Matthew/Will; Palaeontologist AU for priuses
)O(
Matthew lurked in the shadows to watch Will Graham work. The intensity radiated off of him like heat from a fire when he was bent over a table of bone fragments. Matthew both envied and admired his talent for seeing a skeleton where others saw only dust. Will Graham was, after all, a uniquely talented individual.
Matthew Brown was not so talented. An outsider even might go so far as to call him supremely untalented, in fact, though the outsider would be wrong to say that. Matthew did have his talents. Just nothing on Will's level.
He approached Will slowly, cautiously, from behind, watching him turn fragments of fossilized vertebrae over and over between graceful fingers clad in white latex gloves. Matthew had a mad desire to rest his own hands over those, his palms against the backs of Will's hands, so he could echo every movement…
At the last moment, he fell back. Will never raised his head, and in the white noise of the laboratory, Matthew wasn't sure if he had even heard him approach.
He couldn't talk to Will Graham - the Will Graham. Not now, not like this. He didn't dare. No, he needed to do something else first, something to prove that he was worthy to even express admiration towards Will - maybe, even, to express the other feelings that Matthew had for him.
It had to be something big.
A gesture of adoration.
Something to let Will know, not only that he had an admirer, but that his admirer was good enough for him.