Ulrich's pen jittered across the paper as Odd backed into him yet again. He turned in his chair and glared across at his friend.
"Odd, cut it out! This report is due tomorrow! Shouldn't you be working on yours too?"
Odd pulled down his headphones.
"What?"
"I said, lay off! I'm trying to write!"
"Oh, relax! Mrs. Boytz always has really easy essays, you'll do fine. I had her last semester."
"But I have her now, and I need to get this done."
"Yeah, yeah, in a minute."
"Odd!"
Odd tapped up the volume on his CD player and resumed thumping around the room. Ulrich groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose.
He shouldn't be surprised, after all; this was a familiar scene when it came to Odd. He had a tendency to goof off when it was crunch time, especially when hewasn't the one crunching.
"Pity it isn't Xana's music again," He muttered.
No, he thought instantly, that's not true. What had happened to Odd was no joke, and he wouldn't wish that on anyone, least of all his best friend.
"I couldn't stand it if anything bad happened to him." He said, and glanced over at his friend as he finished off a particularly slinky move.
"What?"
Ulrich's head whipped around. Odd was slipping off his headphones and staring at him. Ulrich flushed and turned back to the desk.
"Nothing. I was just...thinking about something else. An attack from before. It's nothing."
A tense silence filled the room. Odd opened his dresser drawer and Ulrich heard the gentle clatter of the CD player on the wood. Kiwi snuffled in his sleep. Ulrich bit the inside of his lip and picked up his pen. Now he couldn't think anymore. What was he going to write?
He jumped when Odd's hand touched his own on the desk.
"Sheesh, don't scare me like that!" Ulrich snapped. His voice cracked and he cleared his throat and scowled down at his paper.
Odd smiled. "I can help you if you want."
Ulrich said nothing. Odd bent to look at the page, and suddenly Ulrich's cheek was pressed against his neck.
"Like I said, I took her class before. You guys are reading Heidi, right?"
"Yeah."
"Well," He squeezed the hand holding the pen, briefly, "I remember some of it. I can help."
It was hot in this room, why was it so hot? Ulrich shifted left in his chair, breaking contact with Odd, and it was like someone had dumped water on him. Odd gave him a half-lidded gaze, and Ulrich couldn't tell if he was upset or hurt or just being playful, but it was gone before he could analyze it further.
"I'd like that." Ulrich managed to choke out.
"Alright then!" Odd chirped in his usual humor, and he hopped onto Ulrich's bed and leaned against the wall.
"Let's get started."
"Hey, Odd. I didn't mean-"
"I said, let's go."
"Oh. Okay."
I'm sorry, he thought, as Odd began his lecture.