Fortino was right. He really was, this semester's stakes were higher. The top thirty students were getting more than just accommodation in  ‘the castle’ and its privileges. There was a bigger, more important prize for the top 3 students. The Dean had not addressed what the prize was but rumours were already spreading. According to those rumours, the prize was something big, something worthwhile. With all the rumours circulating the prize had to be big because if it wasn't that big the school would have already had the prize plastered across the school, trying to get everyone to perform better.

 Most of the students had taken to naming it the creator's fund and since the school hadn't debunked that theory yet the name had stuck. So even without knowing what this creator's fund was, I wanted it. Because much like everything precious in Bradford it already belonged to me. 

If that meant I might just have to play a villain, on stage or otherwise I might just have to do it. 

Tino smiled, his smile was cruel, mocking and it reminded me of what he looked like the first time I met him, feral, crazed and not afraid to attack,  "You are planning on doing it," It wasn't a question but it should have been. 

I shook my head. I wasn't planning it. I was considering it but playing a villain on stage broke every rule in my rule book. The only one worth keeping too. Playing a villain on stage risked the audience seeing through my act it risked everything I already built. As much as naive people like to believe an audience can separate art from its artist, I knew the truth. It's all bullshit. Once you unveil that side you can never close it again. Playing a hero was fine, playing a morally grey character was toeing the line but also, as far as I was willing to go. But with the stakes this high and Hines' play script being one of the only decent ones, I was running the risk of breaking a few rules. I leaned down and kissed Tino, shutting him up for a few minutes. 

When he came up for air he whispered against my lips, "You would do it? If I wasn't the one asking." 

I slumped over, lying over him.  For someone whose job was to relieve me, Fortino was doing a piss poor job of that. I squeezed my eyes shut pinching the bridge of my nose. After a silent beat, I glanced over the shitty play scattered across the bed. Getting into the top 30 required an exceptional performance and if the script itself was bad not even my talents could compliment it. Making it into the list would require me to be at my best and even Tino had noticed this shit wasn't it. I buried my head into his neck, scowling against the collar of his T-shirt, noticing for the first time since I climbed over him that I was the only one naked. 

"Drop it."

He did. Fortino's hands roamed over my body, trailing light touches across the expanse of my skin. I wanted to relax into the touch but now that he had brought up the idea my mind couldn't let go of it.  I needed to play the villain! The villain was the main character in Hines' play. I rolled my shoulders back twice, before shrugging his arms off. There really was no other option was there?

"Let me love you," Tino said.

I sighed, "You are starting to irritate me."

 He knew not to do this and yet he did it anyway. Tino being the only person I could ever really be alone with gave him too much power. Power I prefered he used wisely but unfortunately he was inept at that. I prefered crowds to the company of one person but when pressed, Tino's company was what kept me sane. And he knew it. Knowing that only fueled whatever was inside him. 

I frowned, eyes roaming over his annoyingly clothed body, "Love is just another useless construct, not just that, love itself is a worthless currency. Because if a currency is immeasurable is it really worth anything?" With an itch crawling under my skin I stared into his eyes and challenged, "This is the reason why I refuse to participate in any of the traditions that require love but... you already know that."

Tino smiled and flicked his tongue over his lips. I scowled beckoning him with the tip of my index finger and like the disrespectful insolent ass he was, he pushed his hand under my body and pulled me towards him, grin growing wider. Fortino held my left calf in a firm grip pulling me towards the edge of the bed. He smiled as he sunk his teeth into my inner thigh.

"Hey, stop playing around and just..."

He licked the imprint left by his teeth and yanked my leg towards him, perching it above his shoulder.  With a shallow laugh, he buried his face between my ass plunging his tongue into me. Tino's tongue was warm and smooth against my skin and every swipe elicited the excitement that I was craving all day. I bent my leg pulling him even closer in an attempt to get more. It wasn't enough, not in the slightest. 

Tino laughed, lips vibrating against my skin, he peeked up at me, eyes challenging mine. I grabbed the hair on the back of his head, tugging it in a strong punishing grip. Tino wrapped his arm around my right leg, grabbed my thigh and dug his tongue deeper. The action punched out a moan from deep within my belly as my fingers slipped out of his hair. Tino smirked, gripping my right thigh tighter, digging his blunt nails into my skin as he moved torturously slow while he ate me out. 

"Tino," I groaned trying to reach for my throbbing cock. 

Tino gripped my wrist pulling it away from my body as he put more effort to torture me with his mouth. I gripped his hair with my free hand bucking against his mouth. He moaned against my skin pulling away to stare at me with greedy eyes. 

"Come on." I whimpered, pushing his head back. 

Tino chuckled and licked a long stripe against my thigh, "Patience, I know what I am doing." 

I pressed my left leg against his back silently pushing him towards me again. Tino smiled wordlessly going back to his ministrations. It wasn't long before he had me writhing from the feel of his tongue jammed in against two of his fingers. I groaned against the sensations running rampant across my body. Tino pushed his fingers deeper and two things happened at that moment. 

The first one was expected, I bucked off the bed thrusting helplessly into the air above me. The second one not so much, the door flew open revealing a stunned guy in my doorway. The guy, blonde, spooked, glasses perched on his nose, definitely a freshman, stood rooted in the spot with his eyes trained on mine. 

Tino shoved his fingers in again, completely oblivious to the company we had. I groaned, pushing my ass against his fingers. Tino groaned at my response supposedly making the stranger aware of the guy kneeling at my feet. 

I smirked, "Well? You going to join or what?" 

The guy's face flushed and his eyes wandered between my body and Tino at my feet. The guy's lips opened and closed wordlessly before he fumbled for an apology. A series of words escaped past his lips, each of them a variant of the actual word sorry. He couldn't seem to get it right but that didn't stop him from trying as fumbled with the door handle. He banged the door, shut leaving me with a secret smile on my face and a rush of excitement running through my blood.

"Who was that?" Tino asked, looking up at me. 

"Something New, Someone Interesting."