December 9th: Tuesday

Theme: 11. Cookies and Milk

At the library, Hiro was sitting at a large wooden table, trying to study for his upcoming finals. As he had promised Jack, he had shown up earlier at Frostbite to grab his usual hot chocolate. To Hiro's immense relief, Tadashi had not shown up at Frostbite.

Last night, Hiro had decided he wouldn't assume the worse of Tadashi until he saw the other boy again, but in his heart Hiro was afraid of the confrontation. There was no need to find Tadashi, no need to rush. No, Hiro was not avoiding Tadashi, of course not!

Shortly after, Hiro had left for the library where one of his classes was holding a review session for his upcoming final. Thus, here he sat waiting for the review to start with his books spread out in front of him.

"Hiro."

Tadashi slid into the seat across from Hiro. He pushed a plate of festive ornament shaped iced sugar cookies and a bottle of milk toward Hiro.

Hiro blinked, staring at the plate. "Are you bribing me with cookies and milk?" he asked.

"It's Christmas. Best time of the year to give cookies and milk," Tadashi said with a smile. It was a shaky smile, nothing like the wide happy ones Hiro was use to.

Hiro smiled gently and accepted them. "Why are you here Tadashi?" he asked softly. He didn't think he would run into Tadashi anywhere else on campus. Hiro had imagined this conversation going down in Frostbite at their usual table.

"I wanted to apologize for my reaction to your suggestion of supercapacitors."

Hiro sighed. "It's not your fault, really. I just… overreacted."

Tadashi shifted, biting his lip as he hesitated over his words. "It's just… can I ask why? You mentioned you didn't know what you wanted to major in, but you know about supercapacitors, more than the average person. That isn't something you just pick up randomly, that's something you pick up if you're really interested in. Why aren't you studying electrical engineering?"

Hiro bit back the words that he already had a degree in electrical engineering, a doctorate at that too. "It's not something I want to do," he said instead. 'Not anymore.'

"Oh, okay," Tadashi said quietly.

Hiro stared down at his paper, not willing to meet Tadashi's eyes. His hands were trembling in his lap as he remembered why he was at SFIT, on the opposite end of the country from his hometown, trying to find his way through life.

Finally, Hiro cleared his throat. "Um, so I got this class review for my final. I gotta go. The table is all yours."

"I'll see you tomorrow at Frostbite?" Tadashi asked. His tone was just a little hopeful.

Hiro hesitated. He had missed Tadashi's presence these last few days. 'There was an exception to every rule,' he reminded himself. "Okay," he whispered. "Okay. I'll see you tomorrow. Thanks for the cookies and milk."

8D And most of you thought they would meet back at Frostbite. Not this time!