Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Calculester was sitting at a lunch table, accompanied by Zoe and Miranda. He was trying to comprehend the conversation they were sharing, but he quickly learned that it wasn't going anywhere.

"What do you mean necromancy isn't romantic?? What's more romantic then raising an army of the dead to serve as butlers for your loved one?"

"Necromancy is disgusting and forbidden in my kingdom. The only true form of romance is poisoning yourself and waiting for a handsome suitor to kiss you awake! That's what my father always told me!"

"That is SUCH an overused trope! Ugh."

He was just sitting here, unsure of which course of action he should take. He was considering taking the "Fake a system overload" route until he saw a familiar face sit down at the table, right next to him.

"Friend Oz! How wonderful of you to join us. We are having a... somewhat productive conversation.."

Cal was honestly unsure of how he was supposed to feel about their conversation, since it had quite disturbing elements that Cal didn't want to elaborate on. Thankfully, the bell rang shortly after, signaling that the lunch period was over.

He got up to walk to study hall, not noticing that Oz was following him. He walked along to the hall, sitting down at a table. Oz sat with him, smiling awkwardly. 

"Oh Hello Friend Oz! Are you studying as well?"

“You could say that… hehe…”

“What are you studying?”

“Human Mummification, for my Human History minor…”

“I have that class as well!”

Cal’s face flashed a “:D”, showing how happy he was.

“How are you doing in that class! It’s quite easy for me.”

“... I have a D…”

In reality, Oz was quite ashamed of his grade in that specific class. It looked awful on his report card, lined up with the rest of his A”s and B’s. He just never quite grasped the subject, and would struggle with staying awake through his teacher’s lectures. It was also taking a toll on his GPA, and it made him worry about his graduation status.

“!”

Cal’s screen changed to a “:(“.

“That’s not a passing grade, Friend Oz! I’m afraid that will affect your ability to graduate this year. I worry for you and will try my best to allow you to pass. Do you have or participate in any extracurricular activities or recieve any outside help on the subject?”

“No…”

“:(.”

“Well then, May I offer to help tutor you? I feel it’s the most ethical and “Nice” thing to do for you! It will help boost your grade and also understand the subject better!”

“Uhhh…. Sure!”

Oz almost instantly said yes, internally cursing himself for seeming so eager about it.

“:D”

His monitor changed to a happy face. He loved helping people, so he would definitely be making a positive impact if he helped his friend! He saw this as a opportunity to better his understanding of social cues and acceptable behaviors as well, so he would be "crazy" to decline!

They said their goodbyes and settled on tomorrow being the first tutoring session. It would be at the school's library, right after 6th period.

Between himself and Cal, Oz was definitely the more nervous one. He always knew that he admired Cal's friendly and sociable nature despite being a literal robot. He was always fawning over his succulents, which made Oz die of cute aggression whenever he witnessed it. Brian teased him about it sometimes, earning him a punch on the shoulder.

It truly fascinated him how... alive something made of metal could act. How human, how loving and caring. Cal had the power to make people feel so cared for despite all his information being from textbooks.

This was his first... date? Was it a date? He didn't know how to categorize it. They never really called it a date, so I guess it's more of a hangout. Whatever the meeting was called, Oz couldn't be happier. He picked out one of his best outfits for him, in a attempt to impress Cal. He went to bed that night, his mind racing with possible scenarios on what could happen.

His final thought, though, was the hope that the session would go well. Well enough to have a follow up session, at least.

Chapter Text

That morning, Oz woke up feeling anxious and worried out of his mind. Or, at least more anxious than usual. He hurriedly got out of bed to get ready for the school day, putting on his usual yellow cardigan with a white collared shirt and black jeans. He sprayed on some cologne, knowing that it would probably wear off before he met up with Cal. He just wanted to make sure he was presenting his best self. He would probably crawl into a hole and die if he embarrassed himself.

He got his backpack on and left for the day, dragging one foot in front of the other hesitantly. He had half a mind to cancel out of shame and to never show up to the school ever again, but he didn’t want to hurt Cal’s feelings. He especially didn’t want to do that. That’s worse than just embarrassing himself in front of him.

He made it to school, sitting on a small bench in the courtyard. His good friend Brian joined him shortly after, his face showing an impressed expression.

He always considered Brian to be a close friend. He was a little slow at times, sure, but he was always there when Oz needed support or advice. He was also extremely calm a lot of the time, providing a good contrast to Oz's anxious and jittery nature.

“Cologne?”

Brian started up the conversation, taking a sip from the energy drink he had in his hands.

“Y-Yeah…”

“... wait, you're actually meeting up with cal?”

“Well I couldn’t say no! Not to him at least…”

"Woahhh.”

Brian raised an eyebrow, giving Oz a side look. He knew he developed crushes fast, but he’s never been this forward about one. He’s always been the type of person to admire them from afar and never really try to do anything about his feelings. He’d always end up feeling bad for him when another person started to flirt with the monster he was pinning for.

“Not like that! He’s just too much of a sweetheart to say no to. He somehow gives the worst puppy eyes despite barely having eyes…”

Oz quickly got defensive, coming up with an excuse on why he just had to say yes to being tutored. He'd never hear the end of it if Brian knew that he had a 'secret' crush on Cal.

“.. uh huhhhh…”

He was obviously hesitant to believe Oz’s answer, grinning. Oz was clearly not as slick as he thought he was.

“Whatever you say…”

He teased him again, ruffling his hair. Oz huffed in annoyance, fixing it shortly after.

The bell rang, making the two get up and eventually part ways to head to their respective classes. Oz thankfully had English first, which was an easy class for him. He always had a gimmick for learning languages, and he could pridefully speak fluent English and Spanish. He had decided he’d spend English class trying to get some extra knowledge about Human Mummification. He needed help, yeah, but he didn’t want to seem like a total idiot in front of Cal.

He opened his computer, clicking over to the assignments he was given for the semester. He opened one to take a look at it, and was almost immediately dumbfounded. How the hell did anyone understand this??

He was only able to answer 2 questions before giving up. It was just too confusing to him. He barely understood why humans mummified corpses, let alone the process. All he knew was that it involved some kind of special bandage and a lot of jars. He closed his computer in defeat, leaning back in his chair with a sigh. One of his phobias on his shoulder looked equally famished, acting all dramatic about it. It made Oz chuckle, lifting his mood up a bit. He peered over at the clock, muttering under his breath. There was still a half hour of this class left. A half hour of Oz learning literally nothing new.

God, was this going to be a long school day.