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#26
Old 10-22-2013, 04:15 AM

William fell asleep with the book in his chest. All the things he'd said, the harshness of his features, they marred not his pale face. Even the clothes he wore weren't pristine anymore. They were crumpled up, mussed, crinkled here and there in a way that made them actually look worn and used, rather then something just pulled from the shop and placed upon a model for the runway. No, he just looked like a lonely young man, seeking the little comfort he could from someone else's space.

An area that exuded warmth, and comfort, nothing like his side of the room.

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#27
Old 10-22-2013, 04:28 AM

Angel jumped up the stairs and paused at the top, sighing again. At home the air was different. He was used to it. But this air was different. It had more allergens in it. Maybe because there were so many trees. So many plants full of pollen and the insects and animals that carried it. Maybe. He shook his head, coughing slightly to clear his lungs and pausing outside the door to his dorm room, gathering himself before stepping inside. He almost gasped audibly, though only because he hadn't expected someone like William to feel comfortable anywhere near his side of the room, let alone on his bed. Sleeping with a book of Angel's. Was that Hamlet? One of his favorites from Shakespeare... But how would he wake William easily? Without earning more wrath? He could pick him up, but he didn't know how light a sleeper the man was. But he looked oddly peaceful. As if he hadn't managed to find a type of comfort anywhere else before.

He was stepping from one foot to another, breathing a little roughly until something constricted his throat and lungs powerfully, sending Angel into a coughing fit just outside the door until he found his inhaler and managed to take a deep breath of the medicine, feeling it enter and clear his lungs. He'd have a hard time getting used to this different, cross-country air. But it would happen sooner or later.

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#28
Old 10-22-2013, 04:42 AM

Something woke him. Will sat up with a start, arms flailing about and his eyes wide.The first thing he saw was the other man, standing there with an inhaler to his lips, taking deep breaths. William didn't wait for him to say anything. Instead, the grey eyed man scrambled to his side of the room, and sent a regretful glance at all the warmth and comfort Angel had always known. Why couldn't his family have cared for him, even an ounce of what Angel had been given his whole life?

Face scrunched up, William turned to his book again, not the one he'd been reading though. That one didn't belong to him, though it had been so interesting... He looked back at it wistfully, at the whole other side of the room.

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#29
Old 10-22-2013, 04:57 AM

Angel capped the inhaler and pocketed it for the time being, glancing back in to see William already on the other side of the room. He decided to keep himself quiet, rather than try to talk to the man, but sent a look his way that was mostly an invitation for William to talk any time he liked. Setting his satchel on the closet doorknob, he put the inhaler on the desk in front of his harp and ran his hand over his bed. It wasn't made as perfectly as William kept his, but it looked nice enough. The book, though, he looked at. Had Will ever read it? Or at least, read it all the way through, and understood the deep meaning behind it? The way it was so amazing that it had survived hundreds of years and was considered such an amazing classic... He looked up from the book to William, and set it on he farthest end of his bedside table. Maybe if he felt daring enough the other man would snatch it up to read the rest of the way.

Glancing at the clock he'd put on the table earlier, Angel sighed. Two whole hours... Two hours... It would feel like a literal generation until he could talk to Chris. Reaching into his satchel, he grabbed his phone and headphones and settled onto his bed, putting an earbud in his left ear and leaving the other out as he cycled through his music choices and picked a classical at random. Maybe a nap... But he might sleep too long, and he didn't really feel tired. He stared at the screen of his phone and opened up an art application, moving his finger on the screen to make a simple picture. If only William would give him a chance... Maybe tomorrow he'd make a schedule with his new friends to visit them so he didn't have to feel as if the world were crawling around the sun at a snail's pace.

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#30
Old 10-22-2013, 05:13 AM

William watched the other man move across the room. Settling down, that was what Angel was doing. Well he had a right to, he supposed. Grudgingly, the strawberry blond began to accept that the other man was there to stay, and for two years at that. They would need to come to some kind of peace, of agreement. Slowly, William crept forward to til he stood by the bedside table Angel had set up so carefully. His fingers danced across the cover of Hamlet, gingerly flicking across the surface.

"I'm borrowing this, " stated William matter-of-factly. Like the book belonged to him, he plucked it up and went to settle on his bed once more. This time with a different tome, one that looked worn and well loved. Dog eared, used spine, it spoke of many readings. It was nice, different, then the usually pristine tomes William was used to.

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#31
Old 10-22-2013, 05:26 AM

Through the half-orchestra in his ear, Angel heard something. He didn't move, but cast his eyes in William's direction. Like a feline, moving toward something it was after, or coming to inspect something it was still interested in. He smiled a little when the man spoke. True it wasn't exactly a friendly way of acting, but he'd accepted the general offering from Angel. It was a step in the right direction, at least. Something that rekindled that hope that maybe they'd become friends. "That's fine with me." He said before William started reading. "I've finished it dozens of times, one of my favorites." And in the original script. He'd seen other versions with 'updated' writing, so people could understand it. If they only took the time to read and at the very least try to understand what was written. Because after a while, it was as easy as breathing.

He sighed lightheartedly, happy that some step---regardless of how small---had been taken forward. He'd have to speak of this in a text so that William didn't become irate if Angel talked about him, or at least take those particular phone calls outside the room. He finished his little drawing, laughing at how shaky it had turned out---a terrible little sketch of a person he'd never seen before, perhaps from his own imagination. Perhaps his rendition of Hamlet's appearance. Angel glanced at his watch again. If he just stopped counting the seconds... How would he survive two whole years of this if he couldn't wait until evening came on the first day?

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#32
Old 10-23-2013, 03:35 AM

It was obvious the other man had done just that, read it over and over again with an avid mind. "I don't suppose someone like you would have read Rome and Juliet as well?" Why was he bringing that up? Though tragic, it was his personal favorite of Shakespeare's plays. Probably because of the love and romance, though William would never admit it.

Perhaps things weren't going to be so bad as he'd thought. If they could at least speak about books, it would be better then the chill silence he had first expected and encourage. Books were something that even people who weren't friends could talk about safely. William was still adamant about that, not having friends. They had too much power to hurt and harm, and those who were more then that were even worse! He'd never let anyone that close.

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#33
Old 10-23-2013, 03:50 AM

Angel glanced up from his erasing of the previous picture. He was really talking? Talking more than, perhaps, just dictating what he would do or what he was going to do? It was almost like a Christmas present... "Sure I have!" He said brightly. "I mean, while it's not my favorite I like the story, especially the end... I mean, not that I like sad endings in every story... But it just fit." It just wouldn't have worked out. The age gap, the grounds. After all, early on in the story of Romeo and Juliet, it was obvious that Romeo had only wanted Juliet for her appearance alone. Infatuation with looks, and little else to build a relationship upon. Perhaps if they had lived, it would have only pushed back later tragedy... Angel was desperate to understand that it would never happen to him. It was just a story.

While he started on another sketch, Angel glanced over to where William was. "Not many people talk about other works. Othello is a good one, I think, and so few people actually bring it up." Why was that? He wasn't sure, but people just tended to hook onto a specific series of well-known stories and fly with it.

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#34
Old 10-23-2013, 09:59 PM

He placed a finger between the pages of his borrowed book and frowned. "I much prefer Julius Caesar. There's a quite good cast of characters, and not quite everyone important dies." Yes, talking about such things would be better then not talking at all. It would be two years after all, a very long two years if they refused to speak at all... Or rather if William kept pushing Angel away. The other man had tried to make friends, but that never worked for Will. Friendships always ended in disasters.

If he kept dwelling on that, then things would never change, not his mood or anything. Pursing his lips, the young man lowered his head to half-read the pages of Hamlet. There were some things that everyone had in common it seemed, and Shakespeare was one of them.

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#35
Old 10-23-2013, 10:36 PM

Angel nodded slowly. He'd read it a couple times but never hooked onto the story. "Was never that great, to me. Maybe I just read too much about the actual Ceaser and prefer the historical happening." He shrugged, and again checked his watch. Such a bad habit---if he kept it up he would go crazy. Maybe when classes started the day after tomorrow it would be easier to lose track of time. Hopefully he wouldn't completely lose track, though...

"But all that tragedy doesn't exactly help you feel better, y'know?" He erased his next picture and set his phone down, pulling his headphone out of his ear as the song finished. "Twelfth Night is good for a laugh." He chuckled thinking about it. Maybe in today's society most would roll their eyes at the plot of a young woman disguising herself as a man and as such, having a woman of noble blood fall in love with them. But so few wanted to remember that the stories were written so long ago the concept was preposterous and, at the same time, hilarious. Angel thought so, anyway. But he couldn't quite think on it so specifically. Maybe he was winning William over a little.

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#36
Old 12-02-2013, 08:37 PM

"I've never read it," stated William simply. "As for tragedy .. What could there be wrong in a rather accurate description of life? I haven't found much comedy in it." There was none, as far as he was concerned. Only anger, the hurt of betrayal, cold eyes looking at you only for what you could do for them, calculating how you could be used. The young man shook his head quickly and let his eyes fall to the book in his hands. There was solace in words.

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#37
Old 12-02-2013, 08:51 PM

Angel wrinkled his nose in a show of annoyance, though William couldn't see that. "Well, I think that's your fault." he said simply. "Your life is what you make it. If you let it be unhappy, then that's on you. I... I mean, life isn't all laughs. But it's not so bad. You just have to see that for yourself. Can't let anyone else dictate what you think of life. Can't let them squeeze all the joy out of it for you, even if they try." He'd gone to school. He'd had others try to wring the happiness out of his life by making those days miserable, but he had more friends than enemies. And he had friends because he let himself be liked, and let himself like them. Some had hurt him. He still bore those scars. But he didn't pay attention to those anymore---they didn't hurt as much when kindness and friendship was around every corner, taking the edge off that lingering sensation of hatred.

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#38
Old 12-02-2013, 09:47 PM

William snorted, falling into silence. "My fault you say? I've never known anything but this life full of ...... " He glanced up and fell silent once more. There was no finishing that last sentence. Already, he'd exposed himself far more then he'd intended to. So he turned to the book in his hands, eyes passing over dark lines upon white paper. He could live so many lives within those pages ... So many worlds, so many people to meet ... What need did he have of friends?

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#39
Old 12-02-2013, 09:55 PM

His eyes were on his watch again, resting over his paper. The second hand was ticking at a snail's pace, worming toward that two-hour mark. He sighed, looking up to the ceiling. The first day was often the hardest, the most difficult to deal with, because it was hard to get into the habit. Soon he would lose himself. Maybe sometime he would get past that harsh outer layering that William had created. His misery was self-imposed, that was more than obvious. He had freedom, he could do whatever he liked---he could find real friends or things to do, further himself and not accept his unfortunately sad, isolated life.

Angel studied his paper. His pencil went over it, sketching again. Soon enough he would learn how to obey lines, how to go by border, how to pace himself. And soon he would learn how to read music and understand it, rather than seeing little more than small blemishes on paper. And soon he would know his new friends better. He would have stories to tell the people he left behind. Maybe he would get to know William. That was quickly becoming number one on his wishlist.

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#40
Old 12-02-2013, 11:27 PM

William couldn't help himself. He kept glancing up at the other man, curiosity pushing him to do so. Angel was so different from anyone he'd ever come across before. He was like an alien species, to be watched and studied until it could be understood. "Why do you keep looking at your watch?" Surely something important prompted him to do so. A meeting? A phone call? A favorite show? William could only guess.

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#41
Old 12-02-2013, 11:44 PM

Angel blinked, finally shifting to take his watch off to sit on it. "Erm... There's a call I'm expecting... In about an hour and a half. Just... something I've been waiting for all day, really looking forward to. He's probably worried..." It was a well-known fact that Angel's mild asthma acted up when he was more than ten miles away from his original home town. The air grew different steadily, harder to get used to. It was higher, up here, and would probably grow colder than it would if they were lower. When winter came, he would have an easier time of it while the pollen was out of the still air and the world was cold and quiet. How were the winters here? They had to be beautiful. Silent. Just like at home.

"I just... am not patient when it comes to some things. I just want time to pass so I can get back to him and..." He shook his head. "Ah, never mind. You probably don't want to hear about that." He chuckled, working on his drawing. Now it looked like something. A person.

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#42
Old 12-02-2013, 11:52 PM

Interest perked, he sat up. "Who is this him?" There were so many possibilities, and one William was afraid to hear. He wouldn't know how to react if Angel was one of ... the people like his father's brother. Memories of visits had his mind veering away. Nothing had ever happened of course, nothing serious, but it had been enough to make him always wary. Already thinking of such things had him leaning away, seeking more distance between his roomate and himself.

To think, they had just begun to be civil with each other.

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#43
Old 12-03-2013, 12:06 AM

Angel opened his mouth to reply, but nothing came out. He was hesitating, something unusual for him, but not unheard of. William seemed curious, but there was something oddly... off about that curiosity. "Eh... A friend. A really close friend." The term was so loose. But it fit as a plug to the concept. He didn't want to talk about Chris until he was able to talk to him. And that would be in more than an hour. He shook his head. "Just a friend." He muttered, and bent over his work. He was drawing Chris, regardless of what he had intended to draw originally. He was concerned for the man in so many ways, worried more now that he wasn't around. Perhaps his concerns about his home in general would ebb soon enough, but that didn't seem to be an option for now.

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#44
Old 12-03-2013, 12:31 AM

William nodded and relaxed instantly, a long breath leaving his lips. "You .. miss him? I've never had a friend before ..." He knew his loneliness, his vulnerability showed Shoulders curling down, he peered at the book in his hands, played with the worn pages. "Not a real friend ..." They had been deceitful, wanting something from him always. For a while, William had played along, until he'd figured out no friends was better then false ones. It had been the right decision. No, it had been the only one he could make. So he worked on connections, not relationships.

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#45
Old 12-03-2013, 12:42 AM

Angel's lip quirked up in a half smile, and he closed his sketchbook, setting it aside. "I do. A lot. Ah... He's a bit of a special friend." He grimaced inwardly. How stupid that sounded. Transparent. He got up, going around to his computer and raising the screen, signing in on Skype and staring at the screen. He had a lot of people in his contacts, his parents, a dozen friends, a couple cousins, and Chris. They were all offline, but for good reason---it was early afternoon and they would all be busy. Chris would be free in none too long, though it felt like the world was ending around him.

He turned back to William, going around to sit in the rocking chair. "You can probably meet friends here that are real. I mean..." He shook his head. He could be William's friend, of course, but the young man didn't seem to want to bother with Angel. He did seem a little more open, a minute change that was evident and yet, a big step forward.

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#46
Old 12-03-2013, 12:50 AM

He was suspicious again all of a sudden. He had been that way for so long that there was simply no turning it off, and yet .... He wanted to believe that Angel had spoken the truth. It was easy to quash that wanting under a hard mental heel. "That sounds ... nice..." Though it would hard to let his guard down with anyone at all. Angel was the only one he'd even talked civily with at that point, and once classes started ... He shook his head. "But that is all it is." William might let his guard down at school, then again those in his discipline were those he would compete with for the rest of his life. Opening up to anyone was a bad idea.

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#47
Old 12-03-2013, 12:59 AM

Angel shook his head, rocking back and forth. "Will, not everyone will walk right up to you and hand you a real friendship. And a lot of people are... built on greed." And yet, here he was, trying to show that he was willing to be the man's friend. He would love to be on common terms and friendly, able to talk about whatever was on his mind. But William seemed far too gone. He shook his head. "Look, Will, it's your choice. I mean, I don't like to know you're obviously lonely and looking for someone that doesn't want your money or to take advantage of you but I won't push. It's your decision..." He stood, gathering up a book from one of the shelves and settling on his bed, on a side that turned him away from William.

"But you know, I'll be here." His fingers felt the old edges of the book---a series of small stories from Stephen King, collected in a large book. It would take his mind off everything until he heard that notification. Then Chris would be there and he'd be able to rest easily.

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#48
Old 12-03-2013, 01:06 AM

William hesitated for a few moments, torn beyond belief. "I don't know you ... And I certainly can't trust you, not yet." It was far too soon, they'd only just met! Friends, bah ... They couldn't be that, if they could barely even speak with each other without Will doubting every word. Not yet, though perhaps there was a chance. For that chance to bloom, Angel would have to prove himself somehow to the young man.

A difficult thing to do by any means. Lowering his head, William turned his eyes to Hamlet once more, his lips forming the words silently as he read along, eyes glued to the pages. His mind was back then, with the people captured within the pages. It was so easy to imagine everything, their clothes, their speech and what they ate.

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#49
Old 12-03-2013, 01:22 AM

Angel sighed, going back to his book. Will seemed to be a hard nut to crack, but he so wanted to do that. Eventually, though, his mind wandered into his book, filling it with scenes of horror until a bright, cheery blip filled his side of the room. Angel didn't even finish his sentence---he jumped up and grabbed his headset, plugging it in and bringing up the video call.

Seeing Chris's face after so many days apart almost brought tears to his eyes, but Angel blinked them back in favor of a bright smile. Chris seemed to know how sad Angel felt about their distance apart, and the smile on his face was calm and kind. Their conversation ranged from happenings at home, to Angel's detailing the castle-like school they were to be taught in. How the air was different but so far, he had only had one asthma attack, and that eased the worried expression from Chris's face.

Chris himself seemed happy. Though in his eye there was a spark of worry that he voiced to be concern for Angel. If Angel worried, Chris fretted. Both were constantly concerned about one another, and Angel's father had said some time before that they were a perfect pair.

Though their conversation---quiet on Angel's end to keep from disturbing William---was cut short, short though it was probably several hours, dictated by the way the two windows in the room had darkened significantly by the time Angel and Chris disconnected. He sighed, putting the headset on the back of the laptop after he closed it and resting his head on the desk in front of it. They knew Angel to be so strong, but he was crumbling.

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#50
Old 12-03-2013, 01:31 AM

He was lost entirely in the book. For a while, he heard not a word, not a sound, then happy little murmurs swept through his ears. William glanced up, glimpsed a person upon the other man's screen and then looked back down to his book quickly. Not his book.. Angel's. It had been a kind enough gesture, letting him pluck it up to read on his side of the room. It wasn't like it would ever be lost, or out of sight, uncared for, but Angel hadn't known that at the time.

Once the sky had darkened, his manservant came to lay food upon the table before him. He walked away, leaving William with a small feast, and a disturbingly silent Angel. It seemed ... odd, to see him so slumped over when all during the day he had been excited, boisterous. Not now though. Wordlessly, William plucked up one of the plates of food, and shifted things from one plate to the next. Hesitantly, he moved to the other side of the room, and place the food near Angel's slumped form. He retreated quickly then, settling down upon the bed with his borrowed book once more.

 


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