[09:32: Ryan: Eli! Where are you? I wanted to bring you coffee, but I can’t find you!!!]

That Monday morning, Eli never responded. It wasn’t like he did on a regular basis, anyway, and Ryan was left with a cappuccino too bitter for his own taste, sulking all day because he didn’t get to see Eli take the first sip of it. 

Once Elias answered, it was long too late, the coffee long consumed and gone from the world, but Ryan’s excitement grew as soon as he felt his phone vibrate, walking all alone through the campus, aimlessly wandering about as he had nothing to do until a lab at four in the afternoon. 

[13:22: Eli: Don’t you ever have class?]

Ryan had a big, fat smile on his face as he walked and texted.

[13:23: Ryan: of course I do!! No absences yet this semester. I’m a great student, and unlike you, the professors love me!!!]

[13:24: Eli: Must be because you actually have to keep your mouth shut during their lectures.]

[13:24: Ryan: Eli!!!! You’re so mean!!!!! And it’s not true, you know??? They love my presentations, too!!!!]

[13:28: Eli: Even the way you type is obnoxious. You sure they never told you you ramble too much?]

[13:28: Ryan: …]

[13:28: Ryan: thats beside the point!! I got a good grade anyway!]

[13:28: Ryan: where are you now??? You owe me 2 bucks for the coffee]

[13:30: Eli: You got the coffee all by yourself, and even drank it. Why the hell would I owe you money?]

[13:30: Ryan: because I didn’t get to see you drink it!!!!]

Hesitation in Eli’s response. He started typing, stopped, and typed again. 

[13:33: Eli: You’re a weirdo, after all.]

[13:33: Ryan: but you’re still texting me ccc:]

As if Ryan had provoked it, Elias disappeared right after that very message. Having read it, Eli refused to respond, and Ryan regretted everything.

[13:40: Ryan: Noooo!!! Come back!!!! I was joking!!!!!]

[13:40: Ryan: ill walk by the arts faculty again!!!!! I gotta do some homework, so let me into your atelier!!!]

Ryan’s feet sped up, carrying him all across campus in record speed, allowing him to enter the faculty only a few minutes after sending that last message. He held the door open for some girls, who he was sure had seen him nude a week ago when he’d posed for them, but they barely reacted, but did giggle as the door fell shut behind them. 

But Ryan cared little about who had or hadn’t seen him naked; unless it was about Eli, of course. Ryan would love to know everything Eli thought about Ryan’s body, but there was no way any truth would come out of Eli’s mouth. 

It’s passable at most, he’d say, or something along the lines. Nothing special. Why are you asking me something so dumb?

With a smile too bright for this world, he knocked on the atelier’s door, already peeking through the little window to see Elias working so meticulously on one of his projects. And this time, it was a 3D project of ceramics, some sort of artistic vase, or a gourd. 

It was huge, and Eli painted it with a fine brush and blue paint, one line cautiously following the next with hands so steady, it surprised Ryan even from afar. 

After Ryan’s cautious knock, and even though Eli wore headphones, Eli put his brush down beside him on the tray, and glared right over. As if he’d kept his music’s volume low, all so he could hear Ryan’s arrival — when he insisted he didn’t want to be bothered, why didn’t he just blast his music and ignore every and any knock at this door?

If he didn’t care, why did he turn around, and why did their gazes meet, only for Eli to flinch around and barely move an inch, not making any efforts at opening the door for Ryan, who had to allow himself in a second after. 

“Hey!”

Eli sighed, and his usually so steady fingers couldn’t calm anymore. “You’re too loud.”

Given that Eli was working on a rather delicate piece, Ryan felt guilty almost instantly. In a whisper, he apologized, and approached with tiptoeing steps.

“That’s so cool, though!” he whispered. “Are you only painting it, or did you make the vase, too? It’s so big…”

“We made it in sculpting class,” Eli grumbled, but he didn’t necessarily look at his own work. “It’s a flask.”

“You’re so good. It looks like those ancient Chinese ceramics,” Ryan mumbled in awe, squinting his eyes at the blue, flowery design. “You can paint, sketch, sculpt … what’s there you can’t do, seriously?”

“…”

“I remember we had pottery class in middle school. I went once, and I hated it. The stuff went everywhere, and my cup turned out way too thick and crooked, and ugly, it was the worst! And then, before it fully dried, I dropped it trying to transfer it into the oven, and all my hard work was gone.” 

Eli stared, unimpressed by the unsolicited story Ryan gave him. All the louder, sounding more and more annoyed, he sighed, and Ryan thought it was best to retreat, and make his over to one of the empty desks. 

“Why on earth are you doing your homework here?”

“So you did read my messages!” Ryan grinned, dropping his backpack onto the chair beside him, and all Eli did was grumble, but he didn’t deny that it was the truth.

“Go somewhere else.”

“But it’s so quiet here … The study hall gets super busy around this time.”

“I’m sure there’s a quiet room in the engineering faculty.” 

“Yeah, but they’re not that nice, you know? This place got some calming effect, or something.”

Elias didn’t believe it for a second, and his blank stare revealed as much. In the arts faculty, the chairs were the worst, the tables the clunkiest, wobbliest messes, and dried paint was all over these floors, even though they were recently cleaned.

Whereas all other study rooms had nice, padded office chairs to sit on, the arts faculty, since it would get messes all over them, could only offer wooden chairs and the like. There was absolutely no way this was more comfortable than the other facilities. 

But Ryan smiled, sat down, and reached for his book and his laptop. “I won’t bother you,” he promised. “I have to finish these by tomorrow, and they’re a pain. I shouldn’t have procrastinated …” 

“You were playing your childish video games.”

“They’re not childish, Eli! They’re fun! You should totally try playing with me!” 

“I’d rather suffocate.” 

“Hey!!!” 

“Didn’t you say you knew how to plan your time? All I see is you wasting your time playing, and bothering me.” 

“And I’m still doing pretty good,” Ryan mumbled. “Got a 43 in my statics test.”

Mouth agape, and a aghast expression, Eli stared. “Out of 100? That’s … horrible.”

“It’s not! The best grade was a 46! I was close to it! And he’ll totally curve the class, anyway, or else, no one will pass. You wouldn’t get it, Eli, in engineering … this is as good as it gets.”

“We’re absolutely doomed, aren’t we?”

“Hey, cut us some slack,” Ryan chuckled. “By the time we graduate, we’ll all be good to enter the workforce.”

Even though Eli was slightly hidden behind his ceramic art piece, his giant flask, Ryan could see the slight smile emerging atop Eli’s lips, and it made Ryan grin all the more, turning him happy inside out, warming his soul, and letting his stomach run wild with butterflies. 

Eli picked up his brush again, accepting defeat and allowing Ryan to stay for his homework. And while he listened to music, Ryan enjoyed the squeaks of Eli’s chair whenever he adjusted his position around his flask as he painted it counter-clockwise, taking forever for every single detail atop it. 

Every now and then, Eli would sigh and put down the brush. Only after taking a few deep breaths, as if to calm himself, would he pick it back up again to continue. 

This is so nice, Ryan thought. Though they both worked individually on their own things, to simply be in the same room together like this … it had something peaceful about it, a serenity Ryan had never known before.