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 Posted: Tue Oct 15, 2024 12:49 pm
The house was surprisingly empty when Julian came home, but that wasn’t entirely uncommon at this time of day. He and Luke had just gotten out of school and decided to spend the afternoon working on one of the projects they’d been assigned. Julian had already gotten approval from Talia, though it really wasn’t like she ever hounded him for such things. Luke was going to stay for dinner, but Evan was out on the food truck so they’d figure out what ‘dinner’ meant later.
For now, they’d gotten a snack, some drinks, and made their way to Julian’s room. He dropped his bag off gently by his bed and set the tray of snacks on his desk. He always took his shoes off in the garage, just before the stairs that led up here, and he was undressing what parts of his uniform were easy and reasonable to take off.
The room was clean, and every time Luke came over it seemed like it was decorated just a little more. This time, there was a little crochet unicorn sitting on his desk, and there was a sweater draped over the back of his chair. It wasn’t new, and wasn’t one Julian had ever worn before, and he didn’t even seem to see it. It wasn’t always easy to get Julian talking but he’d been telling Luke about a street performer he’d seen in the park when he was there yesterday–playing violin, but dressed like a statue. He’d been so amazed with the precise movements and the costume that he’d wound up totally losing track of time and staring, awe-struck, as he watched the performance.
“So I’ve got a lot to catch up on,” he finished apologetically. “I meant to get started yesterday but I spent too long at the park. But I hope you get to see him sometime. If he’s out again I’ll send you a message. I didn’t even think to ask if I could have taken a video.” He was too shy to ask but he hoped he could at least do a good job of describing how wonderful it had been.
He looked over his shoulder and smiled at Luke apologetically, apparently only aware of how long he’d been talking when he realized his mouth was dry. Thankfully, they had drinks.
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Posted: Tue Oct 15, 2024 1:45 pm
Luke had flopped onto the floor, pulling things out of his school bag and just grinning as Julian talked. It was hard to get him to talk this much, even harder to get him to like…express himself this much, but honestly…he wanted to see this performer, and hearing Julian gush about him, only made him want to see the thing more!
“That sounds amazing, Julian. Like, I’ve seen things like that in advertisements for big…vacation spots? Like Las Vegas has a bunch of street performers like that from what the ads show, of course that might not be what it’s actually like, but I would have never thought we would have anything like that here! Please let me know if you see him again and I’ll run right over, I’ll do the same if I ever catch him!”
He pulled out his supplies, and then a sealed bag filled with little golden puffs. “I wanted to wait for when it was just us before I brought these out, my mom took a trip to Texas for something last weekend. She was a little vague but got these from the huge gas station that people seem to be talking about online? I wanted to share them with you…I tried some of Jasons and they’re super yummy. Like…sweet cheese curls? Without the cheese? Caramel curls, I guess.”
Opening the bag he took out a few and then held the rest out to Julian. “I like your unicorn too, that’s super cute. And I haven’t seen that sweater before either, I love the color!”
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Posted: Tue Oct 15, 2024 6:13 pm
“Oh, thank you,” Julian said, although he was always still a bit wary of sharing. He appreciated the offer! He just didn’t want to indulge into too much of Luke’s prized snacks! If he’d been waiting until they were alone to share these then they must have been important.
He only spilled out two before he passed the bag out, eager to make sure they stayed in Luke’s hands.
“Brooklyn made me the unicorn. She’s been practicing a lot, I think it’s really neat.” He sounded enthusiastic, but he always lit up when he was praising his friends. He only ever had good things to say about them, and he tried to say them often.
It took him a second to find the sweater Luke was talking about, but he nodded as he ate one of the puffs. He hadn’t known what to expect but he could see why Luke was so excited about them. He hummed contentedly and nodded but only spoke again after he’d chewed and swallowed. He saved the last puff so he could enjoy the flavor freshly after the first one wore off. “Um, the sweater is nice! But it’s not mine. It’s Riker, do you know him from school? I should make sure he doesn’t need it actually, now that it’s starting to get a bit chilly.”
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Posted: Tue Oct 15, 2024 6:32 pm
Luke chuckled and got up, pouring a good amount from the bag onto the snack plate that Julian had created for them. “Help yourself, seriously. I’ve been waiting to share these with you.”
He looked a little more closely at the unicorn and nodded. “It’s impressive. How long has she been…knitting?” He wasn’t sure. Luke had never done anything with string or yarn…the most he really knew was a tiny bit about embroidery after having floss as his weapon…but. He had never done anything himself.
“Riker? I think so? He might be in a class with me but we haven’t spoken before, he’s the one with the dark hair that I see you with sometimes? I think.”
Honestly, that could be one of two people, but he thought one of them must be Riker.
Maybe.
“Is he nice? What’s he like?” Moving to sit back on the floor, Luke stretched and popped a few of the nuggets into his mouth, looking up at Julian, clearly interested.
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Posted: Tue Oct 15, 2024 8:10 pm
“Oh, um–I think Brooklyn just started. She must be a fast learner,” he praised. He’d become fond of the little unicorn, but it was like that with all homemade gifts. He thanked Luke again for the extra snacks, and ate one more before he spoke again.
He sat on the bed and stretched out his legs, but he couldn’t imagine staying up there while Luke was still seated on the floor.
“I heard things like that can be really complex. I’m glad she’s got such a creative hobby, I can’t wait to see what else she makes. Um–but, yeah, that sounds like Riker.”
He had a few dark haired friends but he didn’t really know how else to describe him in a way that would do him justice. “Riker’s always been good to me. He plays baseball, he’s really good. He’s doing track now. I don’t know where he gets the energy. I mean, I guess some people just aren’t athletically inclined.” He sounded apologetic, obviously talking about himself. He didn’t have many hobbies that demanded much physical strain from him, and he’d been neglecting what hobbies he did have, anyway. His violin wasn’t collecting dust, but it rested forlornly against the wall behind Luke.
“He’s different than most people think.” Riker had a bit of a bad reputation at school but Julian was willing to give anyone a chance and he was glad Riker was his friend. “He’s been very kind to me. I don’t think he wants people know that he’s got a lot of good in him, um, but I think that’s all complicated and not easy to explain. Riker, um. Well, I just hope you’ll trust me when I say he’s a really good person. He’s one of my best friends.”
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Posted: Tue Oct 15, 2024 8:19 pm
Luke grinned and nodded. That was impressive, and honestly, sounded like the things Jason wished that Luke would do. Physical things. Getting stronger things. Getting faster things. “I admire people who like activities like that…I’ve been more of an indoor kid, apart from the camping. I was more of band camp rather than sports camp but, I do like watching sports. If you ever want company to cheer your friend on, count me in! And of course I trust you, Julian. You’re good at knowing people, and you have good taste, so. I hope I can meet him someday and we can all be friends. Is he into any music at all? Like, playing anything?”
Hesitating, Luke glanced up. “Do you mind if I take the chair? I didn’t want to presume and just flop onto your bed, but if you’re going to be there I can pop on into the chair?”
It was comfortable here. And he loved that Julian’s room felt lived in now. It felt like a home, at least by Luke’s standards. “I’m really glad that we’re friends. Just in case you forgot that too. Stupid to say but the thought was just like, bursting to get out.”
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Posted: Wed Oct 16, 2024 9:02 am
Though he and Riker had talked about music, between guitars and violins and organs, he wasn’t sure if he should make any claims about Riker being into playing.
He’d have to think on it a bit.
“Oh, Luke!” he gasped. “Of course you can sit on any of the furniture! I was wondering what you were doing on the floor. But you’ve been over enough, you don’t have to ask. Please just make yourself comfortable! There’s space on the bed or the chair, whichever you like!”
Julian was always eager to share his room; it might have been his space but even that had been a gift to him. Of course he was going to do whatever he could to make his friends comfortable.
“I’m glad we’re friends too,” he was quick to assure. “Even, um, if I don’t know why that popped into your head just now! Especially if you thought I was going to make you sit on the floor!”
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Posted: Wed Oct 16, 2024 5:16 pm
Luke grinned and got up, sitting himself in the chair. “I don’t like to assume things, and this is your space, so I’m just being respectful. The floor is fine, so don’t you ever worry about that.”
The look in his eyes was warm, and his expression was soft, understanding. He wanted to ask. He had assumed too much back in the dorms. Always overstepping. Always making Julian just uncomfortable enough that he could tell…and he refused to do that any longer. He had almost always sat on the floor in Julian’s new room, it was comfortable and just fine for hanging out.
“I’ll keep that in mind though, and won’t hesitate next time if it’s a blanket invitation! You know I like sprawling though, so the floor has always been fine for that!” He gave a soft laugh and pulled his bag up next to him, grabbing a nugget from the snack tray and popping it into his mouth. “How should we split this project up, do you have any ideas?
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