They watched three more episodes. Somewhere during the fourth one, Mera’s head ended up on Cheon’s shoulder while Cheon’s hand absently played with the end of Mera’s black ponytail. Neither acknowledged the comfortable proximity.

When a particularly explicit scene began, Cheon tensed.

"Do people actually..." She trailed off, gesturing vaguely at the screen.

"Have sex in bathrooms at parties?" Mera shrugged. "Probably. I haven’t been to that kind of party."

"Me neither."

"We’re boring."

"We’re dating an incubus." Cheon’s voice was dry. "I don’t think boring applies anymore."

Mera laughed so hard she nearly fell off the couch. "Okay, fair. We’re definitely not boring."

The episode ended on a cliffhanger. Mera immediately queued up the next one, but Cheon grabbed the remote.

"We should stop. It’s almost six."

"Rome won’t be back until seven at least." Mera tried to wrestle the remote away. "One more episode."

"You said that two episodes ago."

"This time I mean it."

They struggled for control of the remote, Mera’s tail wrapping around Cheon’s wrist while Cheon twisted away. Both were laughing, genuinely and without performance.

Cheon won by virtue of having longer arms. She held the remote high above her head, victorious.

"Tyrant," Mera accused.

"Class representative."

"Same thing."

Cheon turned off the TV. Mera pouted but didn’t actually argue, settling back into the couch with her phone instead.

"So." Mera scrolled through something. "Aurora."

"What about her?"

"You told her to bring protection when she slept with Rome for the first time."

Cheon’s stomach twisted. "How do you know that?"

"Rome told me."

"Of course he did."

"He tells me everything." Mera glanced up from her phone. "That’s the deal. No secrets between us."

"And you’re really okay with him sleeping with other people?"

"Are you?"

The question landed harder than Mera probably intended. Cheon thought about Aurora’s lips against Rome’s yesterday. About the way Rome’s drain had tasted like summer storms and clean air when Aurora kissed him. About the quest notification that popped up in Rome’s vision showing Aurora at forty-eight percent affection already.

"I signed the contract," Cheon said finally.

"That’s not an answer."

"It’s the only answer I have."

Mera set her phone down and turned to face Cheon properly, her expression more serious than usual. "Look. I get it. This whole situation is weird as hell. But if you’re going to be here, actually be here. Don’t just sign papers and pretend everything’s fine when it’s not."

"I don’t pretend."

"You’ve been pretending your entire life." Mera’s voice wasn’t cruel, just honest. "Perfect grades, perfect posture, perfect class rep. You think I can’t see you holding yourself together with color-coded tape?"

Cheon’s throat tightened. "I’m handling it."

"Yeah, by organizing spice cabinets at two AM instead of sleeping." Mera reached out and touched Cheon’s hand. No drain opened between them, just warm skin against skin. "It’s okay to not be okay sometimes."

"I don’t know how to not be okay."

"Then learn." Mera squeezed gently. "That’s what I’m here for."

Something cracked open in Cheon’s chest. Not breaking, just loosening. She blinked rapidly against the burning in her eyes.

"I thought I’d hate you," Cheon repeated the words from earlier.

"I know. You already told me that." Mera smiled, softer this time. "But you don’t."

"No. I don’t."

"Good." Mera released Cheon’s hand and picked up her phone again. "Because we’re stuck together whether we like it or not."

"Is that what Rome’s drain does?" Cheon heard herself ask. "Bond people together?"

"Maybe. Or maybe we just both have terrible taste in men." Mera’s grin returned. "Could go either way."

Cheon found herself smiling back. Real and unforced.

They returned to studying, but the atmosphere had shifted again. Easier. Less performance on both sides. Mera actually retained information this time, working through practice problems with increasing confidence. Cheon explained concepts without her usual impatient edge when Mera asked questions.

Around six-thirty, Cheon’s stomach growled.

"Told you we should have made more pasta." Mera looked up from her textbook. "Want to order something?"

"Rome said he’d bring food."

"Rome also said he’d be back by five and it’s almost seven." Mera grabbed Cheon’s phone from the table. "I’m ordering."

"With whose money?"

"Rome’s, obviously." Mera pulled up a delivery app. "He gave me his card, remember?"

"For shopping. Not for unlimited food."

"Food is shopping for your stomach."

"That’s not how budgets work."

"Watch me prove you wrong." Mera added several items to the cart. Thai curry, spring rolls, pad see ew, mango sticky rice. "There. Dinner and dessert."

"That’s eighty dollars of food."

"Rome’s rich. He won’t notice."

Cheon wanted to argue but couldn’t find solid ground. Rome had explicitly told them to use his resources. And they did need to eat.

"Fine. But I’m paying him back."

"You’re so weird about money." Mera confirmed the order. "Thirty minutes for delivery."

"I’m not weird. I’m responsible."

"Potato, potato."

"That doesn’t work in text."

"Worked fine." Mera set the phone down and stretched again, her shirt riding up to expose red skin along her stomach. "So what else do normal roommates do?"

"Study."

"Besides studying."

"Sleep."

"Besides sleeping."

Cheon considered. "Talk about boys?"

"We’re already doing that. Rome is literally our entire social life." Mera tapped her chin. "What about gossip? Normal girls gossip, right?"

"I don’t gossip."

"Of course you don’t. That’s why you need me to teach you." Mera pulled out her phone again and opened some kind of social media app. "Okay, so. Emma from Combat class? She’s dating that guy with the metal skin."

"I don’t care."

"Wrong answer. You’re supposed to say ’really? I didn’t know that’ and then ask for details."

"Why would I ask for details about people I barely know?"

"Because that’s what friends do." Mera scrolled further. "Oh, this is good. Remember that girl from Class 1-C with the pink hair? She got caught making out with Professor Hale’s teaching assistant."

"That’s against school policy."

"That’s why it’s interesting."

Cheon found herself leaning in despite her better judgment. "What happened?"

"See? You do care." Mera pulled up a screenshot. "TA got fired. Girl got two weeks suspension. And apparently they’re still seeing each other off campus."

"That’s incredibly irresponsible."

"That’s incredibly romantic."

"Those are opposites."

"Not always." Mera kept scrolling, showing Cheon various posts about classmates, teachers, and campus drama. Half of it was probably fabricated or exaggerated, but Mera narrated each story with such enthusiasm that accuracy seemed secondary to entertainment value.

Cheon absorbed the information despite herself. She’d spent three years at Coastline focused exclusively on grades and rankings, never paying attention to the social dynamics unfolding around her. Mera seemed to know everything about everyone.

"How do you keep track of all this?" Cheon asked.

"I pay attention to things that matter."

"Gossip matters?"

"People matter. Gossip is just the surface layer." Mera’s tail flicked toward Cheon. "Like, I knew you were into Rome before you figured it out yourself."

"That’s not true."

"You watched him walk into class on day one and your Essentia spiked so hard I felt it from the back row."

Cheon’s face burned. "I was monitoring his signature because something felt off."

"You were monitoring his ass."

"I was not."

"Panda. You reorganized your entire planner around his schedule within forty-eight hours." Mera grinned. "Don’t lie to the demon."

The doorbell rang, saving Cheon from responding. Mera hopped off the counter and grabbed cash from her bag, returning moments later with several bags of Thai food that smelled incredible.

They ate directly from the containers while sitting on the floor with the coffee table as their surface. Cheon used proper utensils while Mera somehow made chopsticks look aggressive.

"This curry is amazing," Cheon admitted after several bites.

"Told you." Mera spooned more into her bowl. "Rome’s going to be mad we didn’t save him any."

"He should have come home on time."

"Listen to you. Home." Mera’s yellow eyes gleamed. "Three days and you’re already claiming territory."

"I’m not claiming anything."

"Your toiletries are in the master bathroom. Your pajamas are in his dresser. Your highlighters are organized by color on the bookshelf." Mera counted on her fingers. "You’ve claimed everything except the actual boyfriend."

"Rome isn’t property to claim."

"But you want to anyway."

Cheon set down her fork carefully. "Don’t you?"

"Obviously." Mera ate more noodles. "But I’m honest about being possessive. You pretend you’re just being practical."

"I am being practical."

"You sleep naked in his bed and wear his shirts in the morning. That’s not practical, that’s domestic."

Cheon had no response. The observation was accurate.

"It’s okay to like him," Mera said quietly. "Like, actually like him. Not just the drain or the sex or whatever."

"I know that."

"Do you?" Mera’s tail wrapped around her own waist. "Because you keep treating this like a business arrangement instead of admitting you’ve got feelings."

"Feelings complicate things."

"Things are already complicated." Mera gestured at the apartment. "We’re living with a guy who drains powers through sex. Complications are baseline."

Cheon picked up her fork again, needing something to do with her hands. "When did you know?"