The air between them still felt charged with something, though it was decidedly different from earlier. Different from the tension in the room at his study. Less impenetrable fog, more… fire. Wrapping Cassian in heat that had nothing to do with the oppressive, still air of late summer.
He didn’t protest as he felt Vince’s hand tug at his fussing on his fingers. It was the same move he’s made a thousand times, usually with a sour expression about how much of a bad habit it was and that he’d make himself bleed. Blue eyes flicked briefly to look at Vince as he absently did it, watching the blush creep over his friend’s cheeks attentively. The Slytherin didn’t prolong the contact, though Cass may have. The contact came absently. Fingertips from the hand that got swatted away danced across Vincent’s pale knuckles, his thumb grazed the inside of his wrist brief as a gasp.
The young man dropped his hands by his sides then, fingers still twitching for something to do, but trying to not bother Vince with it again. “Yes. It’s special to me,” he agreed, not really bothered by anything like redundancy. It was true, this place was beautiful, and he was… oddly pleased to hear his friend’s praise over it. Like it was some validation that he wasn’t a fool for loving to spend his idle time here. “I’m… glad I could share it with you.” He clipped his sentence short before he added the word still. That I can still share this with you. It hadn’t fully escaped Cass, how close they’d come to never sharing an experience with each other again.
Though as Vincent went on, Cass felt a rock form in his throat. He… didn’t know what to make of that statement. On one hand, a twinge of relief like a vice around his neck that just released. On the other hand, a stab in his stomach, like a dagger embedding itself there to its hilt. A voice, so small and fleeting in the back of his head that he almost missed it, that said but what if I want it to happen again?
“Okay,” he finally forced the word out, and it arrived in a low whisper. Their private promise. Vince wasn’t looking at him, and Cassian looked on at the river that ran before them. “...Thank you,” he added, quieter still. The blonde’s expression was creased with worry. A bud of fear planted itself in Cass at that moment, a fear that would only grow over the years. A sense that what was good for him, was fundamentally opposite from what was good for Vince. Could that be possible?
“I don’t… want to belabor this,” he murmured, not elaborating on what ‘this’ meant. “But maybe… we should talk about how we should handle this schoolyear.” Talking was never anything Cass was good at, much less something he would volunteer to do. Though as they watched the water move past them, the blonde grit his teeth together with resolve that this would be essential for their survival. The times they’d fall asleep together in the grass with Vince reading poetry, the hours they spent together in the library. It would all… feel different now. People were used to seeing them as a pair already, going so far as to invite one with the expectation that they would bring the other. If they both wanted this to be… water under the bridge, so to speak, they should discuss their expectations.
He didn’t protest as he felt Vince’s hand tug at his fussing on his fingers. It was the same move he’s made a thousand times, usually with a sour expression about how much of a bad habit it was and that he’d make himself bleed. Blue eyes flicked briefly to look at Vince as he absently did it, watching the blush creep over his friend’s cheeks attentively. The Slytherin didn’t prolong the contact, though Cass may have. The contact came absently. Fingertips from the hand that got swatted away danced across Vincent’s pale knuckles, his thumb grazed the inside of his wrist brief as a gasp.
The young man dropped his hands by his sides then, fingers still twitching for something to do, but trying to not bother Vince with it again. “Yes. It’s special to me,” he agreed, not really bothered by anything like redundancy. It was true, this place was beautiful, and he was… oddly pleased to hear his friend’s praise over it. Like it was some validation that he wasn’t a fool for loving to spend his idle time here. “I’m… glad I could share it with you.” He clipped his sentence short before he added the word still. That I can still share this with you. It hadn’t fully escaped Cass, how close they’d come to never sharing an experience with each other again.
Though as Vincent went on, Cass felt a rock form in his throat. He… didn’t know what to make of that statement. On one hand, a twinge of relief like a vice around his neck that just released. On the other hand, a stab in his stomach, like a dagger embedding itself there to its hilt. A voice, so small and fleeting in the back of his head that he almost missed it, that said but what if I want it to happen again?
“Okay,” he finally forced the word out, and it arrived in a low whisper. Their private promise. Vince wasn’t looking at him, and Cassian looked on at the river that ran before them. “...Thank you,” he added, quieter still. The blonde’s expression was creased with worry. A bud of fear planted itself in Cass at that moment, a fear that would only grow over the years. A sense that what was good for him, was fundamentally opposite from what was good for Vince. Could that be possible?
“I don’t… want to belabor this,” he murmured, not elaborating on what ‘this’ meant. “But maybe… we should talk about how we should handle this schoolyear.” Talking was never anything Cass was good at, much less something he would volunteer to do. Though as they watched the water move past them, the blonde grit his teeth together with resolve that this would be essential for their survival. The times they’d fall asleep together in the grass with Vince reading poetry, the hours they spent together in the library. It would all… feel different now. People were used to seeing them as a pair already, going so far as to invite one with the expectation that they would bring the other. If they both wanted this to be… water under the bridge, so to speak, they should discuss their expectations.
![[Image: BC4TW0z.jpeg]](https://i.imgur.com/BC4TW0z.jpeg)
eyecandy by fox<3