kai silva 👑 [aragorn] (arnor) wrote in dunhavenic, @ 2018-11-27 22:11:00 |
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It was a bit more bold than he would have normally been. More than he’d ever been. Despite how readily he spoke to nearly anyone, it was a different story when it came to Francis. Their first meeting had gone fine, but every time Kai had seen the other man since, he’d felt like a bumbling fool. The more he got to know Francis, the more he liked. He spotted Francis tucked away in a quiet corner of one of the study areas in the library, and Kai was sure his heart nearly stopped. He debated whether or not to say hello for a good five minutes. He could hear his friends’ voices in his head (specifically, he could hear Waverly), telling him to go get his man, to suck it up and be brave, to do something daring. So he did. He returned twenty minutes later, his heart hammering wildly. If Francis had left — well, then he’d have a coffee and a tea for himself. But Francis was still there. Kai took a deep breath and approached him, trying to put on an air of confidence he didn’t feel. “Hey, Francis.” Francis knew no greater happiness than being up to his ears in books. Books and words and philosophers kept out the world -- the disapproving stares of fathers, the worried tears of mothers, the stinging words of brothers, the flash of the press. And Francis would have absolutely stayed there in the library until he too became some kind of book. But the truth was he liked sitting in class, he liked the idea of obtaining a graduate degree. And more than anything? He found he liked walking in the woods. Particularly, it seemed, if Kai were there. But studying had to be done. He was in the third hour of re-copying his notes when he heard a familiar voice. He looked up and sat back, his face immediately splitting into a grin. “Kai. Hey.” “Hi!” Kai chirped, even though he’d already said hello. His cheeks flushed immediately, and he looked away, mentally kicking himself for not being as smooth in person as he imagined he would be. He could talk to Francis just fine over text, but as they spent more time together, actually spending time together left him fumbling more and more. He shook his head and let some of his hair fall into his face briefly. “I, uh. I got you --” He held out the cup in his left hand. “I saw you here and I thought you could probably use it.” “ … got me …?” and he reached out, wrapping both hands around the cup. “This is my favorite coffee house. I really like the place and all the product is Fair Trade.” After a second, he took a sip and his brow arched. “This is my order.” The moment those word were out of Francis’s mouth, Kai froze. Was it creepy? He’d thought it would be sweet, and he’d hoped that it would be a good excuse to talk to him, but what if he’d read it all wrong? “I --” Kai’s voice croaked a little. “Um. I saw you there once, so…” This was creepy, he decided. Bordering on stalker-like behavior. “I asked.” He shrugged helplessly and he could almost feel the energy being sapped out of him. “Sorry. It sounds totally creepy now that I’ve said that outloud.” “No!” Maybe for someone else, Francis would have been a bit taken aback. He took another sip of the drink and smiled. “This is awesome. Sit down, I’m in like … hour six. All the words are starting to run together. Please sit down, you are a welcome distraction.” “Oh.” Kai exhaled, releasing all the tension that had built up over the last few minutes. Francis wasn’t mad. He was happy, instead. After a moment, he shook his head to snap himself out of his daze and he smiled, still embarrassed. “You looked like you needed it,” he explained as he swung his own bag off his shoulder and sat down on the chair opposite of Francis. “You know you need to take breaks now and then or your brain won’t process any of this right. What are you working on?” “El oh El, Kai …” was good natured and Francis grinned, spinning his textbook around for his benefit. “I’m kind of choosing to approach philosophy from this perspective of all things gender-based. Because my undergrad didn’t spend a lot of time with her, I’m reading Simone de Beauvoir.” It was heady stuff. Philosophy in general went right over Kai’s head, for the most part. He’d heard of Simone de Beauvoir, but he honestly couldn’t say he’d read anything, so when his eyes widened at the text, it was genuine. “It’s really cool of you,” he told Francis, “that you’re not just sticking to the old white men.” He knew that much, at least. His own field was full of them, too. “We could learn a lot from other perspectives. Especially ones most unlike our own.” “ … ehhh I know too many living old white men that like to hear themselves talk and philosophy is way too much of a pedestal for their bad behavior.” He smiled. “So I don’t give them a lot of space here. There are too many cool people from the margins who speak truth. This isn’t so much about philosophy as it is Linguistics and Anthropology, but whatever. It kind of is.” He shuffled through a stack and pulled out a bright yellow paperback. “Have you heard of Gloria Anzaldua?” Kai shook his head, feeling the shame of being so uncultured rise to his cheeks. He didn’t think Francis cared -- he hoped Francis didn’t care -- but he did feel far out his element. Francis was so clever, to look for people who had gotten lost in the shuffle and ignored for too many years. It was the sort of intersectionality that Kai really admired, even though it made him feel like he wasn’t anywhere near Francis’s league at all. “No, I --” He wrinkled his nose in embarrassment. “I’ve had my nose in too many anatomy books.” “Take this one home!” he said, almost chirping. He grinned. “It might help flesh out those cadavers a little bit. Plus, you can tell me what you think. That’s my copy, though. So I will need it back …” “Really?” Kai looked up, his face bright and open with surprise. He took the book gladly, and clutched it to his chest carefully. “I’ll take good care of it, I promise.” He paused for just a moment, and then continued, “and maybe I can, um. Give it back over tea? When I’m done?” Since his surprise had gone over well so far, Kai hoped, desperately, that he wasn’t out of line. At the very least, they were friends. He wanted more, but he’d take friendship if that was all he’d get. Francis decided he wasn’t interested in contemplating the trajectory of his new friendship with Kai. They’d met suddenly and instantly bonded. He felt like he didn’t need to consider anything else other than what was in front of him in that very moment. “Tea is good. We can go to my place. I have some …” he swallowed. “I have some really nice tea. It’s a good selection. You should sample it.” For a few seconds, Kai’s voice was caught in his throat. He stared at Francis, trying to analyze what he might mean, if he meant anything besides just tea. And then he remembered that he hadn’t answered, and he nodded. “Yeah, that'd be really good. I’d like that.” What he really wanted to say was that he wanted to sample more than just tea, but he bit that thought back. “Maybe we don’t have to wait ‘til I’m done with the book, though.” “ … first thirty pages?” he said, brows arched. Francis wasn’t good at this and as soon as he’d been bold, something about him wanted to backpedal. But he stayed true to his desire. And it was to see more of Kai. “They go really fast.” A laugh bubbled up and past Kai’s lips before he could stop it, and he grinned. Were they on the same page? It seemed like they might be, so Kai agreed. “First thirty pages. I can tell you my thoughts every thirty pages.” “I’m gonna have to get some more tea.” Francis grinned, though. He hoped that Kai wouldn’t mind his quiet, simple little affections. “But it’s a deal. And fair is fair. I’ll read something of yours, if you want.” Enthralled with the idea, Kai leaned in slightly, fixing Francis with an intense gaze and a smile that said he was up for the challenge. “I’ll pick something up for you and bring it to our date.” The word slipped out before he thought about it, but once it was there, he couldn’t take it back. “Umm. You know what I mean,” he added quickly. He grinned. “Yeah, Kai. Bring it to our date.” “Oh. Oh.” Kai’s eyes widened, and he was sure he felt his stomach flip. Deep down, a part of him had always wondered -- about their flirting, the way Francis looked at him. He’d tried not to let himelf hope too much, but his instincts hadn’t been wrong, and he was so glad. “Okay, yes. I will.” |