes were already on me, as he knew exactly when I would walk through the door. With the special connection that the two of us shared, we could always tell where the other was at, how they were feeling, and a general idea of what they were thinking. I looked away before anyone could notice, and took my seat at the opposite side of the room.

XXX

"I hate studying," I muttered pathetically, lying down on my bed with an open book in front of my face. Koschei was on his back in his own bed, the bed we usually slept in, reading an Earth comic book he'd nicked from the library.

"Quit your complaining," he said, flipping the page. "You need to bring your grades up, especially with exams coming up." I sighed dramatically, looking back down at my textbook. I was studying for mechanics class, going over the different parts of a TARDIS and how it was powered.

Looking back over at him, I asked the question for the millionth time: "How come you don't have to study?" He looked over at me, one brow raised quizzically.

"Because I don't need to," he said, looking back to his comic book. "These humans have very intricate imaginations, I'll give them that," he said off-topic.

"Koschei," I whined, drawing out the last syllable for far too long. He turned his head to look at me. "Can't you help me?" This time it was his turn to sigh, letting the comic book fall onto his chest.

"Fine," he said after a minute, hefting himself up off his bed and coming over to sit on the edge of mine. "You're lucky I love you." I grinned.

"I know."