[He smiled--surprised.] "I can tell you all about my day if that's what you think. Woke up, went to the cafeteria for breakfast. Ate toast. Cereal. Eggs. Some bacon." [Growing boy, dammit. Sort of.] "Had a shower. Packed a bag. Took the L to Addison. Walked home. Ate a sandwich. Gave Mom my laundry. Walked back to the L. Came here. Went to Buckingham fountain, came this way. Met you. You still awake, there?"
[He frowned, gentle frivolity gone. He didn't want to think about Chicago with Harry gone. The things he only half knew where out there, waiting in the dark. Fear. He pulled his backpack a little closer.
His dad-- Dad had known. And he'd always stopped things from making it home with him. No matter how tired he was. Things were safe. And Harry, yeah. He wasn't his DAD. God no. But, he did the same sort of thing. When stuff made it to their house. He stopped it.[
"...You think that'll ever happen?" [His voice was small and he cleared his throat, trying to fill it up.] "I mean. That I couldn't get to you?"
[But that BLUSH. And really, Harry? You're like. An adult. Shouldn't you know this stuff?] "Haa. Um, yeah."
[He scratches the back of his head, looks at the ground, anywhere but Harry's face...] "A friend I'm taking the class with thought we should go. It was okay. It wasn't like. You know. It was educational." [His ears are on FIRE, and he balls his hands in his backpack to keep from trying to cover them.] "It wasn't actually sexy or anything.
"But it's a really good class! I've learned a lot, things I hadn't really even heard about before. I don't always agree with the prof, but you don't have to, you know? And um. Yeah. People are complex. It's good to remember that." [And it had been nice, to get more of a perspective The GLBTQ club was pretty great, but really, he only went because they were his friends and to be a good boyfriend. This was different; it was reassuring; it wasn't just him and his friends alone in everything. And there was a LOT of everything.]
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[He frowned, gentle frivolity gone. He didn't want to think about Chicago with Harry gone. The things he only half knew where out there, waiting in the dark. Fear. He pulled his backpack a little closer.
His dad-- Dad had known. And he'd always stopped things from making it home with him. No matter how tired he was. Things were safe. And Harry, yeah. He wasn't his DAD. God no. But, he did the same sort of thing. When stuff made it to their house. He stopped it.[
"...You think that'll ever happen?" [His voice was small and he cleared his throat, trying to fill it up.] "I mean. That I couldn't get to you?"
[But that BLUSH. And really, Harry? You're like. An adult. Shouldn't you know this stuff?] "Haa. Um, yeah."
[He scratches the back of his head, looks at the ground, anywhere but Harry's face...] "A friend I'm taking the class with thought we should go. It was okay. It wasn't like. You know. It was educational." [His ears are on FIRE, and he balls his hands in his backpack to keep from trying to cover them.] "It wasn't actually sexy or anything.
"But it's a really good class! I've learned a lot, things I hadn't really even heard about before. I don't always agree with the prof, but you don't have to, you know? And um. Yeah. People are complex. It's good to remember that." [And it had been nice, to get more of a perspective The GLBTQ club was pretty great, but really, he only went because they were his friends and to be a good boyfriend. This was different; it was reassuring; it wasn't just him and his friends alone in everything. And there was a LOT of everything.]