Berwald stood on the train, holding onto a pole for balance. He tried not to be self conscious, but with the way he looked, so many people were probably judging him. Thick, pink scars were on his face and arms and Berwald constantly worried about his appearance.
The train stopped, and new passengers came on as others went off. Berwald looked down to check his phone; the vibrating in his pocket often drew more unwanted attention. As Berwald checked his phone, someone stumbled into a newly empty seat in front of him.
The passenger, a blond young adult, bumped into Berwald. The passenger turned around to apologize, and Berwald winced at what they would think. It had happened before, a young child or even grown-ups have been frightened and intimidated by the tall, scarred Swede.
They turned around, and Berwald saw the dark glasses, an indication that they were blind. Berwald was filled with relief, and saw the cane in their small hands. Their nails were shiny and polished, with a lustrous clear coat. Behind the dark glasses were wide brown eyes, round, pink cheeks, and a face of unintelligible gender.
Berwald suddenly remembered the proper social protocol and said, "Sorry for bumping into you earlier." The young adult in a tan sweater's gasped in remembrance, "Oh no, it was my fault! You probably wouldn't be surprised how often this happens! They call me a clumsy fella, you know!" Everything they said had an exclamation mark at the end. Such an exuberant "fella" they were. They smiled kindly at him.
In a few seconds on a train, Berwald grew fond of the clumsy, blind, young fellow. "It's no problem," Berwald responded, smiling at them. And it was no problem. When Berwald's stop came, he guided the fellow named Tino off the train.
A few days later, Tino called Berwald. Their caregiver, Eduard, had to go to a close friend's wedding, and Tino would need someone to drive them to and from work because according to Tino's older brother, it is not safe for little blind boys to ride the train alone.
Tino had given Berwald their phone number, another thing their older brother, Lukas, disapproved of. "He seems very kind," Tino said in defense of Berwald. "Yes, but what if he's not?" Lukas would always retort. He did give up however, and entrusted this Berwald with his little brother.
Berwald agreed to drive Tino around, of course, his days had become lonely and monotonous. His old friend from Denmark had always said, "It's okay to be lonely, and it's okay to be monotonous, but if you have both together, you need to go out and have a mug of beer," of course, the Dane would often become very drunk after saying this, but the statement still stands.
Wow, he thought, I'm agreeing with Matthias. I really do need to go and make some more friends.
The statement still stands, he figured, and grabbed his keys. He had to ride the train to Tino's house because he did not have a car. The train wasn't too crowded, fortunately. He always felt extremely insecure on the train, his scars and so-called intimidation were not in his favor in public spaces. But they are, when your idiot best friend drags you into a drunken bar fight. But enough about that.
When Berwald arrived to Tino's home, Berwald felt out of place. It felt like a little cottage where you could expect little fairies to pop up out of thin air. The color scheme was a bit interesting, however. But what would you expect from a blind guy? Berwald reasoned. Tino welcomed Berwald in with a hug, trying to keep Berwald out of the living room, where Lukas lay in wait, preparing to thoroughly analyze him. Tino sighed, reluctantly ending the hug, a hug they were both grateful for. Tino found Berwald's ample muscle to be very nice, and it had been a while since Berwald had had any pleasant physical contact.
"Ahem," said Lukas, tired of waiting "patiently" in the living room. His eyebrow was raised in calculation as he examined the Swede. Berwald could merely stand there awkwardly, as Lukas determined if he could trust him. Lukas sighed, and then shrugged.
"Tino, would you mind if I made you two breakfast?"
Berwald was unaware of this, but Tino knew exactly what The Breakfast Test™ was. Tino had seen Lukas execute The Breakfast Test™ many times before with their younger brother's many (ex)-boyfriends. Lukas would analyze how the test subject responded to different things Lukas would do and say. If the subject passed the examination, he would be allowed to go on a date with Emil, and in this case, Tino.
And Lukas began, "So Berwald, do you like maple syrup on your pancakes?"
After the strenuous interrogation and background check, Lukas decided to trust Berwald with Tino.
"That was something," Berwald stated.
"Yeah," Tino sighed, "He can be a bit overprotective."
"It's okay, I can tell that you're someone worth protecting," Berwald intimated flirtingly.
Tino blushed, as did Berwald.
"Let's get you to work now, okay?" Berwald said, and Tino agreed. Berwald started the car, and Tino felt the warmth coming from outside the window. They had never seen sunshine, yet they knew it looked as beautiful as it was comforting. They had never seen Berwald, but they had grown quite fond of his voice.