A/N:This turned out a little shorter than I expected, but whatever. I felt an irresistible urge to post something.
Disclaimer: Same as always.
Warning: ALTERNATIVE FILE! Meaning AU! Takes place shortly after 'Extracurricular Project'.
Alternative File: Out of the Bag
"Hey Ben!" Alex called, leaning over the railing to be visible to the other when he looked up, and hoping it would not be too obvious that their meeting in the staircase was not quite as coincidental as it might have seemed. "Wait up!" He gave a short wave and jogged down the two flights of stairs to where Ben was standing and waiting with a grin.
"Good morning," the older student offered and Alex returned the greeting with a small nod, "What's got you all hyped up? It's not normal for students to be this awake at half past seven, you know."
"I finally caught up with the reading tasks," Alex explained with a shrug that turned into a slow roll of the shoulders to ease the tension from last night's prolonged study session. "So hopefully I'll actually have a weekend this time around."
They passed the entrance hall, momentarily halting in their conversation to nod politely towards the receptionist, and were just about to exit the building when the cat* that seemed to have chosen the hall of residence as its home (there were lots of people to feed and pat it, after all) suddenly shot inside. As soon as it noticed them, it was already brushing around their legs, purring loudly, interrupted only by a single demanding 'meow'. Alex crouched down to scratch the animal behind its ears obediently.
"The cat's got you whipped," Ben snorted, causing Alex to glance up at him in bemused surprise.
"I prefer pets to children. Way less annoying," Alex retorted with an exaggerated shudder, then added, "You more of a cat or a dog person? Or don't you care either way?"
A smirk spread over Ben's features at the second question, like his thoughts had just taken a completely different direction. The impression was strengthened when he answered with a suggestive wink at Alex.
"Cats," he said, before he also squatted down to caress the cat, (maybe not quite so?) accidentally brushing by Alex's hand with his own for a second. "But I do tend to make exceptions."
"Exceptions, huh," Alex echoed eloquently, stalling for a moment to let the implication sink in, double and triple checking if he had understood correctly – or just heard what he wanted to. It appeared that Ben was really flirting with him.
"Do you like olives?" the older student asked out of the blue, startling Alex out of his calculations. He chuckled when Alex raised a sceptical eyebrow, then stood and offered the younger man a hand up. "Wanna go and grab a coffee or something after uni? I'm free from two to six today."
A/N: Please do point out if I'm not making sense anywhere. Immersing myself in the French language is messing with my English, now more than ever – it's already been two months!
*inspired by the cat that lives in the hall of residence here in Besac