[flashback] Lighting The Match (Hadrian)

[Astrolabe]

“Your father is like that too, huh?” Astro said, with a slightly bitter smile. “Mine hasn’t gotten quite that far yet. My parents are waiting for me to fail before they cut off the funding. But I won’t mind. It’s not as if I want to be here anyway.” He took another bite of pie and a sip of wine to wash it down. “You’d do well in Lhavit, being a mage. Everyone there is all about that shyke. Really can’t be much of anything there if you aren’t – a mage, that is.” “But it sounds like you could do just about anything. I’ve watched you in class – you seem to really know your stuff.” He shrugged, then laughed. “Maybe some of your talent will rub off, hey? Brilliance by association?” He laughed again, clearly meaning it as a joke

[Hadrian]

Hadrian nodded and shrugged, having turned the thing over and over in his mind for so long that it didn't really bother him anymore. It was just another thing, a fact, and something he could deal with in one way or another. "I don't know about that. I'm not much of one, not yet. Just a student. I pick up on facts quickly, and concepts, but I'm not much in practice. Ah -- did you want me to start going over things with you? I'm sure... you have better things to do than. Well, I'm not very interesting."

[Astrolabe]

Astro shrugged, filling his mouth with more food. Once he had chewed it up and swallowed, he said, “Sure, let’s get at it. I have loads to do. It will probably take all afternoon, all evening and most of the night.” He sighed, then added hastily, “Not that you have to stay here and help that long. I know you’ll have your own work to get to.” Pushing himself away from the table, he reached for his satchel, just as his cat jumped down off its spot on his bed and came to look dolefully at him. “Oh, soz, Frank. Didn’t mean to leave you out of things.” Astro reached for a few scraps of meat pie and put it in a very fancy looking bowl by his chair leg. The fine porcelain was probably the most luxurious thing in the bare little room. The cat meowed and then tucked in. “You’re most welcome,” Astro replied, before once again reaching for the satchel and pulling several notebooks from it, spilling a vial of reddish-brown material on the table. “Oh, there’s the rust. Hmm . . .” He said, speculatively, before brushing away the spilled residue, recapping the vial and tossing it back in his pack. Crossing his arms before him on the table, he looked expectantly at Hadrian. “Ready? Where do we start?”

[Hadrian]

"Really, I will get my work done. I'm already ahead in the reading so one night spent with you won't ruin me. Besides, they say that teaching is how one really learns something..." He shrugged, then grabbed stuff out of his satchel too, putting things on the table to show his impromptu student a chemical reaction or two. Oh, a cat. "Hello, er, Frank." He didn't reach out to pet the cat, worried it might his and claw. Some animals loved him, others not so much. "Anyway, rust..." He continued to unload all the little things, some of the more delicate ones swathed in swatches of silk to protect them from breakage. He eyed the cat to make sure he wasn't going to knock things over in his curiosity. "Rust is something that occurs on many metals. With iron, it's a reaction to water. Water left on iron will change. It releases hydrogen, the air that burns. Some alchemists call it phlogiston, but I think... they might not be quite right about it. Anyway, the hydrogen is released, and whatever's left of the water makes the iron rust. Are you with me so far?" He glanced at Astro to make sure he wasn't nodding off or completely in the dark.

[Astrolabe]

Astro nodded. He really was paying attention, at first. As Hadrian began to explain the chemical processes underlying the experiment they were meant to do earlier in the lab, it made much more sense than simply reading instructions out of a text. Perhaps he was that kind of learner – one who needed the auditory and visual, and not just the written word. In any case, at one point, in order to better see the diagrams that Hadrian was scribbling out on a scrap of paper, to explain what was going on, Astro dragged his chair over to sit beside the other student instead of across from him. For a good hour, he watched, and listened, and wrote in his notebook. For another hour, he penned the words that Hadrian gave him, for the paper that was destined to be turned in the next day. True, it was plagiarism of the most extreme kind, as he literally took the words right out of Hadrian’s mouth. But, at least he actually understood what he was writing now. His hand cramped up as he tried to keep up with the flow of knowledge from the young man’s lips, and his brain began to get a bit fuzzy, as it tried to assimilate all that Hadrian had to impart. Finally, Astro laid the pen down, saying in a sheepish tone, “I think I need a break. Do you mind if we knock off for just a few minutes?” He stood and stretched, grabbing one hand in the other and pushing his arms out in front of himself, his biceps and triceps moving as he flexed them. Hadrian’s hands went to his own neck and he rubbed his traps, apparently trying to ease the strain of keeping his neck bent downwards, reading and writing. Without much thought, Astro’s hand went to Hadrian’s neck, and he pushed his fingers away. “Here, let me do that for you. One thing I’m ace at – rubbing the soreness out of muscles.” Astro chuckled. “Had plenty of those myself. Trust me, I know what I’m doing.” He moved about to stand behind Hadrian, both hands on his new tutor’s shoulders, manipulating the muscles there in a fairly expert manner. “You’re a bit tense,” he remarked, casually, just making conversation. “You ever do anything, like, physical? To relax? All work, no play – you know what they say.” His fingers, stout and strong, flexed as they ran down either side of Hadrian’s spine and then back up again. Astro pushed gently. “Lean forward a bit. Rest your arms on the table if you like. Relax.”

[Hadrian]

At first, Hadrian was a bit miffed that his words were being stolen as quickly as he could speak them, but another part of himself reveled in the way Astro hung on his every word. He needed Hadrian, if only for instruction, and it did seem that he was actually starting to comprehend this portion of the philtering class. But if he wanted to pass, it seemed likely he would need to keep Hadrian around to teach him what the professor seemed incapable of teaching him. Or perhaps he just needed one-on-one time with the professor; sadly, most professors would rather give that to star pupils than the troubled students who actually needed it. Hadrian didn't exactly feel guilty, but he knew that some professors were already showing him favor. He worked for it, but perhaps it was not entirely a fair system. Then again, life was not always a fair system. "No, we can break," he agreed, rubbing his eyes a little. He needed some kind of a stimulant, perhaps tea. His neck was bothering him a little; it had been a long da-- oh, wait, what? He tensed a bit at the physical contact. Astro had touched him before, little passing things, with a friendly effortlessness that made Hadrian all the more confounded. He tried to relax, but it was difficult. But when he reminded himself that he didn't tense up when Caelum was fixing some chemical burn or broken finger or ailment from inhaling the wrong fumes, and once he persuaded himself that this was as healthy as relaxing for the healer, his muscles started to melt under Astro's hands. "I, um... I walk a lot..." he mumbled muzzily. This was relaxing him right to sleep. It didn't help to put his arms on the table and rest his head, because that was vaguely pillow-like. "Carry, mm, um... uh, books?"

[Astrolabe]

Astro felt the initial tensing of Hadrian’s shoulders, but he put it down to simply the tension of normal, tired muscles. It wouldn’t occur to him that perhaps some people, perhaps the majority of people, might not appreciate it that he took such liberties with their personal space – and their bodily integrity. He wasn’t stupid, necessarily, but he was obtuse, sometimes, when it came to appropriate social boundaries. Maybe it was due to his love of wrestling, a sport where normally heterosexual men got into positions that seriously called into question such ‘appropriate boundaries.’ Not that he intended to get a rear mount on Hadrian in the next little bit. He wouldn’t be opposed to that, but he had absolutely no clue where Hadrian’s preferences lay in that regard. No, he was just the type of person who was friendly, maybe to a fault, and assumed others were the same, until they told him otherwise in a very direct way – kind of like a large, lovable puppy, who might quickly get very annoying with wanting to sit in your lap. So, at the first tensing up, Astro only rubbed a bit more gently. Soon enough, though, Hadrian did indeed follow his suggestion, and began to relax noticeably, his arms folding on the table in front of him, his head turning to rest on his arms – almost like a child. He did answer Astro’s question, but his voice was muffled, so Astro decided to let him rest and his hands and fingers did all the communicating for the next little bit. With Hadrian leaning forward, he could reach as far as his waist, and he did a thorough job of back, shoulders, and neck. Back up at the top, Astro’s skilled fingers slid higher, bit by bit, up the column of Hadrian’s neck, into his hairline, and then into his short, silken hair, massaging his scalp. It was a mistake on Astro’s part. Truly, wrapping your fingers in someone else’s hair is an extremely intimate gesture, though in this case it was not meant to be. Astro had only intended the rub the tension from Hadrian’s head, as he had his back and neck. But the feel of those silky strands was a bit too much of a good thing, and Astro’s fingers slowed, then pulled away. Even he realized that it was the kind of contact usually reserved for lovers, the running of your fingers through their hair, as you pulled them close, for a kiss, or . . . whatever. Hadrian was a good looking guy – attractive in his quiet, brainy way - but Astro needed a tutor – and he sure as hell did not want to piss Hadrian off, not this soon into the hoped for relationship that might see Astro actually passing this class. Astro gave a final gentle rub to Hadrian’s shoulder, in a friendly way. “Haven’t put you to sleep, have I?” he asked, only half joking. Hadrian was so limp it was a wonder he hadn’t slithered right off the chair.

[Hadrian]

Hadrian didn't really live in his body most of the time, but rather within the confines of his skull. Thus he often tripped, ran into things, knocked others over; it was only in places like the laboratory where he was in a state of heightened awareness, where each move was economical and precise. But when all a body did was walk, mostly to get his mind from running in circles, and otherwise ignored it, the tension mounted and when he finally allowed himself to relax, allowed Astro to massage away all those knots and kinks, he felt worn out like a rag doll and inexplicably sad. Thankfully, he also very nearly did fall asleep, not even really thinking about the hands in his hair other than to note that it felt nice, like a mother's touch when he was very young. At the rub of his shoulder, he turned, bleary-eyed, to look questioningly at Astro. There was a vague sort of smile on his face, though. "Mm, huh-wha'?"

[Astrolabe]

Hadrian was more than half asleep, it seemed, and Astro smiled at him. “I think you’re more worn out than you realize, mate,” he said, his hand still on the other boy’s shoulder. He gave it a gentle shake. “It’s late. I’m sorry that I’ve kept you here so long.” Astro knew that Hadrian didn’t live at the University itself – he had mentioned his cottage that he had somewhere – a place to be off by himself, or something along those lines. “Look, it’s probably petching cold out there by now. It felt like snow earlier.” He nodded towards his bed. “Why don’t you just kip here? No need to go traipsing out at this hour.” In that state of almost mindless acquiescence of the extremely tired, Hadrian gave a small nod and allowed himself to be helped into the bed, tucked in nicely with the removal of only his shoes. With barely a word he rolled over and was out like a proverbial light. Astro himself was tired, but he cleared up the mess on the table, carefully repacking Hadrian’s things in his bag, getting rid of the crumbs so the mice and occasional rats who chose to brave Frank’s hunting skills were less tempted to do so. (Nothing like waking up to set foot on the floor only to find dead, eviscerated mouse squished between your toes). Speaking of Frank, he let the cat out, waited a short bit until he heard the small cough on the far side of the door, and let him back in. Frank hated the cold as much as any Ephyarian – which is what he was, basically. Anyway, after a space of twenty minutes to do all that, Astro blew out the several lamps that they had studied by, and in the dark, crawled into the bed beside Hadrian. The boy’s warmth was already making a nice refuge of the covers and sheets, and Astro unabashedly cuddled against him, in a platonic way. As mentioned before, he needed to pass philtering more than he needed to make assumptions and wind up with one friend less. Still, it was more than pleasant to lie next to Hadrian in the dark, listening to his steady, light breathing, and rest his head on the same pillow. It felt very . . . comfortable. No – comforting. Frank too had leapt up to join them, rolled up in a ball at the foot of the bed. In short order, despite himself and his body’s treacherous attempts to persuade him otherwise, Astro too fell asleep.

[Hadrian]

Astro might've been a master hypnotist for how little fight Hadrian put up. There were all sorts of things wrong with this: he did not like sleeping places that weren't his own; he didn't trust relative strangers; he didn't like being touched all that much -- well, he did, but it still made him uncomfortable. But when the lights went out, he was dead to the world, wrapped up in blankets, Astro, and his cat, Frank. But he slept, he dreamed, and he moved around as people do in their sleep. He mumbled algorithms, snippets of poetry, the recipe for alchemist's fire that he had memorized but wasn't sure in waking life if it was accurate, and something about putting the earmuffs on the unicorn... When dawn came, he stretched, gloriously warm and rested, though slumber clung to his consciousness. Some internal clock told him he had plenty of time. Some shreds of sexy dreams may have been fluttering around in there, too, so he wrapped his arms around his pillow, nuzzled the nape of its neck, and ground his hips a little. His body was certainly more honest in sleep than in waking. It was all a little off, but followed dream logic. Apparently his lady friend was rather muscular and had... Now, that was strange. Hadrian felt his equipment, but he couldn't feel himself feeling it. It was reacting properly, which was a relief -- not that he was truly troubled halfway between awake and asleep -- but he could only feel it in his hand, not feel his hand upon himself. Strangest dream ever.