Drops of Jupiter [post graduation]
The office feels empty without him. Well, not entirely. His knick knacks still inhabit the desk and American flag crossed over the Canadian one on the back of his door still catches his eye when he looks up. But office hours are quiet and the time between emails seems to stretch on and on.
Al's happy and thriving in his graduate program. He emails as often as he can, they talk every night. Weekend are spent in Al's new apartment, buried in enough blankets to choke them, retracing each other's bodies and making Saturday nights last as long as they can.
But the work week is torture. Slow exquisite torture that he has to go through for both their sakes. Matt sighs and check his email again, a habit that's going to damn him one day, and is briefly excited. Of course it's just from Kiku and his smile fades slightly but he clicks it anyways.
It's text and pictures and the pictures almost don't make sense until he reads the first line.
'I believe this is Alfred's influence.'
Oh. OH. He reads down the page, a soft smile on his face.
'If Yong Soo's reaction is any indication, he gave them the idea or at least was a willing accomplice. The department head is thinking about getting rid of it all. I took the liberty of taking a few pictures.
If you'd like to show Alfred now may be the time.
I did not get a picture but they did the ceiling as well.'
Matt calls up Alfred after school and asks him to set aside Friday and come back for a visit. Al teases him about how he wants that old relationship back and for once Matt doesn't rise to the teasing or fluster.
"I just think there's something you should see."
Al doesn't get it but he shows up during office hours, knocking on the doorjamb. The searching look over the desk and walls reveals it all the same. Nothing's changed and then Al's gaze fixes on Matt, smile going crooked before he smirks.
"Sure you don't want me to do you on that desk? I always wanted to."
"Maybe later." Matt teases back and takes his hand, walking them to another building, chatter filling the air between them, hands clasped between them on this campus for the first time. It still feels a little thrillingly against the rules despite the lack of a common class between them.
"Why are we going to the astronomy lab, Mattie? This isn't even your department--"
The words drag to a stop as the door opens and the walls filled with color and words envelope them. His poems are still there, mingled between painted stars and galaxies, quotes written in bold permanent mark, new poems painted in loving strokes. Then they both look up.
The ceiling is a chaotic spread of stars, painted over the drop down ceiling panels. Every inch is covered in a beautiful tribute to space, spoken in words and lyrics, paint and ink.
Al still hasn't said anything but the hand squeezes tightly and his grin is so wide Matt's afraid his face will split and he's so so glad Kiku told him.
Al's happy and thriving in his graduate program. He emails as often as he can, they talk every night. Weekend are spent in Al's new apartment, buried in enough blankets to choke them, retracing each other's bodies and making Saturday nights last as long as they can.
But the work week is torture. Slow exquisite torture that he has to go through for both their sakes. Matt sighs and check his email again, a habit that's going to damn him one day, and is briefly excited. Of course it's just from Kiku and his smile fades slightly but he clicks it anyways.
It's text and pictures and the pictures almost don't make sense until he reads the first line.
'I believe this is Alfred's influence.'
Oh. OH. He reads down the page, a soft smile on his face.
'If Yong Soo's reaction is any indication, he gave them the idea or at least was a willing accomplice. The department head is thinking about getting rid of it all. I took the liberty of taking a few pictures.
If you'd like to show Alfred now may be the time.
I did not get a picture but they did the ceiling as well.'
Matt calls up Alfred after school and asks him to set aside Friday and come back for a visit. Al teases him about how he wants that old relationship back and for once Matt doesn't rise to the teasing or fluster.
"I just think there's something you should see."
Al doesn't get it but he shows up during office hours, knocking on the doorjamb. The searching look over the desk and walls reveals it all the same. Nothing's changed and then Al's gaze fixes on Matt, smile going crooked before he smirks.
"Sure you don't want me to do you on that desk? I always wanted to."
"Maybe later." Matt teases back and takes his hand, walking them to another building, chatter filling the air between them, hands clasped between them on this campus for the first time. It still feels a little thrillingly against the rules despite the lack of a common class between them.
"Why are we going to the astronomy lab, Mattie? This isn't even your department--"
The words drag to a stop as the door opens and the walls filled with color and words envelope them. His poems are still there, mingled between painted stars and galaxies, quotes written in bold permanent mark, new poems painted in loving strokes. Then they both look up.
The ceiling is a chaotic spread of stars, painted over the drop down ceiling panels. Every inch is covered in a beautiful tribute to space, spoken in words and lyrics, paint and ink.
Al still hasn't said anything but the hand squeezes tightly and his grin is so wide Matt's afraid his face will split and he's so so glad Kiku told him.