Nocturne

Hey, welcome to my second attempt at original slash... It actually has some sort of a plot now! I drew a few character sketches yesterday night, and they might appear on http://lariekoek.deviantart.com soon. Have fun! ^__^

***

As fast as possible, Alex rushed upstairs. He didn't know this building yet, so let's see... this was the third floor. The room he was looking for was supposed to be here somewhere. Once again, he got angry with himself because even on his very first day at university, he had managed not to get there in time. Well, okay, he had only been five minutes late, but he hadn't realized then he had had to subscribe to the university network somewhat a week earlier. A girl he had met the day before had told him and had burst into laughter.
'You didn't even know where to meet yesterday, and now you tell me you haven't even subscribed yet? Man, I did that in July!' She'd patted his head. 'Not so organized, now, are you?'
In a few minutes, they were supposed to leave this part of university to go to a park, where they would play some introduction games.
Alex cursed himself once again and entered a classroom that had an open door, where he found a few files on the desk, as the girl had told him. He had already forgotten her name. There had been so many new names and faces the last couple of weeks, Judith, Eve, Jake, Cindy... Quickly, he filled in his name on one of the empty files. At that moment, he heard footsteps coming up the stairs where he had just come from a moment ago. He turned around and saw a boy enter the classroom, who looked startled as he saw Alex standing there.
Alex immediately noticed his distinctive features: big eyes and soft, curly hair. Surely the girls would be all over him.

'Hey, are these the subscription files?'
'Yep.'
'Alright, I found them,' he smiled.
Alex watched him as he filled in the form. 'Hey, are you going to study physics, too?'
'Yeah, I am. You, too?'
'Yes. I'm Alex.'
'Awesome! I'm Stan.'
They shook hands and stood like that for an awkward moment, after which they decided to get back outside and back to the group.

They were in a park somewhere, where they all had walked to in order to play a few silly games. One of them involved slapping each other with a newspaper. In between the games, Alex was talking to Anna, the girl who had told him he had had to subscribe that morning.
'So you live there, too?' she said after he had told her the name of the campus building he had recently moved to. 'Cool, I'll drop by once in a while. Which part?'
'B.'
'Oh, okay, I'm in E. Well, I'm sure we'll see each other again, then. Is all your stuff here already, or do you still have to move some things?'
'Well, I haven't got a game console yet. But that's it I guess.'
'Hey, are you talking about your rooms?' From behind them, Stan suddenly appeared. 'Are you guys living here already?'
Both of them nodded. 'What about you?'
'Well, the thing is, I haven't got a bed yet.'
'No way!' Anna laughed. 'So you have a room but you have nowhere to sleep tonight?'
Stan grinned. 'I guess.'
Anna looked puzzled. 'I have the room, but I don't have blankets or anything. That wouldn't work.' She pushed Alex playfully. 'Don't you have a place to sleep for this poor little child?'

Alex stared at Stan, and the way he was looking at him.
'I have a couch that can be used as a spare bed,' he said. 'I even have a blanket with it.'
Stan's grin became bigger. 'Nice, man! Where do you live?'
'We could go home together after the programme is over.'
'That's okay.'

That afternoon, they had crossed half the city on foot so they could find the important university buildings and the shops from now on. Because he hardly ever walked an entire day, and preferred to stay at home to play the piano or play games, Alex was dead tired. He was glad he could get back to his bike and ride it to his new home as fast as he could.
'Hey! Wait!'
He turned around as he unlocked his bike and saw Stan walking towards him.
'Oh, I'd almost forgotten you had to come with me,' Alex laughed. It was actually true because he had been talking to others the whole day. 'Do you have a bike or something?'
'Yeah.'
Together, they cycled off. 'So, what's the deal with you not having a bed yet?' Alex asked, still not believing how you could forget a piece of furniture as basic as that.
'Well, you know, I just got here. I've only had my room for a month now.'
'But why didn't you just get a sleeping place at the dorms?'
'I was too late.' Stan laughed. 'I have a habit of forgetting everything important.'
'Where do you live? Is it far?'
'Pretty far. Two hours or so by train.'
'And the trains don't go there anymore at night?'
'No. I checked, but the connection sucks. The buses don't go after eight anymore, either.'
'So you just had to take a chance and hope there were some guys with space they don't really need.'
'I didn't have any other options. I got the programme this morning, and I realized 'oh, hey, Stan, you can’t make it home after that, so...'
Alex grinned. 'That's pretty stupid.'
'I know. At least I found someone, and I'm sure there are others with spacious rooms. So if I find someone else, I won't bother you anymore.'
'Aw, that won't be a problem,' Alex yawned and realized how tired he was. 'I really need some sleep,' he mumbled.
'Yeah, me too.'

Through a maze of dark streets, Alex eventually found his way home. They arrived at a building with eight floors. The whole environment had the typical student look: there were empty cans and bags of crisps lying around everywhere, the whole place was stuffed with bikes, some of them missing a fore wheel, and it looked as if it had been built in the seventies. From the upper floors, laughter and music could be heard, and somewhere in the distance there was the sound of breaking bottles. Alex knew the place was kind of shabby but the rooms were popular because they were so cheap. And besides, the guys on his floor were pretty nice and he had a feeling they would have fun together. This time, however, he hardly had the energy to push open the heavy doors or to press the buttons of the elevator to get to the sixth floor, let alone to find his keys, hidden in his backpack. His hallway smelt great, and he guessed one of his hall mates had baked a cake or something tonight. After a bit of fumbling with finding the right key, he opened the door.
'Well, this is my room, and this is the couch.'
'Hey, sweet! You have a keyboard!'
'Um, yeah. I brought it here in case I got bored.'
It was a rather big keyboard, and it had been quite expensive. Stan didn't even ask if he could try it, he just switched it on and started to play. Alex stared at him when he realized this guy had to have had years of piano lessons. More than he had ever had, that was for sure. It was fucking amazing. He closed his eyes after Stan did so, too. It was as if the piece was dancing around in the room, then falling as if down a staircase, then slowly rising up again, until it was as if it was flying quietly towards the horizon. The end.

'What were you playing?' Alex said when he finished.
‘Something about midnight. Five minutes.'
'Holy shit.'
'What?'
'How long did you have piano lessons?'
'For four years. But I've had guitar lessons, too. I kind of wanted to go to music school...'
'So you decided to go for physics?'
Stan smiled and shrugged. 'I need some normal education, too. But you know, I don't really feel like starting at all.'
'Me neither.'
They looked each other in the eyes and laughed out loud.

They unfolded the couch and put a blanket and a pillow on it, so it could serve as a bed for Stan. Alex showed him the shared bathroom, shower and toilets. Then, he prepared for bed as fast as he could. When he returned from the bathroom, he found Stan in his underwear, once again playing his keyboard. This time it was an old Mario tune. Stan turned around and grinned at Alex. 'I shouldn't keep you awake,' he said and jumped on the couch, where he continued to stare at him with a suppressed smile.
'I'm switching off the lights now,' Alex grinned back and did so.
'Hey, good night,' Stan whispered after a few minutes. 'And thanks for the couch.'
'Same to you, and you're welcome,' Alex whispered back.

***