[On this one (1) thing the two can agree: group projects are terrible. Koby's gotten as far as he has, scholarships and grants and dozens of essays and hundreds of hours of late-night studying to keep his grades up, because university was his ticket out, his escape, the one he thought about every night, the one he tethered all his hopes to -- all of it was done alone. He writes his essays alone, he eats alone, he walks to and from class alone. He's very, very good at being alone.
Fiyero Tigelaar is rarely alone. Even in his carefully-formed bubble of loneliness, Koby can see that much. The other student moves through life in a shining, warm, lively crowd, everyone clamoring and crowding to get closer, closer, closer to him. To the grinning, careless, effortless way Fiyero exists, bright and blazing as a comet across the sky. The flash of his smile, the loose curl that drops forward onto his forehead, the intent, unflinching depth of his eyes, the way his uniform fits perfectly...
...just because Koby thinks he's annoying and unserious doesn't mean he's blind. Fiyero is adored and he is charming and he is very very close right now, and his thumb is grazing across Koby's lower lip and making him jolt backwards, chair legs scraping across the floor.]
What are you -- [It comes out in a squawk, and Koby immediately clamps his mouth shut, blushing pink to the tips of his ears. He clears his throat, shoves his glasses up his nose, avoids eye contact.] T-Teasing me isn't going to g-get you out of helping with this project, you know. S-So you might as well...s-stop it.
no subject
Fiyero Tigelaar is rarely alone. Even in his carefully-formed bubble of loneliness, Koby can see that much. The other student moves through life in a shining, warm, lively crowd, everyone clamoring and crowding to get closer, closer, closer to him. To the grinning, careless, effortless way Fiyero exists, bright and blazing as a comet across the sky. The flash of his smile, the loose curl that drops forward onto his forehead, the intent, unflinching depth of his eyes, the way his uniform fits perfectly...
...just because Koby thinks he's annoying and unserious doesn't mean he's blind. Fiyero is adored and he is charming and he is very very close right now, and his thumb is grazing across Koby's lower lip and making him jolt backwards, chair legs scraping across the floor.]
What are you -- [It comes out in a squawk, and Koby immediately clamps his mouth shut, blushing pink to the tips of his ears. He clears his throat, shoves his glasses up his nose, avoids eye contact.] T-Teasing me isn't going to g-get you out of helping with this project, you know. S-So you might as well...s-stop it.