Things have changed so much, but some things are the same as before. Luca wandered the halls, lost in thought as he quietly walked back to the room with his slippers, given to him by Felix beforehand. Though he had not seen the children yet, it seemed like the Director and Felix had not changed at all in the past few years. It was like everything but the people inside the orphanage had become unfamiliar in a strange sort of way, such as a change of a scene in a movie, but with the same actors. 

Staring at the colourful hand prints adorning the walls, having faded from years of wear, Luca slowly lifted his hand into the air and touched one of the smaller handprints reminiscently. It had been many years, but he could remember when he and Felix had placed their hands on this wall years ago when the orphanage was making the children’s mural. He could remember the smell of the tempera paint and the dark blue colour on his hands that would not wash off. But, he could not remember where he placed that hand of paint.

Just as Luca was about to remove his hand and return to the room, he was caught by Felix, who stopped just by him and asked in his usual warm tone, “Do you remember this?” His eyes trailed over the handprints on the wall. 

Luca smiled, lowering his hand as he responded, “I remember making it, but I don’t remember where my handprint is.” His eyes scanned over the wall lazily, as if attempting to find it without any effort. 

While Luca stared at the wall, Felix walked to his right, standing with his shoulder close to Luca’s as his eyes trailed over the wall with some thought. After a moment, he lifted his hand, his long fingers trailing across the surface of the wall, until they landed on two hand prints that were placed wrist to wrist, like wings. One of the handprints was red, while the other was dark blue, just as Luca remembered. 

“It was here.” Felix spoke with certainty, his eyes stuck on the painted hands.

Luca raised his eyes and gazed up at the spot. The more he looked at it, the more the prints stood out, making it easy for Luca to remember where it was. “It’s nice to see it again.” Luca laughed to himself, turning his gaze to Felix. “Hopefully we can bring up more good memories while I’m here.”

There was an awkward silence that fell between the two, and neither of the men spoke, returning their gazes at the wall. After a moment, Felix lowered his eyes and looked towards Luca, “It’s getting late. We should get ready to rest up.” They had a long day planned tomorrow, and the kids would be excited to see Luca after all these years. Most of them were young when Luca had been adopted, but he often would write them in the letters he would send to Felix. The ones that had grown up in the orphanage would be beyond themselves. Felix was right, it would be best to get his sleep now.

 “Yeah, you’re right.” Luca smiled, rubbing his arm as he looked down the hall.

The pair walked quietly down the hall, and they returned to the bedroom just after ten. The rooms down the hall had their lights turned off, and only Felix’s bedroom was lit, along with the dim fluorescent hallway lights. Following behind Felix, Luca trailed behind and walked up to the side of the bed before he scaled the side and layed down on the comforter, not bothering to cover himself. 

Felix sat at his desk, his back resting against the spine of the chair as he opened up his laptop, clicking in the password quickly before he opened up a page and began to skim over the contents, occasionally clicking before he would lift his fingers and type on the keyboard. 

Raising his head from the bed, Luca laughed and asked, “What are you doing so late at night?” He smiled.

Felix did not turn to face Luca, but instead kept his face towards the computer for another moment, “There was an email I had to respond to. It was a little urgent.” He smiled nonchalantly, looking goofy as his fingers quickly finished typing the message before he clicked send and shut the tab. “There. I don’t want to keep you up with my work.”

“You seminarians work too much.” Luca said as he rolled onto his back into the middle of the bed, pulling the comforter out from under his body as he laid like a starfish, looking relaxed as he smiled, smelling the faint scent of the nostalgic detergent he had missed all those years ago.

After adjusting his own bedding, Felix walked up and closed the wooden door to the bedroom with a quiet click as he stood next to the light and asked in a clear voice to Luca, “I’m going to turn off the lights.” He stated, shooting a look at Luca to check for his response. 

Feeling the previous exhaustion take over him, Luca nodded as he yawned, looking tired. 

Seeing his response, Felix smiled and chucked to himself as he turned off the lights, leaving the sound of the flickering bulb to silence as the room was poured into darkness. The only sound that Luca could hear was his own breaths and the sound of the clock ticking in the room. After a short moment, he could hear Felix walking to the bunk bed, the sound of his bare feet slapping against the hard floor as the sound gradually increased until he could feel Felix standing beside the bed, his face level with his own. 

“Good night, Felix.” Luca missed these sleepovers. Sharing a room in the college dormitories was not as fun as sharing a room with someone you liked, Luca found.

“Good night, Luca.” Felix’s tone was warm as he pressed his hand onto the side of the bunk bed before he lowered himself down and laid down on the bed. His body weight sunk the mattress, moving the bunk bed slightly as the sound of springs pressing down snuck into the air. Once Felix adjusted and fully laid down, there was no other sound in the quiet room. 

Holding the edge of his blanket, Luca turned onto his side and faced the wall, closing his eyes as he allowed his exhaustion to take over him. After a short amount of time, his breaths evened out, and soon all that could be heard was him resting peacefully. 

Laying on his back, Felix faced up to the slight dip in the mattress above, his eyes fixated on the shadowy figure sleeping just above him. The smile on his face deepened as he thought to himself, Maybe you won’t have to leave after all, Luca. You could stay here and help with the orphanage. You’ll never have to say goodbye again.

Maybe he could convince him to stay longer, maybe even staying at the orphanage permanently? No, I can’t get too ahead of myself. He’s already here now. Let’s enjoy having him back, and then we can work on keeping him here. Felix thought as he closed his eyes, enjoying the sound of the figure above. It had been too long since he had heard the breathing of the other, making it difficult for him to fall asleep as he did when he was a child. 

Now, after closing his eyes, it was as if sleep had come naturally to him. A peaceful smile rested on Felix’s face as he drifted into sleep.

…