But going off to London without his family or Björn? He'd deal with his dislike of laying his heart and soul bare on paper for a little while, for them. This was a special case, after all - it wasn't often that one got such an opportunity and Colin was far too attached to his lover to just leave and not write when he could. Writing his mother was another thing entirely, she'd sworn to leave his room alone as long as he wrote from time to time.
He'd told them the rules: no outside contact at first. While most people at the school were allowed to contact whomever they wished, Colin was in one of those accelerated programs and they wanted the whole of your attention; you earned the "right" to write after three months (six if you were spectacularly stupid and couldn't make yourself behave before then).
So when Colin was finally given the clear to send letters and cards to whomever he wished, whenever he wished, he whipped out the paper and a pen and began the process of writing the person he longed to see the most: Björn.
The Letter
Dear Björn,
I miss you. I miss you I miss you I miss you. Now that I've said that, I hope you're doing okay. I finally "earned" the "privilege" of writing home by working my a** off and you're the first person I wanted to send a letter to. Life here is really intense, the instructors demand perfection and there hasn't been a single night I haven't gone to bed aching in a hundred places. When we first got here, some of the guys would cry at night - one of my room-mates, Sergei, cried himself to sleep a lot.
Now they just jerk-off. I almost wish they'd go back to crying, it was easier to try sleeping through. Oh! We're set up 4 boys per room - I've got Sergei, Jackson and Leander (who goes by his middle name, Dave). They're pretty normal guys, not bad at all. Jackson tried to run off with a photo I have of you - no one can believe you exist, let alone that we dated. Mostly, we spend our time dancing - even our down time, though sometimes we do just horse around.
I've gotten so much better, being here. They rank us according to skill, but when you get here you're at the bottom - an "artist". I've actually made it to "First Artist" already and they're talking about giving me some veeery minor solos if I can keep it up. Honestly, I love it...I just wish I could see you sometimes. If not for that, I'd be utterly happy. Not having you here sucks. I'm going into withdrawals and sleeping alone is a lot harder than I remember. Guess sleeping with you spoiled me, huh?
Not much more to say, I was never very good at writing letters. Please take care of yourself, stay safe and strong and try not to get turned into a cat again!
With Love,
Colin
I miss you. I miss you I miss you I miss you. Now that I've said that, I hope you're doing okay. I finally "earned" the "privilege" of writing home by working my a** off and you're the first person I wanted to send a letter to. Life here is really intense, the instructors demand perfection and there hasn't been a single night I haven't gone to bed aching in a hundred places. When we first got here, some of the guys would cry at night - one of my room-mates, Sergei, cried himself to sleep a lot.
Now they just jerk-off. I almost wish they'd go back to crying, it was easier to try sleeping through. Oh! We're set up 4 boys per room - I've got Sergei, Jackson and Leander (who goes by his middle name, Dave). They're pretty normal guys, not bad at all. Jackson tried to run off with a photo I have of you - no one can believe you exist, let alone that we dated. Mostly, we spend our time dancing - even our down time, though sometimes we do just horse around.
I've gotten so much better, being here. They rank us according to skill, but when you get here you're at the bottom - an "artist". I've actually made it to "First Artist" already and they're talking about giving me some veeery minor solos if I can keep it up. Honestly, I love it...I just wish I could see you sometimes. If not for that, I'd be utterly happy. Not having you here sucks. I'm going into withdrawals and sleeping alone is a lot harder than I remember. Guess sleeping with you spoiled me, huh?
Not much more to say, I was never very good at writing letters. Please take care of yourself, stay safe and strong and try not to get turned into a cat again!
With Love,
Colin
There was so much more he wanted to say but he held back; it had been a little over three months already - it would be even longer before he returned to Destiny City. He knew that a lot could change in that much time and while he loved his big blond boyfriend very much, he was trying to be realistic. What if he stayed not just one year, but two? Would Björn wait? Would he want to wait? Would they even be compatible when Colin got back home?
He sealed the letter with a kiss and added a few Polaroids that had been taken of him during rehearsals, along with one of him posing - blowing a kiss and winking; affixing Björn's address to the envelope was the final bit. The school would mark it and mail it for him.
Another sheet of paper, another letter: one for his mom and sister.
The Letter
Dear Mom & The MutantSis,
Hi guys, I miss you both. Things are going really well, I've been advancing well and I love this place. The work we do is really hard but it's nothing I can't handle with a little practice! I started as an "artist" but got moved up to "first artist" recently - they're even talking about having me do some really small solos for some of the shows! It's exciting stuff and I'm sad you guys can't be here to see them. I think they film everything though, so I'll make sure you get at least one copy - unless you've already made arrangements (MOM, that's you).
I should be able to start writing you guys letters more often - or just sending postcards and the like, 'cause you know how much I LOVE writing letters! (HA) But I thought it'd be nice to do it properly the first time and I have to admit I was really homesick for a while there.
They've got us four to a room; I room with Sergei, Jackson and a guy named Leander that goes by Dave (his middle name). He said that Leander was the name of his great-grandpa and that his mom is this crazy granola-hippy that wanted to "channel the spirit of their great ancestors" or something like that...so he's got a name he can't stand. I told him at least his middle name was okay - I mean, Dave isn't bad, right?
Anyway, like I was saying - the work here is really hard! There hasn't been a night since I got here that I haven't gone to bed aching all over. Some of the guys were hurting so bad they were crying the first week...or they were just that homesick. I don't really know for sure. Sergei was crying himself to sleep for a while, the rest of us just kind of pretended we didn't notice. He REALLY didn't want us to...one of those 'hyper macho' types, I guess.
Well, that's all I've got for now...take care of yourselves and I'll talk to you again soon.
Love,
Collie
PS: I almost forgot - can you send my spare laptop cord? Mine's fraying like crazy and I don't trust it. THANKS MOM!
With two letters completed, he pulled out a small stack of postcards and quickly scrawled across three of them; five people getting mail from London but only two merited actual letters. Colin took the lot of them and stuck them in the "Out-going Mail to be Marked" bin where they joined a small stack of letters written by the other students.
Now he just had to wait.
