ARTIST: april-cherie-sprinkles (Art is availeble on the 365daysofusuk tumblr)

AUTHOR: potatobastard

21st of October, 2014

Alfred first saw Arthur in a bar downtown a month ago and had asked him if he wanted a drink. Brow raised, the other declined and turned away. Since then, Alfred had only seen him briefly at the front of the lecture hall.

Now, Alfred, browsing the shelves of the bookstore, paused at the flicker of lights overhead and stepped aside for a weary employee to start collecting books left at the ends of the shelves. Near the front, the cashier started to punch numbers into the register while a co-worker vacuumed the entryway. The staccato beat of raindrops drummed a soothing silence inside, while a sheet of water slathered the pavement in reflections of city lights as the evening settled into night.

"Closing soon, huh?" Alfred asked. He shook his head as he scanned a row of books one last time.

The employee only grunted, so Alfred squeezed past and started weaving his way through a maze of shelves toward the exit. He hesitated, finding himself peeking over a shelf into the fantasy aisle, having caught a glimpse of a figure through a gap in the books.

"Oh hey, it's you."

The other looked up with a little frown, raised that same brow, and glanced back down again. "Can't you see I'm trying to read?"

Alfred ducked out of view only to reemerge at the end of the aisle. "The shop's closing soon is all. What's your name?"

"Arthur." Engrossed as he was, he did not look up a second time.

Alfred stepped a little closer. "Well, I'm Alfred. We're in the same biology class."

"The hell would I know that? There are 100 other students crammed into that same lecture hall."

"And yet you're the one I notice," Alfred said, beaming. His smile did not fall even when Arthur only hummed in response.

He waited a beat.

"So, what are you reading?" Alfred asked. He'd tried to peer over Arthur's shoulder, but the other shrugged him off.

"It's called Nightmare's Wake," Arthur said, closing the book in his hands. Vivid eyes pierced Alfred's, but the irritability was gone, though the corners of his mouth still tugged downward. He gestured with one hand while he spoke. "Basically, this shifty character has learned to possess bodies, and he's using this ability to gain immortality, by jumping body to body for almost 300 years. And he's possessed a king most recently, but this kingdom and another are fixed in a bloody horrific war—and anyone's body who he finally leaves for another knows all of his secrets and can perform the possession ritual as well an—"

"Guys, seriously, you need to leave." That same employee jerked a thumb toward the door. "We're basically closed. Buy whatever you have, but get out of here." He trudged off with a long suffering sigh.

Arthur's eyes dulled and, lips pursed, he glanced at the top of the page, mumbling a number to himself as he replaced the book on the shelf.

Alfred stilled his hand. "Been working on that one for a while?"

"I come here a couple times a week," Arthur said. His eyes traced down to where Alfred's fingertips ghosted over his wrist. He did not move. "Spent most my money on textbooks, and god knows they aren't good reading."

"Hey, um, I'll buy it for you," Alfred said. "So you can read at home."

Arthur jerked his hand away. "You absolutely will not!"

Alfred plucked it from the shelf. "I absolutely will."

He headed toward the register, easily outpacing the other, bought the book, and placed it firmly in Arthur's hands.

"There."

Mumbling at the floor, Arthur scratched at messy hair. His cheeks burned wildly red. He kicked at Alfred's shoe with a little scowl. "Thanks, then." He swallowed and glanced over at the door, tucking the book firmly to his chest, even though the rain had weakened into little more than a drizzle.

The other only grinned and turned to leave.

Arthur lurched forward to catch the door as it swished shut behind him, squeezing through to join him. "So, biology was it, then?"