sixerpath (sixerpath) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2020-03-25 14:44:00 |
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Entry tags: | merlin, stanford pines |
Who: Stanford Pines and Merlin Emrys
When: Backdated to March 8th
Where: Merlin's favorite cafe, "The Witch's Brew"
What: Meeting back up, catching up
Rating/Warnings: None!
Status: Ongoing
The space was homey, if nothing else. A little cafe just south of the hospital his once protege worked in, and Ford looked on it with a wry smile and a soft chuckle. It suited the boy. Not too busy. Not at all commercial. A small kind of ma and pop’s place, opened by what appeared to be foreigners, Mexicans perhaps, with a touch of artistic flair. A big sign, carved in wood, hung outside. “Witch’s Brew,” it read, painted over in bright whites with a small cauldron hanging just beneath it. Interesting.
He braced himself for the meeting with the young man, already feeling far too enthusiastic, and definitely eager. It had been some time since he’d taken the other under his wing, learned about his family and his history, and too about his passion to become a doctor. To help people. In an ongoing tide of university where students simply dipped into his life for a brief period, where the bustle and rush of it all could take you under, where it all seemed large and vast and overwhelming, Ford could at least hope he’d made enough of an impression to help the other in his time there. And too he was always surprised at how much he’d taken to the boy.
Of course, for Stanford, it wasn’t out of place to help students even above and outside the ordinary, to take a closer look at their projects or work or perhaps, usually on a case by case basis, meet with them even after hours. But what had started with a little extra help with his studies somewhere along the line with Merlin had evolved into a very real friendship that went far beyond professor and student. He saw a spirit, a life in Merlin he admired. And Ford honestly enjoyed having someone so enthusiastic, so full of potential, so interested in the sciences, who was bright and while perhaps naive, good of heart in a way you honestly didn’t see anymore. It reminded him almost of himself when he was young, though frankly, far more filled with hope and life and so much more heart than he could’ve ever managed. After all, there was a dark side in Ford, he knew, and saw on occasion that...just didn’t ring true for Merlin. Hell, he’d recalled more than one night’s occasion about complimenting and fussing or worrying over the boy with Bill, even with the other’s jabbing at him like Merlin were his own child.
But honestly the years had seemingly done that to him. He’d found the two of them impossibly wrapped up in each other’s lives, often talking far outside the territories of school, and too left with a bittersweet pride at the other graduating as he had, being accepted as he had in a decent hospital, and leaving to move on outside of the university. Pride, and a lingering wish the other hadn’t had to vanish quite so soon from his life remained there. It was a miracle, nothing short, that their paths had crossed again.
He pressed into the small cafe, glancing around as the small chime of a bell indicated his arrival. The walls too were made from wood, painted in thick, dark greens, large carved circular pillars forming in eight post sections, to a countertop bar at the far end that sported a display of breads and cakes. Behind the counter was a pudgy, rounded lady with a bright smile and a relaxed feeling about her. It all felt...oddly quite homey. The tables and booths seemed in some parts to be shared by their neighbors, and what appeared to be regulars, or maybe even strangers (the very few that were in the shop) seemed to be caught in polite conversation.
Ford decided right away that he liked it. He peered around, trying to catch a glimpse of his once-student in the otherwise almost empty space, a wrapped present under one arm.