"I'm your substitute for today, Sazh Katzroy," said the man with the afro. "Um…on your teacher's instructions, it says to peer edit. She says you'd know what that means."

A general murmur of assent passed through the class. Their teacher had told them they'd partner with the person who sat next to them.

"Dammit," whispered Lightning.

"Aw, come on. I know you want to read what I've got," Fang smirked, tapping the neat printed pages on their table.

"It's a matter of not wanting you to read what I've got," Lightning muttered. But in the end, she (unwillingly) surrendered her piece.

At least on the up side, she could mock Fang on hers.

Lightning took her black pen and got ready to tear apart the story the Pulsian had handed to her.

But…there was one problem. It was good.

Very good.

And…familiar?

Lightning shook her head, dispelling the thoughts. Surely there was something she could pick apart?

Other than a few spelling errors, there wasn't.

Lightning and Fang turned to each other at the same time. They looked each other in the eye and seemed to have come to the same conclusion.

"Well…yours was better than I expected," Fang admitted.

"As was yours," Lightning conceded. "I never took you for the writing sort."

"Same here," Fang said.

"Well…did you notice anything that you'd change in mine?" Lightning asked.

"Hmm…" Fang scratched her chin. "You don't refer to characters by name enough. You use all these other ways to address them besides their name. I think you should use their names more often. You know, for the whole association with names and faces."

Lightning nodded, "Thanks, I probably wouldn't have noticed that."

"How about for me?" Fang asked.

"You say 'said' too much. Use a thesaurus," Lightning suggested, though it wasn't coldly.

Fang nodded in thanks and took back her story. She handed Lightning back hers as well.

"Do you write on your own time?" Fang asked. "You seem much better than most of the people here."

"Yeah, it's a hobby of mine," Lightning shrugged. "But I wouldn't say I'm very good at it."

"Liar, I think you're alright," Fang smirked, leaning back in her chair. "Quit being so modest and take a compliment."

"Then I should return the favor. Yours was decent as well," Lightning smiled faintly.

"Nah, I doubt that's true," Fang said.

"Hypocrite," the roseate rolled her eyes.

Fang laughed, "Look at us, talking like civil people."

"Yeah, you can be tolerable when you're not being a bitch," Lightning said, a hint of a grin on her face.

Fang chuckled, "It's like we're friends. Who knew we'd both have the same hobby? Maybe we should meet up sometime and do some writing together?"

Lightning's heart skipped a beat. It sounded like a date. Almost.

But she was meeting BehemothQueen on Saturday. She couldn't let Fang get the wrong impression, even if she was grinning sexily at that present moment.

"Just not this Saturday," Lightning found herself saying. "I've got somewhere to be."

"Crazy coincidence, I've got a date Saturday. Maybe Sunday, or next weekend?" Fang suggested.

"You? On a date?" Lightning couldn't resist. "Who's the guy?"

"She is a friend. It might work out, it might not," Fang shrugged. "I've never met her, after all."

"What, is it some sort of blind date Vanille cooked up?" Lightning raised an eyebrow.

"Something like that," Fang said.

"She's a friend, but you've never met her?" Lightning pressed.

"From the internet," Fang said sheepishly.

"Ah," Lightning merely said. Crazy coincidence, indeed, she thought to herself.

Fang: How was your day?

StormCloud: Not bad. That girl who sits next to me in class turned out to not be as much of a bitch as I thought.

Fang: Good news, I guess. Get any writing done today?

StormCloud: No, unfortunately. You?

Fang: A little, but not enough. I guess Saturday's just been distracting me.

StormCloud: You and me both. I'm a bit excited.

Fang: A bit? Aren't you leaping for joy at the thought of my sexy face?

StormCloud: I don't know what your sexy face looks like.

Fang: We'll fix that.

StormCloud: Do you ever let up on the flirting?

Fang: Nope! Now, down to business. Wanna work some more on that collab fic?

StormCloud: Might as well do something productive today.