Tolly sighed quietly but the kiss seemed to have soothed him because he went right to work. It was slower than he'd gone on the test, but that probably accounted for his newfound success because he came up with another right answer. "You know," he mumbled, halfway through the proofs, "I think you're right about the 'whole messing up when I get nervous' thing. I do just fine on assignments." Just fine, of course, meant low 90s. He felt like he'd never gotten an 100 in his life. "It's the tests that tank my grades, I can never seem to keep everything straight in my head."
“Then don’t think of it as a test, think of it a normal assignment, one that just costs a few more points.” He said, watching Tolly as he went through the questions. He tried each one out on the calculator, making sure each one was right now. He smiled proudly at Tolly, glad that at least now he was doing alright. “Maybe ask if you can play music with headphones in as you take the test. I know some teachers allow that too.”
Tolly sighed quietly, resting his head on Cas' shoulder with a small pout. "You say that like it's so easy," he mumbled, a little embarrassed that he hadn't thought of it before. Cas made everything sound so sensible. "All we ever get graded on are tests, all the assignments he gives us are just for practice. And… I dunno, I think the music thing might make it hard to concentrate. I already do bad, I don't wanna make things even worse."
“It takes time to develop a test taking strategic love, you’ll figure yours out soon. You know what you’re doing, even if you don’t get the right answers sometimes. You know the process. You just need to refine a few things, that’s all.” He stood to put the empty plates in the sink, pressing a kiss to Tolly’s head when he got back. He curled up comfortably next to him and watched as he continued to work on the test corrections, smiling proudly when Tolly seemed to catch on to the mistake she He had done, fixing them easily on husband own now
Tolly sighed quietly, perking up a little at the kiss but otherwise seeming pretty bummed out. The rest of the corrections went smoothly, though he still seemed embarrassed every time he managed to correct something easy that he really should've recognized while he was actually taking the test. "How'd you get so smart, huh?" He finished up with a soft sigh and slumped up against Cas' side. "Take some kind of fancy study skills course? Or are you just some kind of genius?"
He laughed softly and combed through Tolly’s hair with his fingers. “I’m not sure, guess it comes more naturally to me? That it my classes don’t really have written tests.” He glanced at Tolly and nudged his head affectionately. “You’re incredibly smart, just because you don’t get the highest grade doesn’t mean you’re bad at math or taking tests. You did better than what you thought initially, even by a few points it’s still an improvement.”
Tolly let out a happy sound as Cas started to card through his hair, leaning into the touch as best he could while he finished up the last of the problems. "Ugh, lucky. I feel like all I have are written tests, except the ones in magic theory 'n stuff where exams are casting spells." He was rubbing himself up against Cas' side, nuzzling his cheek, making himself small beneath his arm. "And I'm really not all that smart. I just… I dunno, I'm average. It's fine, I make up for it in other ways."
“I’m defiantly taking magic theory next year.” He said with a smile, continuing to run his hand through Tolly’s hair as nudged up against him. “And hey, I wouldn’t call myself lucky. You know how hard it’s is to remember all the combinations of basic alchemy? Not to mention the different incantations and spells for herbs and magical plant theory! I’d love to switch with you even Igbo it’s just one day, I actually think I’m missing traditional tests at this point!”
Tolly laughed quietly and kept making these happy little sounds as he was petted, pushing his face into Cas' hand when he was finally finished and didn't have to pay attention to his work. It was nice to be doted on, especially with all the stress he'd been dealing with lately. "Mm, you'll regret that once you get back into pen and paper classes. I'd rather de-root a mandrake than answer thirty four questions about how we figured out healing spells."
He gazed down at Tolly adoringly and happily kept stroking his hair. “You’re probably right, but it’s be a nice change. Though significantly less fun.” He looked over the last few problems, smiling proudly when he saw that they were all correct. Cas kisses him gently and nudged him up. “I think you’re all set to hand these in.”
Tolly returned the adoration with a smile that was almost shy, pressing his face into Cas' shoulder so he wouldn't have to deal with all the gentle affection being aimed at him. He let out a sigh as he was nudged up, but the kiss was returned enthusiastically and he gathered up his papers without any protest. "Yeah, I think you're right. I'll turn them in tomorrow, I don't wanna miss getting to hang out with you."
“You wouldn’t love, I’m not going anywhere.” He stood and stretched, watching as more glitter fell from his hair. “Do you mind if I shower quickly? I’m starting to get sick of the glitter.” He said with a laugh, trying his best not to move so much. “I can always run to my dorm if not, I think I might need some clothes anyways.”
Tolly laughed quietly, doing his best to try and brush the glitter off his furniture. It didn't work out super well, but it was the thought that counted and anyways, it was helping a little. "Yeah, that's just fine. You know where the bathroom is right?" He glanced up at Cas with a soft smile. "Cause you're cute, but I don't wanna go into the shower with you just yet."
He laughed and shook his head “to grab clothes love, not to shower together.” He turned away to hide his reddening blush blush and nodded “yeah, I know where it is, thank you.” He headed off towards the bathroom, assuming it was in the same spot as the one he had. He slipped inside and started running the water so it would be warm.
Tolly hooked a hand around Cas's waist and pulled him in for one last kiss before he let him go. "Alright! I'll be waiting around here when you get out, m'kay?" Even though he'd finished up with his math, he still had work from other classes to get through. Lots of notes, mostly, since midterms were coming up.
Cas topped into the shower after pulling off his glitter covered clothes. He relaxed into the warmth of the shower, shutting his eyes and relaxing his body after a few moments. The red on his cheeks still hadn’t faded from the kiss or what Tolly had said before. He washed out his hair as much as possible, trying his best to get the majority of the glitter. By the time he had stepped out of the shower, he had a light sheen of excess glitter on him burn he hadn’t gotten most of it out. He pulled on his clothes that he was wearing when he had gotten there and stepped out of the barroom, feeling refreshed.
Tolly was, true to his word, settled comfortably on the couch, a small smile on his face as he laughed along to the show he was watching. Unlike Cas, he had plenty of clothes on hand so he'd changed into something a bit more comfortable than the clothes he worse to class—some soft grey sweats and a stretched out white tank top that showed off the muscle in his arms. He glanced up when he saw Cas wander out, giving him a bright smile as he patted the cushion beside him. "Hey! You look good, shower did wonders for your hair."
He laughed softly and plopped down next to Tolly, curling up beside him and resting his head on his shoulder. “It did, way less glittery than before, though now it’s going to be fluffy and a tangled mess in the morning.” He shrugged and took a peek at what was on TV, though not really paying much attention to it.
Tolly smiled and wrapped an arm around Cas's shoulders, pulling him in close. He nuzzled up against the crook of his neck, drinking in the scent of his shampoo with a pleased little noise. "It's fine, it looks cute. And better yet, it doesn't smell like plastic anymore, it smells like me."
Cas leaned into him a bit more and pressed a gentle kiss his Tolly’s head. “You’re most defiantly right. I’ll take smelling like you over glitter any day of the week.” He nudged Tolly’s head gently and ruffled his hair
Tolly leaned into the kiss with a warm smile, soaking up the affection like a very happy sponge. "I'm glad that we can agree, then. We… um…" He cuddled a little closer, tossed an arm around Cas' waist. "… we were doing something earlier, weren't we?"
He hummed softly and leaned into his hold. “Were we now? What exactly were we doing love? I can’t seem to recall.” He murmured, leaning as close as he could without kissing the other.
Tolly closed the space between them with a small smile, kissing Cas sweetly. "I can't tell if you're teasing me or not," he murmured, letting his forehead rest against Cas' once they had pulled apart. "You're hard to read, you're always so sincere."
Cas leaned into Tolly’s kiss, returning it happily with a little pout when he broke away. “I was teasing. Just a bit.” He admitted with a laugh, curling up closer to Tolly and pressing small kisses to his lips and jaw. “I never meant any harm love, only to receive your affection.”
Tolly laughed quietly and tilted his head back a little, a silent invitation for Cas to keep going. "You can always just ask, you know." His voice was soft, playful. Clearly he didn't mind being messed with, as long as it was all in good fun. "I'm not going to say no, I love being sweet with you."
