Clockwork stood in the middle of this human learning den. How strange that human children traveled so far to learn that they'd need a new dwelling to live in. Weren't there places to learn closer to them?

How fitting that he was to observe and learn about humanity in a place where humans went to learn. He'd fit right in.

He heard that humans liked to decorate their dwellings with trivial items so he decorated his side of the room with the only thing he could think of. He didn't like many things but he did enjoy watching the flow of time, so his walls were covered in all sorts of clocks. He had as many different kinds as he could find in this town. Humans made some truly interesting clocks. Much more creative than anything their creatives could come up with.

He was studying a very elaborate cuckoo clock when the door to his room opened.

In the doorway stood a muscular human child. Well, technically he was an adult now by human standards. He was very young compared to Clockwork though, who was as old as time since he was time himself.

"Hello, dwelling mate." Clockwork stuck out his hand in the ideal human greeting. A handshake. "I look forward to learning this semester."

The human child stared at his hand and entered the room without reciprocating this human custom. Strange. Was this something that had fallen out of style? Did humans not do this anymore?

"I too look forward to learning at this learning facility." The boy looked at him. "What's your name?

A name. Clockwork forgot he needed a more human sounding name.

"My name. Yes, my name." He looked around the room for a moment before his gaze landed on the cuckoo clock he had been staring at. "Chronos Cuckoo. My name is Chronos Cuckoo."

"Hello, Chronos. My name is Paimon Black." He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Clockwork.

Was this an acceptable greeting? Did humans who didn't know each other greet each other in this way?

"Hello… Paimon." Clockwork awkwardly patted Paimon on the back. "How long does this greeting go on for? I am not familiar with it where I am from."

Paimon suddenly pulled back. "Ah, sorry. That is the greeting that I use for my human mother."

Ah. Yes. That definitely makes more sense. Clockwork nodded.

Paimon looked around Clockwork's side of the room. "You have a thing for clocks, Chronos?" He looked him up and down. "Or for time specifically?"

"Yes. I love to learn about history and predict what is to come to pass. By learning what has already happened, sometimes we see things repeat themselves."

"Would you be going for a…" Paimon snapped his fingers thinking of the word. "History major?"

Clockwork nodded. "What about you, Paimon? What interest calls you?"

"I like learning about weaponry and it's used in combat."

"Ah. Would you also be majoring in history?" Clockwork asked. That's kind of what it sounded like.

Paimon shrugged. "Maybe. I'm not quite sure. I still have to-"

"Hey, nerds!" Another human stuck his head in through their open door. "The party in the common area is starting soon. Be there or be square!"

"What do squares have to do with anything?" Paimon whispered after the boy walked away.

"Let's go find out." Clockwork walked toward the door. "Are you coming?"

"I suppose. I don't have much else to do yet."

They both walked out and Clockwork closed their door behind them, locking. "Don't you have things to unpack?"

"Oh." Paimon looked away. "I didn't come with much."

"Don't most humans enjoy decor and paraphernalia that broadcasts their interests?"

"I was advised that bringing in my weapons and using those as decor would be unsettling for some people." Paimon shrugged. "So I didn't bring anything else with me."

"That's true. In the current gun climate, it's an understandable request."

They made their way to their floor's common area. A big group of students were huddled around a table gathering and plating food and snacks. They walked up to the first table and saw a brown dessert cut up into squares.

"Maybe these are the squares that boy was talking about." Paimon whispered. Clockwork chuckled at him.

"Hi there!" A cheerful girl spoke right next to them.

Clockwork looked up at her. She had big glasses and her blonde hair was pulled into two pigtails. He smiled. "Hi."

"My roommate made those brownies. They're soo good. But just a regular kind of good, if you catch my drift."

"Are we drifting?" Paimon looked around the floor, confused.

"Ha, you are too funny." She grabbed a brownie and put it on her plate. "I'm gonna see if I can get an anime club up and running here. Would you guys be interested in something like that? I think I'd be hosting watch parties in the common area."

Where better to observe human culture and behavior than in an extracurricular setting? Then he can learn why some humans love this anime thing so much.

"I would love to." He turned to look at Paimon. "Would you like to watch this anime with us?"

Paimon looked back up from the floor. "Sure. What kinds of anime are there?"

"You've never heard of anime before?" Her jaw dropped and then a smirk appeared on her face. "How would you two feel about watching some anime in my dorm after the party tonight?"

Clockwork nodded. This would give him the opportunity to learn about humanity's biggest enigma: the human woman.

"What anime would we be starting with?" Clockwork asked.

"The longest ongoing anime. We're gonna start with One Piece."

"Ohh sounds fascinating."

They milled around the party for a few hours before retiring to the girl's room.

He stopped as he crossed the threshold to the room. "I apologize, I never got your name."

"It's Cindy. And my roommate's name is Libby."

"Sup."

Clockwork jumped and turned around to see the other girl. "Hello. My name is Chronos, and this is Paimon."

"Hi." Paimon gave Libby a small wave.

Cindy pulled out a small television from inside the closet. "We don't have much room but I think we could move the dresser to the center of the room and we can all pile on my bed to watch it."

Once they got everything set up, Clockwork became engrossed as they watched. These pirates were such explorers. They wanted to see the world and accomplish great things.

After a couple hours, Cindy turned off the television after the last episode finished.

"Is that it?" Clockwork asked sadly.

"No, there's wayy more than that." Cindy said. "But I think it's time we turn in for the night. We don't want to be late for our first day of classes tomorrow."

"I suppose." Clockwork said as he stood up.

"Will you let us know when you get your anime association set up?" Paimon smiled at Cindy. "I look forward to watching this again."

"Yeah! I'll probably hang flyers up to let others know it's happening too."

"Thank you." Paimon waved as they exited the room. "Have a good night, ladies."

"I've never been so fascinated by anything before." Clockwork said as they walked back to their room.

"Not even with clocks?"

"Those don't count. Clocks and time are everything to me. I just meant in terms of such trivial things. I never thought television would be so interesting."

"You didn't have a television back home?" Paimon asked. "I thought most families had one."

"Oh." Clockwork realized he probably didn't know as much about humans as he should've if he wanted to blend in more. "You're right. My… Parental units just weren't interested in it so I didn't think I had any reason to be either."

"That makes sense." Paimon unlocked the door to their room. "Well I guess we should go to bed so we can be up bright and early for class tomorrow."

"I guess." Clockwork sighed. "Goodnight then."

They climbed into bed and Clockwork laid there. He was still thinking about those pirates.

He pulled out his cellular device. He could find a copy of it on the world wide web. He had time powers. He could just watch all of it before tomorrow. He wouldn't even be late for class.

After only a moment's deliberation, he pulled his ear buds out and found the anime online. He's never had something catch his attention in this way. He deserved to indulge himself in it a little.

Time did not creep forward until Clockwork got to the latest episode. He didn't realize this anime wasn't complete. But now he had something to wait for much like the humans do. He would get to find out what the anticipation of waiting for a new episode felt like.

He finally started time again and let his eyes fall shut.

Clockwork was pleasantly surprised to see Cindy in his first class of the day. He walked up to her with a big smile on his face.

"I finished it."

She smiled at him as she sat down. "Finished what?"

"The anime. One piece."

Her jaw dropped. "You finished it? How?"

"I spent all night watching it." He puffed his chest out.

"No, that's still not possible. All of One Piece has a total screen time of sixteen days. There's no way you could've finished it all in one night."

Clockwork froze. He did not think of that when he was deciding if he should freeze time to watch it. "Oh. I must've missed something somewhere. Haha. Guess I didn't finish it after all."

Cindy chuckled. "That's okay. I'm glad to see you're excited about it. It's cute."

"Cute?"

Cindy looked at him. "Yeah. A lot of guys think it's cringe to like anime. It's cute how into it you got."

"Why is anything cringe? If one enjoys something they should embrace it."

Cindy looked at Libby as she walked up to them. "This guy gets it."

Libby threw up a peace sign at him. "Slay."

Paimon walked into class and walked up to them once he saw them.

"Hello, friends."

He wrapped his arms around Clockwork and he froze. He was quickly realizing that this wasn't the most common human greeting.

"Oh, wow." Cindy said. "You guys are a lot closer than I thought. How long have you been together?"

"Together?" Paimon asked.

"Yeah, are you guys dating?" Libby asked.

"No!" Clockwork shook his head. "We only just met yesterday."

"Oh." Libby said. "You guys just look like you've known each other for a while."

"That's just how people greet each other where I am from." Paimon spoke quickly. "I did not realize it wasn't a customary greeting in other places."

"Nah, it's chill. It's just usually reserved for people you're closer to. I'm sure everyone could use more hugs in their day to day life though."

"Yeah!" Cindy said. "It's really not that weird, just unexpected."

Paimon nodded.

That was when their professor walked in.

"Well, we should go sit down." Clockwork said to Cindy. He scanned the room for empty seats and found two at the back of the class.

He waved Paimon to walk behind him and they made their way to their seats together.

They sat down and Clockwork pulled out a notebook and scrambled for a pencil in his bag. Did he forget to pack them? He wasn't normally forgetful.

"Here." Paimon said.

Clockwork looked up to see Paimon holding up a pencil to him. He stared for a couple seconds and reached out to grab it. When he touched the pencil, his hand accidentally grazed Paimon's and it sent a shock through his system. He quickly took the pencil and faced towards the front of the classroom.

He didn't know what that was. Why such a simple touch made him feel that way. In his millennia he's never had that happen to him. What was it?

"Hello, everyone. My name is Professor Haggardy. Today we will be going over-"

Clockwork shook his head. It wasn't a big deal. It didn't matter. He should focus on his class and what the humans thought was important.

A few weeks later Clockwork and Paimon were once again headed to Cindy and Libby's room. She requested that they bring their own refreshments. Libby was making more brownies and Cindy made something called ants on a log. He didn't realize humans were still eating bugs, but he supposed that's why he was here. To learn more about them.

Clockwork prepared his favorite dish that he has witnessed during all his time. The ube cake roll. Paimon was bringing plates, cups, and soda pop because he apparently didn't know how to cook.

They stopped in front of the girl's door and Clockwork knocked. He heard shuffling on the other side and then Cindy opened the door.

"Hey, guys!" Cindy said excitedly. "Come on in."

She ushered them in and closed the door behind them.

"You can put the food on this folding table over here. Then get settled in because I have some cool news."

Clockwork set down his cake roll and saw Libby's brownies, but next to it there was a plate of celery with peanut butter and raisins placed to look like ants. He nodded to himself. This made much more sense.

While Paimon was setting his own stuff down, Clockwork turned to walk the short distance across the room. He jumped and landed on Cindy's bed and he watched as she set up the tv so they could watch the first episode of an anime called Death Note. It was one that she thought Paimon would like because it was basically a type of weapon.

Paimon dropped onto the bed next to Clockwork, landing almost on top of him. His skin felt electric where it brushed Paimon's arm. Paimon adjusted to get more comfortable, but didn't move any further away from him.

"So, before we start I have some good news!" Cindy said as she looked at them. Libby gave her a thumbs up from where she sat on the other end of the bed.

"We got approved to start hosting an anime club every week in the common room!"

"Wooo!" Libby cheered. Clockwork smiled.

"That's great." Paimon said.

"Yeah! I'm looking forward to getting to know more people! I used to go to clubs when I was in high school and I miss having a group extracurricular that was just for fun."

"Will we still have our own weekly anime hangouts?" Clockwork asked.

Cindy nodded. "Of course! You guys are my friends. I like hanging out with you. But one of these days I think we should make plans to do something besides watching anime."

Clockwork nodded thoughtfully. That would give him the opportunity to see what else humans did for fun.

"We could go clubbing."

Cindy barked out a laugh. "Libby none of us are old enough to go clubbing. They wouldn't let us in anywhere."

Libby shrugged. "A girl can dream, can't she?"

"We could go axe throwing." Paimon suggested.

Cindy's eyes widened and she shot Paimon a look. "Axe throwing? I didn't peg you for the violent type. You seem pretty chill."

Paimon shrugged and the motion rocked Clockwork a little. "Gotta let off steam somehow, right?"

She laughed. "I suppose. We ready to get started?"

Clockwork nodded in tandem with Paimon and Libby. Cindy hit play on the tv and hopped onto the bed between Clockwork and Libby.

They watched a couple hours of this host anime that Clockwork couldn't remember the name of. By the time this last episode they watched was ending, he could feel Paimon nodding off, his head resting on Clockwork's shoulder. Cindy chuckled to his right.

"I suppose we should wrap up for the night so he can go to sleep." She pointed at Paimon.

Clockwork smiled. "I suppose. I was enjoying the anime though."

"We can always finish watching it when you two come over next."

He nodded. "That sounds swell."

Clockwork turned to Paimon and shook his shoulder.

"Paimon, wake up."

Paimon groggily looked up, his face inches from Clockwork's. He met his gaze and for a moment they were frozen there. The tension grew and Paimon looked down at Clockwork's lips before glancing back up at his eyes. After a moment Paimon's eyes widened and he backed away.

"Sorry, did I fall asleep? How much did I miss?"

Clockwork's face grew warm and he stood up. "I'm not sure. We were going to stop for the night since you seemed so tired."

"Oh." Paimon said, disappointed. He stood up next to Clockwork.

"Well I hope you two had fun." Cindy stood up and walked them to the door, waggling her eyebrows at Clockwork. The blush crept up onto his face again. What was happening to him?

"I sure did. We'll see you two tomorrow."

Clockwork waved at the girls. Cindy waved back but apparently Libby had also fallen asleep at some point. She was snoring on Cindy's bed.

Cindy closed the door behind them and Clockwork and Paimon headed down the hallway towards their own room.

Paimon yawned and Clockwork chuckled at him. "Tired today?"

He nodded. "I think I was up too late last night studying for an exam. I'm feeling it today."

"Well, hopefully you get a better night's rest tonight." Clockwork opened their door and held it open for Paimon. He walked inside past him and Clockwork closed the door behind him.

"You're telling me."

They got changed and ready for bed. Just before Clockwork was about to turn the light off, Paimon wrapped his arms around his middle. A fluttering feeling erupted inside his stomach.

Clockwork swallowed. "Is this a common goodbye as well?"

Paimon nodded against Clockwork's cheek. "It is."

Clockwork lifted his arms up and wrapped them around Paimon's shoulders. This one felt different. Normally there wasn't so much tension in a simple greeting. Something was happening to Clockwork. He didn't think a god such as himself could feel such a thing.

He pushed it down and after another second pulled away from Paimon.

"Goodnight." He turned off the light. They both got into their beds.

"Goodnight, Chronos."

It was their semester break. Everyone else went back home for the holidays but Clockwork didn't have any family to go home to. He only had the other gods in his pantheon, but they didn't really celebrate such trivial holidays.

The only other person who didn't go home was Paimon. Clockwork thought it was odd. He wondered what Paimon's home life was. He didn't talk about it very often and when he did it was very stilted.

Clockwork decided that while he didn't have classes to worry about he could try out having a human job. He applied before the semester ended and he was going on day fourteen with no day off in sight until the semester started. He was tired to the bone and he didn't understand how businesses could do this to their employees. If a god like Clockwork felt like this after two weeks, he couldn't imagine what a regular human would feel like.

He opened the door to his dorm room. He could barely keep his eyes open but he could see that the light was off.

Staying quiet, Clockwork took his coat off and hung it up in their closet. He stumbled his way over to the nearest bed and collapsed onto it. He was expecting the soft give of his blanket but instead he was met with someone's hard chest and a soft oof sound.

"...what?" Paimon breathed out.

Clockwork's eyes snapped open and he lifted himself up to see Paimon blearily staring up at him.

"I'm so sorry. For waking you up. I thought this was-"

Paimon scooted over in his bed and pushed Clockwork down onto the mattress beside him. Clockwork froze and waited for Paimon to remove his hand from his side, but he never did.

"Paimon?" Clockwork whispered.

"...m tired. Just go to sleep." Paimon said. His breathing evened out and deepened and soon Paimon was asleep again. Clockwork still didn't move. If he got up to go to his own bed he would wake Paimon up again. But was this really okay? Would Paimon be upset in the morning?

Clockwork looked at Paimon's sleeping face. He didn't seem too bothered by it when he woke up. And he was already back asleep. He must've been comfortable enough.

Clockwork shifted, settling in and getting more comfortable. He closed his eyes and soon he was also asleep.

The next morning came by and Clockwork slowly drifted awake. He was laying on his back but he could feel something on his shoulder and draped across his chest.

He pulled his eyes open and was surprised at what he saw.

Paimon had his shoulder resting on Clockwork's shoulder, with his arm draped across his chest. He looked so peaceful as he slept. Clockwork couldn't help but trace every line in his face. The way his lips turned up or the sharp slope of his nose. A warm feeling spread across his body and the fluttering sensation was back.

He smiled as he watched Paimon and it was then that Clockwork realized what he'd been feeling.

Love.

Human's were known for their love. It was what drove the majority of their lives. Clockwork never thought he'd be one to succumb to it. A not to a human, no less.

But as Clockwork stared at Paimon's face, lit up by the sun filtering in through their blinds, there was no denying this feeling.

He was falling in love.

Clockwork stood outside Cindy's door. He wasn't sure if he should actually knock or not. He wasn't sure if this is something Cindy would be willing to talk to him about. Would she turn him away?

He raised his hand up to knock and paused. Maybe he shouldn't-

Suddenly the door opened in front of him and he saw Cindy staring at her keys. She looked up and jumped a little when she saw him. She smiled.

"Hey, Chronos. What's up?"

He swallowed. He supposed he should just follow through with it.

"Hey. I wanted to ask you about some… relationship advice."

She smirked. "Oh? Well come on in. We can't stay too long though because I have to get to work but I have a couple minutes."

She stepped aside to let him into her room and she shut the door after him.

"Sooo… Paimon?"

Clockwork looked up at her sharply. "How did you know?"

She rolled her eyes at him and sat on her bed. "It's not that hard to figure out. You guys have had really good chemistry all year, especially considering you two have only known each other that long."

"What does chemistry have to do with Paimon?"

She laughed. "It's just a figure of speech. It means you guys work really well together."

"Oh." Clockwork sat down on the bed next to her. He looked at the floor for a few moments.

"How does falling in love work?" Clockwork asked Cindy.

The teasing expression fell from her face and she smiled softly at him. "I'm not sure that anyone knows that."

"Does it happen to everyone?"

She shrugged. "Some people never fall in love. Some people fall in love with a lot of people. It depends on the person."

"I never thought I'd be the type of person to fall in love." He said. "It seemed so trivial."

"Do you think you're falling in love?"

He looked at her. "How would I know?"

"Well, how do you feel?"

Clockwork looked back at the floor. "I like being around him. He touches me and it feels like electricity runs through my veins. I'm always thinking about him but it also scares me. I'm not afraid of anything, but this terrifies me."

"I think that's how you know it's love." Cindy said quietly.

"What do I do about it?"

She shook her head. "That's for you to decide. You could tell him or you could keep your friendship the way it is. I can't tell you what you should or shouldn't do." She knocked her shoulder into his. "I can tease you about it, but I can't seriously tell you what to do."

Clockwork nodded his head. "I guess I'll have to think about it."

"Yeah, do that. Thinking about it is good. It'll help you decide what you really want to do."

Cindy slapped her hands on her knees and groaned as she stood up. "But I do have to go to work. You down for some anime again this week?"

Clockwork smiled at her as he stood up. "Always."

They walked to the door and she pulled her key back out and opened it.

"I hope it goes well." She said.

"Me too. Thank you for listening."

"You're welcome. That's what friends are for." She pulled the door closed behind her and locked it. "Hey, while I'm remembering it, do you and Paimon want to come to my sister's party she's having at her sorority?"

"Sure. Will it be like our floor parties that we have in the common area?" Clockwork started walking with her as she headed down the hallway.

"It'll be much more exciting than that." She smirked at him. "There'll be alcohol and brownies. But they'll be the good, good kind of brownies."

"We'll be there. I'll ask Paimon about it."

"Bet!"

He waved at her as they split and walked down opposite directions of the next hallway. He headed back to his room and opened the door.

Paimon was sitting with his legs splayed against the wall and his head hanging off the edge of his bed. He was throwing a ball up into the air and catching it in his hands as he stared at the ceiling. His eyes darted to look at Clockwork as he threw the ball up again but he missed it as it fell back down and it hit him in the chest.

Clockwork chuckled. "Lost in thought?"

He sat down on the floor in front of Paimon's face as he groaned.

"No. I'm just thinking about my math class."

"I could always help you with it. I'm doing fairly well myself. I'd be glad to help." Clockwork said.

Paimon met Clockwork's gaze and held it for a few beats before speaking. "Thanks. That'd be super cool."

Clockwork chuckled and looked away. "Anyways, Cindy invited us to a party at her sister's sorority. Says it's supposed to be really exciting. Did you want to come with me?"

"Sure!" Paimon said. "I'd love to go to the party with you."

Heat rose to Clockwork's cheeks. "Cool. Did you want to start working on our math homework together? We can go over anything you don't understand."

"Yeah, that'd be great."

Clockwork stood up and watched as Paimon crawled around and readjusted himself so he could stand up. But when he did, he tripped into Clockwork. He grabbed Paimon's arms so he didn't fall to the ground and they both froze.

Paimon made eye contact with Clockwork and pulled away. "Thanks. That could've been bad."

"No problem."

They gathered their math materials and settled down on Paimon's bed and started working on their homework. Their arms brushed against each other as they gestured to the work in their textbooks and their notebooks. They stayed like that until they finished the assignment and separated to go to bed for the night.

Clockwork and Paimon walked into the sorority house together. It was filled to the brim with people and the music was loud. Lights were blinking and strung all throughout the house, almost as if it was moving to the beat of the music.

"Have you ever been to a party like this?" Clockwork leaned close to Paimon and shouted at him.

Paimon shook his head. "I wasn't invited to much back home."

"Me either. I-"

"Paimon! Chronos!" Cindy called.

She danced her way over to them, her hips swaying to the music and a bottle of alcohol in one hand and a brownie in the other. "How goes it?" She asked.

"We are doing well." Clockwork smiled at her. "Are you having fun so far?"

"So much fun!" Cindy cheered. "We've been waiting for you to get here!"

"Is Libby here as well?" Paimon asked.

"She sure is."

Clockwork and Paimon jumped at the voice that was suddenly behind them. They turned to see Libby with her own brownie. She threw a peace sign up at them.

"There's my girl!" Cindy walked in between them to get to Libby, throwing her arms around her. "Now the party can really get started!"

"I'm not sure we have much to add." Clockwork said. "Neither of us have ever been to a party like this before."

Cindy gasped dramatically. "Never?"

"Never." Paimon repeated back to her.

"Such a shame." Libby said.

"It is such a shame." Cindy threw her head back sadly.

"What do you usually do at parties?" Clockwork asked. "We could start with that."

Cindy gasped and smiled at them, looking between Clockwork and Paimon before her gaze settled on Clockwork.

"Let's play seven minutes in heaven!" Cindy said excitedly.

"What is this?" Clockwork asked.

"You've never played seven minutes in heaven before?" Libby asked. "Tragic."

"We play it kind of like spin the bottle." Cindy said. "You sit in a circle and take an empty bottle and spin it. Whoever it lands on, you both have to spend seven minutes in the closet doing anything you want." She waggled her eyebrows at that.

"Some people just sit and talk, some people just wait for their time to be up." Libby bounced her shoulders up and down. "Some people even get freaky while they're in there."

"Let's start!" Cindy called.

The party goers gathered around and sat in a big circle around the room. Clockwork watched Paimon sit next to Cindy across from him in the circle.

"Paimon, why don't you go first?"

He looked at her and shrugged. Grabbing the bottle, he twisted it and watched it as it twirled around on the floor.

The bottle spun quickly in the center of their group. It slowed down and finally landed on Clockwork. Paimon looked up at him and met his gaze.

"Ohhhh. Paimon and Chronos. Time for your seven minutes in heaven." She did a little dance as she smirked at them.

She walked them to the closet and opened it.

"And just so you guys can't get out before your time is up, I'm putting this on the doorknob." She held up an oddly shaped piece of white plastic.

They looked at each other and stepped inside the closet. She smirked at them and waved.

"Have fun you two."

Paimon was staring at the door before his gaze slid over to Clockwork. "What do we do now?"

Clockwork shrugged. "Whatever we want, I guess. We could just talk. Or go over some material from our classes."

Paimon nodded stiffly. "We could go over our mathematics course?"

"Okay."

Clockwork started going over the material for their Real Analysis math course. It was such simple math, he was glad to help Paimon with it. They both tested into the course but he could understand why a human such as Paimon would have a harder time understanding the concepts presented to him.

He was going over the next concept they learned that week when Paimon shifted.

Clockwork felt Paimon's hand slide across the floor and brush his. His heart rate spiked and he swallowed. How did these feelings overtake him so fully? Why was he so nervous? He was a god for titan's sake.

"This is what humans do when they like each other, right?"

Clockwork nodded. "It is."

Was he really going to act on these feelings? Could he do that?

Clockwork lifted his hand and scooped up Paimon's.

They turned to face each other, their faces inches apart when the closet door opened.

"Your seven minutes are up you two!" Cindy singsonged.

Clockwork and Paimon jumped away from each other. Clockwork's heart was racing. Were they really about to do that?

Clockwork stood up and held his hand out to help Paimon stand up. Paimon reached up and took his hand. They walked out past Cindy and she was giving them eyes. Clockwork's face flushed and he tried to ignore her look.

"Okay, now it's Libby's and Buster's turn!"

Clockwork walked away from the group as they cheered and Paimon followed after him. Paimon grabbed his hand and Clockwork turned to face him.

"Did you want to get out of here?" Paimon asked quietly.

Clockwork studied him for a moment before he nodded.

The walk from the sorority was quick. They weren't that far away from their dorm building. Once they got inside the building, they walked back to their dorm room quietly. The air felt charged between them and Clockwork wasn't sure what was going to happen once they got there. Would it be good? Would it be bad? Would he even like it? Would they just pretend like nothing happened?

Clockwork went to open their dorm room door and it felt like it took an eternity. He opened the door and walked inside, Paimon quickly closing it behind them. Before Clockwork could even turn the lights on, Paimon had walked up to him, grabbing one of his hands again.

Paimon's other hand lifted and traced over Clockwork's cheek. He leaned into Paimon's and and closed his eyes. Paimon rested his head in the crook of Clockwork's shoulder and he could feel his heart rate spiking. Paimon pulled back a little, his breath warming over Clockwork's neck.

"Is this the beginning of what we call a human mating ritual?" Clockwork whispered. Paimon's face was inches from his own as he lifted his head back up. Clockwork didn't know what a human would do in this situation. He was the god of time. Not… This. But he couldn't deny the feelings bubbling up inside him. Could he really let himself feel like this for a mere mortal?

"I believe so." Paimon breathed out across Clockwork's cheek. He shuddered.

"How do we start?" He asked.

Paimon was quiet for a few moments before he whispered back.

"I don't know."

Clockwork's eyes widened. "You don't know?" He's always heard that young men were overly curious about this sort of thing. How didn't he know anything about human mating rituals?

"I've never done anything like this before." Paimon looked down at Clockwork's lips.

"Me either."

"Our floor mates would be laughing at us right now, wouldn't they?" Paimon chuckled.

Clockwork smiled. He placed a hand on Paimon's cheek. "Yes. They would be. How is it that they know so much more than us?"

Paimon's smile fell off his face. "I don't know exactly what I'm feeling. You make me feel nice. I like being around you. But it's different than how I like being around that girl that invited us to her fun 'anime association'. It's bigger. More encompassing."

Clockwork stared at him. "Bigger than us?"

Paimon chuckled again. "Yes, somehow bigger than us." He pulled his gaze away from Clockwork's. "It's somehow bigger than us but you couldn't even imagine how big I am."

"Is that a human euphemism?"

"No!" Paimon pulled back, a flush creeping up to his ears. "What if I told you something that your small human mind couldn't comprehend?"

Clockwork frowned. "What would another human be able to tell me that I wouldn't be able to comprehend?"

"What if I told you that I wasn't just another human?"

Clockwork's heart felt like it stopped. Not another human? That'd be absurd. What would the chances of that happening be?

"What do you mean, you're not just another human?"

"I'm not a human." Paimon said. "I was sent here by my pantheon to observe human life on earth more closely. But we started getting so close and I couldn't help but feel… Feel like I was somehow taking advantage of you, being such a high power when you're just a human."

Clockwork barked out a laugh. It built up until he was belly laughing in the middle of their room. He grabbed Paimon's wrist.

"See, you're human mind can't comprehend it."

Clockwork shook his head. "No that's not it. I'm laughing at the absurdity of it. I was also sent here by my own pantheon to observe the humans."

Paimon just stared at Clockwork for a few moments, processing this new information.

"You're not a human?"

"Not any more than you are, apparently."

"What's your name?"

He smiled. "My name is Clockwork."

Paimon's eyes widened.

"Is that why that first night before classes felt like it took forever? You watched that whole anime?"

Clockwork blinked at him. "My powers didn't freeze you in time?"

"No!" Paimon threw his arms up in the air, Clockwork's hand going with his wrist. "I kept waking up thinking 'surely it'll be morning this time.' And it never was! For so long!"

Clockwork barked out another hearty laugh. "I didn't even notice anything with my earbuds in. How wild."

"Pariah."

"Huh?" Clockwork asked.

"My name. It's Pariah Dark."

"Ah, the god of war." Clockwork let go of Pariah's wrist and trailed his hands up his arms and around his neck. "I guess you don't have to worry about taking advantage of me anymore."

Pariah smiled at him. "I guess not."

Clockwork looked at Pariah's lips and inched forward, pressing his own against them. They stayed like that for a few moments before he pulled away.

"How lucky are we to have found someone that'll stay with us forever?"

Pariah trailed his hand against Clockwork's face.

"The luckiest of all."