JENS
Jens finished wrapping gifts, the perfume he got for his mom, and the small stack of coloring books he got for his sister. He finished washing the dishes. And sweeping. He finished dusting and cleaning tables and counters. He cleaned up the pine needles around the Christmas trees.
And now he was bored.
His mom had gone out to go shopping and his sister was at a friend's house. He had asked his mom if he could go out, he wanted to hang out with Lucas (go on a date?), but she said no because she would be needing his help when she got home.
So he was stuck.
He laid in his bed, flat on his back, and Googled "Leonardo di Caprio Romeo and Juliet". He watched the trailer that came up. It seemed like something Lucas would watch.
He opened WhatsApp and send a message to Lucas.
I'm bored
Lucas responded just seconds later.
Me too
Jens hesitated for a second before calling him. While it rang, he closed his eyes nervously, worried Lucas wouldn't pick up.
But he did.
"Hey." Lucas's voice was different over the phone than in person. He sounded like he was sitting right to Jens. Jens didn't open his eyes.
"Hey."
They were quiet for a second like they were just sitting together.
"You miss me?" Lucas broke the silence. Jens imagined Lucas doing the exact same as him, laying on his back on his hotel bed, or the sofa in the flat-share living room.
"Actually, yeah," Jens said quietly. "I wanted to see you today but my mom wouldn't let me leave."
"Mm." Lucas sighed. "What are you doing right now?"
"Talking to you. Laying my room. You?"
"I'm in my hotel room. Ralph went to a club with Milan."
"Nice." Jens turned onto his side, still holding the phone up to his ear, and kept his eyes closed. "I have another question."
"Go for it." Jens could hear Lucas's smile in his voice.
"You can fly, but you have the most terrifying wings ever. Like you literally look like...like the antichrist or something. Would you take it?"
"Absolutely."
"What?"
"Yeah, you get to fly, and if you look like the Devil or whatever, no one will bother you. Win-win."
Jens laughed, pulling the phone away for a second before putting it back and saying, "Okay, that's fair."
"Exactly."
"But if you think they're ugly, though, would you still take it?"
"I mean...I've already got my face and I can't do anything about that, so why not?"
Jens sat up and opened his eyes.
"Okay. You're not allowed to say that."
"No?" He could hear Lucas laughing. "Why not?"
"Uh, because I said so. That's illegal now."
Lucas laughed harder. "I'm not allowed to say I'm ugly?"
"No!" Jens leaned forward with emphasis.
"Why not?"
"Because you're fucking adorable," Jens said without thinking, and then he froze, wincing at himself.
"You think I'm adorable?" Lucas asked, sounding like he was teasing Jens.
Jens leaned back after hearing how calm Lucas was. "I think you're beautiful."
LUCAS
Beautiful.
Lucas had never been called beautiful before.
Especially not by a boy like Jens, who was gorgeous himself. Lucas didn't know what to say.
"Beautiful?" he asked. "Are you serious?"
"You're precious!" Jens said. Lucas started laughing. Precious. He couldn't see what about him was so precious. Maybe it was because he had been stuck with the face he had for his whole life, the same way that if he stared at a word for long enough it stopped looking like a word. He considered this.
"Huh." He didn't think he would ever tire of Jens's face.
"You've never been called precious?" Jens teased. He seemed so sure of himself, like he knew exactly what he was doing and saying. Lucas tried to act the same way.
"Not precious. Not beautiful."
"Hm."
They were quiet again. Lucas couldn't stop smiling. He took his free hand and covered up his face even though there was no one else in the room.
"Anyway, ugly wings. Take it or leave it," Jens said.
"Take it," Lucas responded, quickly moving his hand so his voice wasn't muffled. "Just so I can fly."
"That's still a lame power."
"You're just mean."
"I just called you beautiful! I'm not mean." Lucas giggled, turning his head away from the phone so Jens couldn't hear him. Although he probably still did.
"Okay, then you're just dumb because flight is the best power."
"No, it's not."
"Then what would you pick if you're so smart?"
"Uhm." Jens stopped, and then laughed at his own lack of an answer.
"You can't call my answer lame if you don't have an answer yourself," Lucas said sassily.
"Okay, pretty boy, calm down." Lucas giggled again. Jens always seemed to know how to get to him. "Oh!"
"Oh," Lucas repeated.
"Teleportation, that I can just go down to the Netherlands to see you whenever I want." Lucas's face heated up as a smile took over again.
"Okay, that's fair. But only if you come to see me."
"Of course."