vanilla at 3am. ➳ dnf

paris in the rain

        clay walked toward the front, only to see sophia waving wildly at him in front of the librarian dressed with large glasses that were gold-rimmed with a bit of steam at the corners from the constant sneaks of coffee heat. she had a small nose bridge with thin lips the colour of a sharp red, her skin was blemished with delicate pecks of wooden colour. "um, hey, sophia. hey mrs librarian, or madam, or ms, sorry what would you prefer-" she let out a hearty laugh that had a slight crack in between the sounds, echoing softly through the library.

         letting out a cough that had been held in with her slightly wrinkled fingers where her ring finger held a sparkling diamond. "oh dear, just call me mary, i've been here for ages and it's my first time seeing such a handsome boy! besides my little george, he is handsome as well but you're a new face. refreshing to this old woman, now do tell what your name is." sophia tried to speak but clay raced her to it before she could, "my name's clay, madam mary-" mary laughed again, brushing back her hair behind her eye, taking her glasses off to wipe off the fog with a pink handkerchief, her hair was short with a preponderance of silver and white through them. "dear, please just call me mary, it makes me feel younger if that helps. i'm awfully tired of waiting for youngsters such as you, especially handsome ones to be so polite. please do treat me simply as a friend, george does despite being so uptight! i told him to make some more friends-" clay stands on the tips of his toes, adding, even more, emphasize by raising his hands, clutched into fists, shaking them. "oh my god- gosh! i know! i totally get that, mary! he is so-so- uptight! wait, he sent me here- sent sounds weird. he, uh, brought me to the library for a printer. could i please have my log-in information, please. thank you in advance!" clay was smiling brightly, george had opened the door to check up on him. 

        "he better not be lost-" he stared at the sight of the three laughings, sophia having found her slapping clay's arm, resting it there often. "whatever" george went back in and begun eating. opening the fork and spoon, he opted for the fork and stabbed away at the broccoli, and then slurped up the spaghetti. it was a bit unsightly, however, nobody was there anyway so it didn't matter. 

a door click, "hey georgie! i'm here! and look, i even printed out my papers. let's do them together tomorrow! its friday and i don't have classes in the afternoon i think" george, with his mouth full, choked at the sudden intrusion. "oh- is it that bad. sorry, huh why are y- oh shit wait-" clay rushed to george's side and began hitting his back and george successfully forced the food down his throat, "god- where's water you absolute nuisance-" clay reached into the pocket between his hoodie and pulled out a small water bottle with half-drunken water. "i refilled it at the water fountain near the trophy glass thing. that was when sophie came up and talked to me, i'm sorry i left you. i thought i told you." clay sat down and began eating his meal, which had been similar to george, except it was chicken rather than beef. "oh, don't worry about it. i wasn't actually that angered, i just didn't like repeating myself. it's also likely my fault for not paying attention, you might've told me about leaving and i should've waited." they exchange quiet forgiveness only hear by the room.

        george looked petite from afar but definitely even more up close. the size difference, the way george's slender fingers pulled aside his unpleasant, rough, and calloused fingers. clay wondered if he had been eating enough, he took some of his chicken and gave it to george. "are you trying to choke me again because this isn't very nice-" clay let out an unexpectedly loud wheeze this time, he didn't even know if the joke was really all that funny. however, anything george said that was beyond words drier than sand and crumbled rocks was basically humor. accustomed to the jokes from his friends, clay answered with "you'd like me choking you, wouldn't you?" 

        a silence, clay gulped and george who had been drinking the water, placed the empty plastic on the table, cheeks rose-colored pink with eyes widened. a hiccup. clay turned to take a proper look at george who met eyes with him, shoved his head down, and began eating quietly. "please don't joke like that, you nuisance" clay's shoulders rested and settled back down, he only let out an apology, not before sneaking in another joke though. "i was utilizing my liturgical service sir george. i am gravely sorry if it was at an inopportune time." george reaches over and hits clay in the head with the plastic bottle and the two laugh at one another before they continued eating in comfortable silence. with occasional questions about the school from clay, george decided that clay must've not been that terrible as he initially thought.

        clay brings up the topic of ice breaker questions, "what are you afraid of george? i'm a bit scared of losing a game." george knew it wasn't meant to be a personal attack but he shifted uncomfortably. the sudden death of his mother was a huge disruption to his mental health. which in return, drained and tore his body apart slowly.

        it had been half-past midnight, the skies stained with the eerieness of clouds contaminated with sparks of lightning. the sound of thunder polluted the skies, the stars were nowhere to be found, as if they were afraid of the incoming storm. george had just come back home from hanging out with his few friends from ballet class, they had decided to meet up at a seven-eleven. it was as if god had decided to punish him, her mother was holding onto a chair with signs of erratically breathing. george immediately helped her steady herself before reaching for his phone in his pocket, ready to call an ambulance. his voice began to shake, speaking with an unstable pattern into the phone while tears were threatening to fall. 

        "georgie- george! george?" clay stuttered out and hugged george, with the sudden contact of heat within large arms, wrapping the entirety of his body in a soundless reserve of care. "i-i'm sorry. i don't want to talk about it, thank you." sensing the distress, clay only nodded and continued patting his head with his other circling george's back. clay began to shift and let go before george clutched onto his wrist, george let out and coughed, looking in the other direction. a soft warmness rushing to his ears, clay put his hands into his back pockets before beginning to pack up the remains of the spaghetti. 

        "clay, thanks for um, not pressing. but i am afraid of, let's say lightning" and with that, george left, running out the entrance, waving quickly at mary who only smiled and stood up to look at clay, gesturing for him to come over. "what was that, clay? did you hurt him. oh you need to know george may seem cold at first but truly, that boy has gone through far too much. so much that he still keeps to himself, please understand-" with no hesitation, clay simply replied with, "i will. i hope georgie becomes friends with me!" mary smiled in return, "georgie huh. what about sofie?" she appeared insinuating, with her squinted eyes through the glasses, no longer foggy with the presence of hot caffeine. 

        clay rubbed the back of his head, "well, does he truly hate that name? i combined shortie and george so i got georgie." the librarian continued to squint her eyes, "are you sure that's all there is to it?" clay couldn't understand. staring blankly, playing with the corners of a crumbled worksheet "well, i mean, as for sofie or sophia, i think she's just a bit clingy-" mary interrupted with a hand waving in the air, "a bit? that girl gets boy crazy and once she does, she'll leech onto him for at least a year! god bless your soul, its like she can smell out single men, even try to grab at the taken ones! she's awfully rude to me sometimes, i want to throw salt at the woman sometimes." clay couldn't help but let out a series of laughs so loud mary had to tell him to quiet down in the library. "thanks for the warning, this was a lovely talk, i'll see you around mrs-, i mean mary! bye!" with a smile, clay runs off and mary sits down, talking to herself. "let's hope that young man makes you happy george, i really do hope he does." the bell rings throughout the library, mary looks upward through one of the larger windows, noticing darker clouds approaching in the distance.