Building Houses out of Matchsticks [past!Ezra]

[rally]

He was a glimpse of white hair and pale skin, bare feet skimming the warm tile floor of the hall. With the sunlight streaming in, he was caught, one hand raised in slight annoyance to shade strange red eyes from the brilliance of the light. Mumbling little curses to the setting glow of the sky, he continued on, one lit-up doorway his goal. They always met up around this time of day, after classes were over, and Mother wasn't quite as watchful.

Palms pressed softly against the dark smooth wood of the door and it slid silently open, revealing row upon row of books, tomes, scrolls. Grin plastered to his face, eyes bright with mischief, Liam laughed, trotting over to peer down one of the long hallways between the shelves.

"Ezra? Are you here?"

[onokami]

[atrb=border,0,true] Today was Tuesday; a rather busy day for everyone. People are always bustling around the place to do their own business. Adults keep themselves occupied with work till the end hours, to earn the wealth they need in order to survive the world. And all the while, children are in their classes, seated on their bums and listening away in such boring lectures of what is what as the long hours drags by. They haven’t a choice and they simply abide. At least for the most of them. “Get back here, Ezra!” Currently running away from the school’s authority figure was a brown haired kid with a devious smile plastered on his face. Behind him, he could hear angry shouts of profanity and threats spewing out of their unholy mouths that could put even put a sailor to shame. In any case, their empty threats had no effect other than amuse the boy than he already is. Well, the prospect of fat priests chasing someone is kind of amusing but seeing them cuss (at a child even!) is a scandalous thing. You could actually see the looks of disapproval from the people around. The boy ignored them and ran even faster. He was definitely amused by the friar’s demise at the hands of the religious town’s people. He took a sharp left turn and kept running, albeit in a slower pace but just enough to let him feel the breeze on his sun-kissed skin. It was a hot day in Italy and as much as he loves the bright weather, there are days when things are just a little too hot for his liking. The brunet took another turn before he eventually reached a familiar placed and simply barged in. He walked along the hall and only stopped when he stood before the humongous double doors of his grandfather’s study. A broad smile graced his lips before he entered. If there was one place Ezra liked the most, it’s his grandfather’s study. A rarely used place but is still maintained by the once who are tasked to. The figure went pass by shelf among shelf, his emerald orbs scanning for a preferred book until his eyes rested on William Shakspeare’s Othello. He grabbed the item before settling in some corner and began to flip pages. If he remembered correctly, he was in act 4 scene one. Upon reaching the page, he immediately immersed himself in his reading and placed a void in everything else. It would stay like that for hours without disturbance and would actually have that dazed look on his features as if he was intoxicated. As it were, due to his immersion, he did not notice the door of the study open nor the heavy footsteps that echoed through the vicinity. Only when a familiar voice penetrated the void and reached his ears did he register the situation. That accented Italian could only indicate one thing and for nth time that day did a devious smile enticed his features as a prank formulated in his head. Ezra placed the book on the floor before he peered behind the bookshelf and he was sure enough that a boy with a familiar mop of white hair who was facing the other direction could be seen just a few meters from where he stood. Silently, he inched closer to the other boy, careful not to be noticed. His index finger found itself on the other’s back, tracing it downwards on the other’s spine as he spoke in a gentle whispered voice. “Yes I am, Liam~” ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sorry if it's kinda lengthy. I swear to you that it's probably just in this post cause you know, it's a first. And yeah, since I'm kinda lazy, let's just assume that the italics are in Italian.

[rally]

That expectant grin still stuck to his face like glue, Liam stood at the end of one of the long corridors, curious eyes scanning the shelves. His friend mustn't be here yet, but he was definitely on his way, the boy had no doubt; there was only one person who would run away from the school priests, and if the yelling in the street outside was anything to go by, this had been quite a daring escape. It was only a matter of time, but Ezra would be here. He always was.

Reaching out to trace his pale fingers along the bindings of the books on the shelf infront of him, Liam's smile faded a little. He loved these books, and both he and Ezra loved this place, but they never actually met up here to read. It was a place for solitude, almost like a secret base, a sanctuary; no matter how wild the days got, no matter how crazy life was outside of those heavy oak doors, the library was always cool and quiet.

Letting out a soft sigh, he was just about to go and find a place to sit down when a single finger entirely unexpectedly traced all the way down the length of his spine. Icy shivers rippling out to his fingers, his toes, the boy gave a little squeak of surprise, feeling his skin crawl. And then there was that oh-so-familiar voice, a whisper in his ear.

"Ezra! Y-you startled me!"

Too shrill, Liam felt his face burn with a deep blush as he spun around and lightly shoved his best friend, laughing. They always played around his this, making the other feel uncomfortable with joking hugs and teasing touches, but that never made it any less surprising when it did happen. Running his fingers back through his messy hair, he flashed a smile as he tried to will away the deep scarlet blush.

"I heard the sounds from outside and knew you must be up to something. I am right, yes?"

[onokami]

[atrb=border,0,true] Ezra could only laugh at the startled reaction that his friend produced before a crimson color of red eventually began to spread all over his features; a smile threatened to break out in that second. This was one of the many reasons why Ezra enjoyed engaging such acts with his friends. Mainly it was because the boy finds amusement in such things. The various reactions that he couldn’t predict always fascinated Ezra in a sense that he finds it odd. He likes anything that is odd. Even more so, in the case of Liam Kassia. Expressions are one thing but seeing it on a particular albino friend of his is another story. It’s as if he was looking at a cute porcelain doll! Taking in the scene before him, he was looking at the most delicate thing in the world in his opinion. A lot of people would find him stark mad for having that kind of outlook and sentiments towards people like Liam (Albinos? Pretty? Hah! They’d scoff) but those opinions wouldn’t matter to Ezra. That snow white skin and striking crimson eyes would be forever adored by the Greek-Italian child. And right now, he was trying his best to suppress his urge to coddle his blushing friend and be caught doing deeds of unmanliness (He was a man, damn it!); a hardship he needed to surpass. What he needed was a distraction; a distraction that could possibly save him from the urges and saving the friendship he valued a lot with his longtime love. Yes, the tan-skinned brunet has been in love (well he though he is) with his friend the moment he laid eyes on him. The most beautiful creature in existence, he’d thought, as well at the Universe’s cruelest jokes because of his gender. He remembered what the friars had taught them, that people who play for the other team would have eternal damnation once they have passed on. However, it slipped his mind and he simply didn’t care. Besides, if the Almighty One did love everyone, he wouldn’t mind him being a little... Ezra was promptly snapped out of his thought due to the distraction he needed in the form of a question. Slowly, the brunet’s features contorted into an unreadable expression, indicating that he was in his own thoughts for a moment. He really didn’t have a real reason to escape other than the fact that couldn’t tolerate his teacher who was spewing nonsense out of his mouth and being a bigoted idiot who taught only his own biased opinions rather than actually teach them something important. He’d probably do his best to forget about what the teacher said by the end of the day. Right now however, he needed to think fast before he bored the other and loose face due to how dull and unentertaining he is. As if an imaginary light bulb light up, a smile crept up his face. The tan-skinned boy took this moment to grab a book on the shelf, Ulysses by James Joyce, and grasped the other boy’s hand. “Ah you know me so well, Li~ What I have planned for today is nothing extravagant but a visit to my uncle. And I tell you now that you will love it at my uncle’s place.” Ezra said confidently before he winked at the other and began pulling him to come along, all the while as he was trying to calm down the double beating of his heart, trying to will himself not blush so hard and still getting it around his head that he is actually holding Liam’s hand. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I feel like this is a sin, Vint. So much that I am questioning my sanity right now.