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The morning is Nick's favorite part of the day.
He's always been an early riser. There is something about the hours just before sunrise, when the rest of the world is still asleep and silent and he is the only witness to the calm before the storm. It is different from the nighttime in the sense that there is nothing imposing about it whatsoever; it doesn't invoke loneliness, or fear, or unease. Instead, it is comforting, like a warm coat on a winter's day, or the softest of smiles from his mother. In the moments after Nick awakens, he can simply be. It's a freeing feeling.
He usually slips out of bed around five o'clock. Jeff remains snoring soundly across the room, his blonde hair visible against the pillow even in the darkness as his chest moves up and down with the melody of his breathing. Another thing Nick embraces about the morning is how all of the worry and stress slowly slip away, smoothed over by the gift of sleep. His best friend is far from troubled, but it is even the ability to forget the simpler things that Nick is grateful for, such as an assignment for a class or an upcoming Warblers performance. Even Jeff deserves a break once in awhile.
Nick will pad silently over to his closet, where his Dalton soccer hoodie hangs in the same spot each day, just beside his favorite pair of slippers. The hoodie is tugged carefully over his head, feet slipping into the sort-of-shoes, and then Nick will quietly leave the room, nothing but his key and his meal card in hand as he tucks his palms into his sweatshirt pocket.
The hallways are always silent, and Nick will ghost his way down the stairs and out of Wilson Hall, where the fresh air immediately hits him and envelops him like a blanket. There is no sound outside, either, just the rustling of the breeze in the trees and the first signs of chirping from a bird here and there. Nick spends a long while wandering around campus, taking in the peace and the solitude, as he waits for the dining hall to open at six. Once in awhile, a fellow student might pass him jogging, and they will share an understanding smile before the person's footfalls grow distant, and Nick is on his own once more.
It is his routine. Nick revels in these actions every morning of the week, whether Tuesday or Saturday or any other day in between. Today is no different. It is December, and there is a slight chill in the air, the grass glistening with frost as the frozen ground crackles beneath Nick's feet. He has been outside for almost an hour, the tips of his ears beginning to grow red from the cold, when he finally decides to make his way to the dining hall for breakfast, figuring that it must be a few minutes after six and that the building will be open by now. He unhurriedly makes his way across campus, watching as each of his breaths fogs up in the air in front of him in an aimless manner. Sure enough, he approaches the dining hall moments later to find the lights on and the doors unlocked. He enters soundlessly, the door shutting softly behind him, and he offers his usual smile to the woman standing behind the counter as she scans his meal card before moving on to get himself something to eat.
His fingertips, numbed to a nearly white color, demand some form of warmth, so Nick fills himself a mug of coffee and decides on a bowl of oatmeal for sustenance before heading out into the main area to find a seat. There are generally a few other people spread about the scarcely populated room, either recovering from an all-nighter of studying or having just risen early like him. On this particular morning, there are about five or six people scattered around, and Nick absently scans the few heads. He is about to drag himself over to an empty table, tray in hand, when one of the faces somehow catches his attention, and he finds himself gravitating in the person's direction.
It is Sebastian, hair tucked into a black beanie as he chews thoughtfully on a piece of toast while gazing out the large bay window to his left. He appears startlingly relaxed, almost vulnerable. It is the effect the morning has, Nick knows, but he suddenly has an inexplicable yearning to go over and revel in this previously unexposed version of Sebastian.
So he does.
"You're here early," he comments idly as he slides into the seat across from Sebastian, depositing his food onto the table in front of him. Nick keeps his voice low, hesitant to break the hush that has settled over the room, and Sebastian turns his eyes away from the window in surprise. His cheeks are slightly flushed, and he is dressed in a long-sleeved Columbus Blue Jackets shirt and grey sweatpants, the sleeves of the shirt extending just past his wrists. He appears strikingly young, with his hair sticking out from beneath his hat, and Nick looks on in awe. Up close, it's as if Sebastian really is a completely different person.
A beat passes, and Sebastian finally seems to find his voice. He lifts his shoulders in a shrug while scraping a few eggs onto his fork. "Just wanted to get out of the room, I guess."
It is then that Nick notices the dark circles below Sebastian's eyes, the way he lethargically lifts his bite of food to his mouth and chews slowly. "Rough night?"
Sebastian swallows, and his mouth quirks up slightly at the corners. "You could say that. What's your story, Duval?"
Nick stirs his oatmeal around absently and shakes his head, peering over at Sebastian from behind his bangs. "I'm always awake by now," he explains quietly. "Call me crazy, but...mornings are kind of my thing."
Sebastian looks back at him curiously, and his head tilts to one side. "How come?"
Nick finishes dumping sugar into his coffee and stills at the question, his eyebrows furrowing. "You're asking me why?"
"Well...yeah," Sebastian answers slowly, his eyes twinkling in amusement. "Is that a bad thing? Do I not want to know the answer?"
Blinking, Nick regains his bearings and shakes his head again. "No, no, I'm sorry. I just...wasn't expecting that."
"Everyone is full of surprises," Sebastian offers in return, and Nick grins ruefully at that, glancing down at his oatmeal.
"Yeah," he agrees softly, scooping a bite of food into his mouth. The time it takes him to swallow, he uses to formulate a response, a way to convey to Sebastian what it is exactly about the morning that draws him in. He could mention the serenity, or possibly the unobtrusiveness of it all, but it doesn't seem like enough. For some reason, he really wants Sebastian to understand, because he thinks that if anyone could, it would be Sebastian.
Finally, he murmurs, "it's lonely, except that it's not, you know? There's this sense of separation from everything else, yet it's comforting, because you know that it isn't going to last forever. Just long enough for you to savor it."
Nick then cups his mug between both palms and downs a long sip of coffee to prevent himself from saying anything more. Sebastian is gazing over at him in the most peculiar way, his eyes narrowed and his lips pursed in assessment. Feeling somewhat self-conscious, Nick turns away, and this is when Sebastian speaks.
"That's sort of cryptic, but...deep at the same time," he comments, and Nick abruptly laughs, the sound filtering quietly out of his throat as he stares down at his tray. His oatmeal is slowly growing cold, the sunlight just beginning to streak in through the windows of the hall, but he finds that he doesn't mind. Sebastian's unexpected company is something that he's actually enjoying.
"I'm quite the philosopher in my spare time," Nick admits after a moment.
"I'm sure," Sebastian replies dryly, and Nick's mouth tips up into a smile.
"I also like the morning because it makes people who are normally raging assholes kind of bearable," he adds, raising an eyebrow in Sebastian's direction. "You'd be surprised."
Sebastian's mouth drops open in mock offense, and he grumbles, "it's far too early for snark, Duval. Cut me some slack."
Nick laughs again, and then Sebastian is sporting his own small expression of satisfaction. He pulls the beanie from his head and gently shakes out his hair, attempting to smooth it down with his fingertips, and Nick watches in what closely resembles a fond sort of amusement. Sebastian's bed head-turned-hat hair is sticking up in essentially every direction, although a few tufts are flattened awkwardly to his head, and it is so very un-Sebastian-like that Nick wishes he could snap a picture and put it away for safekeeping.
Instead, he leans across the table and runs both of his hands gently across Sebastian's scalp, rearranging his hair so that it's at least all flattened in the same direction. Sebastian chuckles beneath his palms, and Nick can feel the boy's body vibrating under his touch, the sensation reverberating up his arms. "Is it that bad?"
Moving to sit back down, Nick snorts ungracefully and nods. "Yes. You really shouldn't go out in public like that, you might scare the children."
Sebastian rolls his eyes and drops his loose hat onto the table before glancing across at Nick in indignation. "Don't mock me, it isn't noon yet."
"We're going to have to work on this morning person thing," Nick decides aloud, and Sebastian leans forward to prop his chin up on his fist as he aimlessly pushes his eggs around on his plate with his fee hand.
"Think you'll be able to put up with me like this?" He inquires.
"Eventually," Nick answers, knocking his foot companionably against Sebastian's beneath the table, and Sebastian merely grins.
They remain there for an indeterminate amount of time, hunched over their breakfast plates as they speak in hushed voices. Sebastian begins to ask him questions, minuscule things like what's your favorite color? and soccer, huh? You any good? Nick plays along, answering each inquiry honestly, and then he will ask Sebastian something in response. It turns into a relaxed version of twenty questions, and every so often, one of Sebastian's answers will have Nick tossing his head back and laughing brightly, or shaking his head in disbelief. The dining hall slowly begins to fill up around them, but neither of them seems to notice, too absorbed in their conversation to pay any attention. Usually, Nick has finished eating and is gone back to his dorm by now to get ready for class, but it looks like today is going to be an exception. He doesn't exactly mind.
At one point, Nick asks, "what was the last song you listened to?"
Sebastian's teeth dig into his bottom lip, and then he is shoving his hand into his pocket to search for something. He pulls out his phone a couple of seconds later, untangling the headphones that are wrapped around it and holding one of the earbuds out in offering.
Nick maneuvers his body out of his current seat and over next to Sebastian, where he accepts the outstretched item with a small smile and places it into his ear. Sebastian sticks the opposite earbud into his own ear, and then goes to scroll through his phone, and moments later, sound begins to filter through the headphones. Nick folds his arms and rests them lightly on the table in front of them, leaning forward to pull the phone closer and peer at the screen out of curiosity.
"Of Monsters and Men?" He lifts his eyes, and Sebastian's face is right next to his, a tiny, almost sheepish smile on his lips. He gently extracts the phone from between Nick's fingers and gives a shrug of his shoulders, the music still playing softly between them. Their heads are bowed, and Nick can feel Sebastian's hair brushing against his temple. It's nice, and Nick simply allows the lyrics of the song to wash over him, the noises of the rest of the dining hall still muted in the background.
Sebastian goes silent as well, and it is only once a shadow suddenly falls upon their hunched figures that he and Nick glance up. They are met with the sight of Jeff, who is looking back and forth between them with a questioning expression on his face. Nick lightly tugs the headphone out of his ear and smiles cautiously up at his friend, abruptly aware of just how he and Sebastian must appear to the outside observer. Their proximity implies a sort of closeness between them, and Nick can practically see the wheels turning in Jeff's mind, as Nick and Sebastian have hardly spared each other passing glances until now.
"Class starts in about half an hour," Jeff greets casually, nodding his head in the direction of the door. "Just wanted to let you guys know."
"Thanks," Nick responds quietly, shooting a hesitant look at Sebastian. The boy next to him is carefully wrapping up his headphones and tucking his phone away, preparing to depart, and Nick darts one last glance at Jeff before his friend gives him a knowing look and walks away to leave them be.
Sebastian moves to his feet, and Nick carefully picks up his own tray and follows to where they deposit their dishes in the bins by the door. No words are spoken, and as they silently exit the dining hall and step outside, the sunlight suddenly feels intrusive, as if it is breaking whatever spell has fallen over them for the past hour. Nick finds himself hesitant to leave, and he falters slightly, shoving his hands into the pocket of his hoodie and gazing carefully over at Sebastian.
Sebastian is already looking back at him, and he smiles nervously when he catches Nick's eye, murmuring, "I'll set my alarm for five?"
"I'm usually walking past Murray Hall around five thirty," Nick responds, a pleased warmth curling in his stomach. Sebastian nods, and then raises his hand in a small wave as he turns to head down the steps.
"I'll see you then," he calls over his shoulder, and Nick grins the whole way back to his dorm.