20 years ago
"Hello there, miss," the receptionist greeted the petite brunette. A bespectacled blonde boy about her daughter's age with unfortunate ears stood behind the woman, looking around at the building nervously. "How may I help you?"
"We're here for the under-10s animation workshop," explained the mother, giving the kid a reassuring squeeze of the hand.
"Of course. What's your name?" she asked the kid.
"M-my name is Eduard Von Bock, with a U between the D and the A in "Eduard", not a W," he told her, reciting the spelling as if it was a mistake people made a lot, "I'm nine and a half years old."
"Okay, Eduard. You're in the first room on the right if you go down that corridor. Will your mummy be okay to take you there?"
"Yes, I think she will," the brunette replied with a jovial chuckle, "Thank you, miss."
She watched the two of them go, the woman asking his son if he was excited and little Eduard shuffling around and hugging her arm in reply.
.oOo.
The receptionist saw Eduard and his mum walk out at the end of the workshop, Eduard clinging her arm in one hand and a DVD in the other.
"It was so fun, mummy!" the little boy was saying as they walked out, talking at a hundred miles an hour, "I made a really cool film and I'm going to give it to Mathias because I put Mathias and me in it. It's a video of us in space. But Mathias' hair wouldn't fit in a space suit so in the video he has a spiky helmet. I hope he likes it!"
"I think he will," his mum replied, as they exited the building and the receptionist's earshot.
17 years ago
Eduard was already calling his best friend as the film burned onto the DVD.
"Mathias! I finished another video, come over!" he said.
He heard him whoop in celebration on the other end. "Awesome! I'll be there as soon as possible, Eddy!"
True to his word, the boy cycled at top speed to Mathias', arriving just as the disk finished burning.
"Come on, come on, let's watch it!" Mathias begged.
"Not until we've drawn the logo," Eduard reminded him.
"Why do we have to draw the logo first?" he whined, "Why can't we just watch it?"
"Professionalism, bro. Professionalism."
"More like boringism. C'mooooon!"
Eduard took out two Sharpies, one red, one blue, and carefully drew their emblem- a blue E and red M entwined together, then "studios" written down the side.
"I need to make them into stickers," Eduard thought out loud.
"Yeah, then you could be less boring with your whole drawing-them-out thingy. Let's watch it, Eddy, come on!"
Eduard laughed at his friend's enthusiasm. "Bet you I can get to the comfy chair first," he said as he stood up from his chair.
"Suck my ass!" Mathias retorted, racing him into the living room. Mathias, as usual, won, and smugly nestled down in the ever-coveted armchair. Eduard grumbled something about tripping on the stairs as he put on the film and lay across the sofa, feet up on the arm of Mathias' unfairly-won chair.
A plasticine model of the EM Studios logo was pushed across the screen by a plasticine Eduard and pulled with a piece of string by a plasticine Mathias. It was their trademark beginning, like the Disney castle or the Universal Studios planet Earth. Professionalism, as Eduard said, was key.
The film was (as usual) filmed entirely in plasticine, with the odd computer-generated amateur special effect or LEGO man. Plasticine Eduard and Plasticine Mathias had been pirates, gangsters, superheroes and more, but in this one they were knights in shining armour on a quest to slay the Creepy-As-Hell-Glasses-Dragon, who looked suspiciously similar to Berwald Oxenstierna with scales. Berwald, though Eduard had no beef with him, had said something to Mathias the other day. That had led to a playground scuffle and consequently lunchtime detentions for both of them. The video was made to cheer Mathias up after what he believed to be a cruel injustice and it worked, or so it seemed. He was in hysterics by the end credits.
"You like it?" asked Eduard, grinning at his friends reaction.
"Course I like it!" Mathias replied, "It's awesome!"
15 years ago
The plasticine boy spoke in Eduard's voice, lips synced exquisitely, even his gestures imitating his creator. He had felt stupid saying it to his computer, but it would have felt worse saying it to Mathias in person. For the hundredth time, he rewatched the video. He needed it to be flawless.
"Hey," greeted the little plasticine boy, "How are you? Personally, I'm doing great. Mostly because you're here. Shit. That sounded really cheesy, didn't it? Sorry. Anyway. Mathias. You... you mean a lot to me. More than you know. I-I-I love you, Mathias. And not as a brother. I love you like a lover, like, in a gay way. Oh god, that sounded ridiculous. Anyway. Mathias. Could you see your way into, uh, being my boyfriend? It's okay if you don't. Or if you never want to talk to me again. I mean... not okay, I'd miss you. But you're allowed to be mad. Anyway. Um. Thank you for watching."
That was about as confident as he could get. He sighed and started to burn the disk. He was more nervous than he had ever been in his life. Mathias and him had been friends since they were babies and now, if Mathias didn't feel the same way, Eduard could easily be destroying their fourteen-year friendship in one fell swoop. Once, twice, three times, four, his mouse lingered over the "cancel" button. "Stop being such a coward," he muttered under his breath, unplugging his mouse to stop himself. When the DVD ejected, he got out the Sharpies and drew the logo. It didn't look as nice as usual- his hands were shaking- but it didn't matter, not really. It wouldn't make a difference to Mathias, would it? Would it?
He wasted another few minutes burning it on a second disk, on which he drew the usual logo with a steadier hand. After all, if Mathias knew how his hands were trembling, he could easily guess what was inside. That would ruin everything.
.oOo.
The next day at school, the DVD lay in Eduard's backpack. He had planned it out perfectly. He'd slip it into his bag in PE. Mathias always finished changing before him and rushed into the gym. He'd never once waited for him. He knew full well Eduard didn't mind.
But, as it turned out, Eduard had made an oversight.
When he arrived at school, Mathias was waiting outside the bike sheds as usual. But one thing was different. Mathias wasn't waiting alone with his hands in either his hair or his pockets as Eduard was used to. Yes, one hand was in his pocket, but the other was wrapped around a third hand- that of Berwald Oxenstierna. Mathias was leaning on him, nuzzling his shoulder. Mathias' eyes, usually trained on the road Eduard walked up, were instead looking up into Berwald's with a glimmer in them that Eduard had never seen before, particularly not toward Berwald of all people. Admiration. Affection. Love.
When the day was over and Eduard returned home, he shattered both DVDs, crushed his plasticine men, and deleted the video from his computer. He almost went as far as deleting his animation program and the other videos too, but he left them there. Animating, he decided, was stupid and childish, but his dumb ex-hobby held memories he didn't want to let go of.
14 years ago
Eduard's phone went off, displaying a text from Mathias.
"Ed? Can ya come over tonight? Like, now?" it read. Something in the tone of the message made Eduard worry.
"Yeah, of course. I'll be right over."
He shoved the phone in his pocket and left with a shouted "I'm off to Mathias' house!" to his mother. He got onto his bike, wanting to find out what the matter was as soon as possible.
Something was off about Mathias, perceivable the second he answered the door. He wasn't smiling like he always was. In fact, his uncharacteristically dull eyes were rimmed with pink, his eyelids swollen. He had been crying.
"Mathias? Are you okay?"
"Eduard... come inside," he replied. His voice was softer than usual. Eduard complied immediately and followed him to his room.
"Mathias, what's wrong?" Eduard asked, wrapping an arm around his best friend as they sat on the bed.
"Berwald. He... he and Lars..."
Eduard inwardly bubbled with a mixture of anger and, though it made him feel guilty, relief as he hugged Mathias. "He was going behind your back? With your friend?"
"Mmhm."
"Mathias."
"Mmhm?"
"Look at me." Mathias looked up at Eduard, not crying, too tough to cry in front of anyone, but somehow looking worse than if he had been. "Berwald isn't worth it. There'll be another Berwald, and another, and another, and it'll suck, but one day you'll find someone who won't do that. And you and that person will be so happy together. Promise."
"And if I never find that person?"
"That person will find you." In fact, Mathias, he's right in front of your eyes, Eduard wanted to say, And he loves you like crazy.
"You're such a good friend, Eddy."
"It's the least I can do."
On the way home, Eduard bought himself a few packs of plasticine. Reds, blues, yellows, peaches. Time to animate.
10 years ago
The second they laid eyes on it, Eduard and Mathias had their hearts set on Severnwood University. Beautiful campus, reasonable prices, and, most importantly to Eduard, one of the best damn filmmaking courses in the country. The two friends promised each other that they'd both get in or neither of them would. The second the letter came through from the university, Eduard tore it open and only read as far as the fifth word ("Congratulations!") before grinning and throwing his arms around the nearest person (his mother) at lightning-speed and squeezing her as tight as he could.
"I got in!" he whooped, lifting her a few inches off the ground, "Küünal, I got in!"
His mother was immediately beside herself with joy, squealing and kissing him on the forehead. "I'm so proud of you, Eduard! I knew you'd do it!"
When he relented and put his mother back on the ground, he could see she was already crying. Oh no. Here comes the emotional train wreck. "You've grown into such an intelligent young man."
"Yeah, nineteen years will do that."
"You're so much like your father..."
"You've said. Many times."
"He'd be so proud if he could see you."
"Yeah, yeah... I'm gonna go tell Mathias the good news, okay?" Eduard needed to get away while he still could.
"Okay." The man in glasses started to leave. "And Eduard?"
He looked back. "Jah?"
"I love you!"
Eduard chuckled and rolled his eyes as he went up to his room. Mothers.
He grabbed his phone and texted his friend in caps lock. "MATHIAS GUESS WHAT"
"WHAT IS IT BRO" was his immediate reply
"BRO I FUCKING GOT IN "
"THAT'S AWESOME BRO I WAS LEGIT ABOUT TO TELL YOU THE EXACT SAME THING"
Eduard's grin widened so much that he probably could have eaten his own face. They were off to the same university! Awesome! "REALLY OH MY GOD YES THIS CALLS FOR AN ANIMATION"
Eduard could practically see his friend drag a hand down his face in exasperation.
"Or"
"Or we could just go out and gET A FUCKING DRINK LIKE NORMAL PEOPLE DO ED"
"But I wanna animaaate"
"You can animate whenever you want. But tonight, we're getting a drink!"
"Fine, fine. But you're driving."
Eduard ended up driving.
8 years ago
After watching the film for the millionth time, Eduard took a deep breath and called his housemate up to his room. Mathias, knowing that being called to Eduard's room almost always meant a film had just been finished but, of course, blissfully unaware of what it actually was about, bounded into the room, pulling up a chair so he could sit next to Eduard at the computer.
"What's this one about? Put it on, put it on!"
"Okay, okay." Eduard, knowing there was no turning back now, pressed "play". The film was almost identical to the last one Eduard had made before his year-long hiatus when he was 14. The little plasticine boy, however, was taller, a man now, his words more self-assured, his movements more fluid from two years of studying animation. He was sitting in a LEGO armchair in a cardboard box, upright and nervous but still probably a lot more chilled than the real Eduard would be.
"Hey, Mathias," he said, "This is a little different from my usual film. I guess it's because I'm too, y'know, socially awkward to say this in person, but as a piece of plasticine I'm basically twice as confident in myself, so I'll say it to you like this. Mathias, I have been kind of... very in love with you for the last 7 years, give or take. You make me happy. You have beautiful hair. You are the Han to my Leia. Except Leia's way cooler than me. And I'm really not much like Leia. But you're not actually that different to Han. Did I just reference Star Wars in a love confession? I think I did. I'm not sure where this is going. What I'm getting at is that you mean a hell of a lot to me. And... yeah. Not sure what more to say. I love you a lot. Okay. Bye."
The plasticine man and the cardboard-box set faded to black. Eduard turned to look at Mathias. Mathias looked back at him. His face was pink but Eduard suspected his own face was pinker.
"I love you too," Mathias told him, stroking his cheek and grinning with that stupid, beautiful grin Eduard loved, "I love you a lot too, Leia."
"Oh, shut up. I panicked."
Mathias laughed and sweetly pressed his lips against the other man's as Eduard decided that his first kiss would always be his best.
One year ago
The video was open on Mathias' computer. Eduard did that a lot, left little messages for his boyfriend, either in open Microsoft Word documents or, as it was in this case, an animation. "I'm at Tino's at the moment but I love you and will be back soon." "Happy birthday. Meet me at the park, I have a surprise for you." "I'll be asleep when you read this but I hope you had a good day." It was one of Eduard's many habits that Mathias found unbearably adorable.
The Dane pressed "play" and, as usual, the plasticine Eduard was talking to the camera. His words were faster than usual. He was nervous. Mathias found that adorable too. "Mathias. Hey. I'm going to get straight to the point before I go on for ages and ages and get overly nervous- I've been thinking a lot. I mean, I'm always thinking a lot. I'm just like that. But that's off topic. I was trying not to get off topic. What I mean to say is... you and I... we've been together a while, and even if personally I don't find it entirely necessary since we already, y'know, live together... Mathias, look behind you."
Mathias turned around in his chair. He was sure he hadn't heard Eduard come in, but there he was, on one knee, holding a ring in a box. Mathias laughed shakily. "Eduard..."
"Mathias," he murmured, "Will you marry me?"
The grin on his face widened even more. "Fuck yeah."
Both men stood up and threw their arms around each other. The kiss that followed was like their first one all over again- soft, sweet, slow, a moment they wouldn't have hesitated to stay in forever if they could. Eduard took the ring from the box and slid it onto Mathias' finger.
"I love you so... so much," Eduard whispered after pulling away, forehead rested against Mathias'.
"I love you too," Mathias replied, grinning, "I love you too."
Today
"I'm sure everyone here knows about Eduard's little obsession, right?" Mathias asked the crowd of guests. Eduard sat next to him in a near-identical suit, but with a pale blue tie instead of Mathias' red one. "For the probably-none of you who don't, he's an amazing animator. And if you don't believe me I'll prove it- Lukas, switch off the lights."
Mathias' friend stood up and did as told, the only other person at the wedding who knew what Mathias was about to do. When they were out, Mathias switched on a projector and the film started to play on the white wall behind the couple. Eduard watched in embarrassed horror as every animation he had ever made for Mathias, ever since the spaceman one when they were 9, played on the screen.
"Mathias," he mumbled, "Why?"
"They're cute," Mathias quietly reassured him, stroking his hair.
"They're stupid. I barely made a single good one before uni. Why did you even keep them?"
"Just watch."
Eduard decided to humour him and do as told. They weren't as bad as he thought. They certainly brought back memories. Mathias and Eduard, slaying the Creepy As Hell Glasses Dragon. Mathias and Eduard, spies on a mission. Mathias and Eduard... oh shit, he showed that one too?
Eduard, telling Mathias he loved him.
Eduard's face turned redder than Mathias' tie and he buried his face in his chest to conceal his blush. "Why did you show that one? Did I really compare you to Han Solo?"
"Chill, you dork." Mathias kissed Eduard's forehead. "You're adorable when you're embarrassed."
"You need to literally stop," Eduard muttered.
"I'll stop saying it when it stops being true."
Eventually the films finished, ending with Eduard's proposal video.
"Lights, Lukas?" Mathias shouted to the back. He continued speaking when they faded back on. "After that last video, I turned around and he was on one knee with a ring in his hand." That earned a collective "aww" from the guests. "Yeah, that's what I thought too. Now as much as I love the sound of my own voice, you're probably sick of speeches by this point, but I have two more things to say. Yes, I know, groan. Firstly, Eduard is the best thing to ever happen to me and I love him honestly more than I can say."
He kissed his cheek and Eduard flushed even brighter with what sounded like "Mathias, no, my mum's here."
"And that's saying a lot," he continued, pulling him close to reassure him, "You all know how beautifully articulate I am. And finally, it's time for some cake!"