Yes — She swallows her discomfort and plays along, acting like nothing is wrong

Viki stared at Sofie for a long beat, her eyes flicking—traitorously—over places they absolutely shouldn’t. She clenched her jaw, then **** her gaze up to Sofie’s face, schooling her expression into something neutral. Normal. Friendly.

“You look… fine,” Viki said at last, a little too quickly.

Robin nearly choked.

Sofie beamed, immediately reassured. “See?” she said, pointing at him. “You always overreact in the mornings.”

Robin snapped his mouth shut and nodded, pushing his glasses higher on his nose. “Yeah. Uh. Layers look… cozy.”

Viki shot him a warning look that said don’t you dare elaborate.

Sofie adjusted the invisible waistband of her skirt, smoothing down nothing at all, then tilted her head. “I thought the leggings might be too much with the sweater, but I don’t want to freeze in class.”

Viki felt her soul leave her body.

“Totally reasonable,” she managed. “Weather’s been weird.”

Sofie wandered toward the counter again, bending slightly to grab her phone. Viki turned on her heel and very deliberately stared at the wall. Robin pretended to be extremely invested in the coffee maker, even though it wasn’t on.

For a few seconds, the apartment was filled only with the quiet tapping of sophie on her phone and the deafening sound of three people thinking don’t look, don’t look, don’t look.

Sofie paused mid-reply to a social post. “You guys are being… strange.”

Viki’s stomach dropped. She pushed off the wall and laughed—too loud, but she committed to it. “What? No. Just tired. Long week.”

“Hm.” Sofie shrugged, accepting that far too easily. “Well, I should probably head out soon. I don’t want to miss the bus.”

Robin froze. “The— the bus?”

“Yeah?” Sofie said. “Why?”

Viki and Robin exchanged a look. This wasn’t part of the plan. This was outside. Public. Variables.

Viki stepped in smoothly, heart pounding. “Actually, Soph, didn’t you say that lecture had an online attendance option today? The one you were excited about?”

Sofie blinked. “Did I?”

“Yesterday,” Viki pressed, nodding emphatically. “You said it was optional attendance, but you felt like professor Artz really wabted you tobbe there in person, to go anyways. Keep in mind, the wheather is quite bad out there. Why dont you just attend online? Use travel safety as your excuse!”

“Oh.” Sofie hesitated, then brightened. “Oh... yeah! You’re right. Perhaps professor Artz can just see me in person next class.” with a big smile she gave her roomie two big thumbs up, relieved that she had given her of a good excuse to stay home today.

Robin exhaled so hard he nearly wheezed. Shy little sopfie had always been so protective of her modesty. And now he could see... really see... what she had kept hidden.

“Guess I’ll stay in then,” Sofie said cheerfully, turning back toward the bedroom. “This does seem like a cozy morning to stay in with friends. Hopefully the weather will clear up by the afternoon”

Viki smiled, tight and brittle. “Great idea.”

Sofie disappeared into the room, humming again.

The moment the door closed, Viki grabbed Robin by the sleeve. “We are on borrowed time,” she hissed. “If she steps outside like this—”

“I know,” Robin whispered back. “What if she looks up the weather, its cold but nice outside! We need to test the clothes. Fast.”

From behind the door, Sofie’s voice floated out, cheerful and oblivious:

“Hey guys? I can’t find my laptop. Did one of you move it?”

Viki closed her eyes.

“Shit... now the class will see her topless if she turns on her video!” she muttered. “Guys... what do we do?!”