Study Break

[pinkroses]

Ichabod playfully rolled his eyes when Nikki said it was a gift, "Fine then," he said with a grin, but inwardly knew he was going to give Nikki back his money sometime.

"Here, I\'ll give you my mobile number so we can sort it out, like, times and meeting up and stuff," Ichabod said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his phone. Flipping it open he suddenly noticed what the time was, and how it was now more early than late.

"Oh, God, I\'m so sorry, you\'ve been at work all night, you probably just want to go get some rest," Ichabod said, blushing at the fact he\'d kept Nikki here chatting for so long. But the truth was he didn\'t want the blonde to leave, he was having a great time, he just felt he should say something in case the other had been looking for a way out so he could get some shut eye.

[Daeron]

Nikki grinned when Ichabod finally accepted his \'gift\', he didn\'t want the money back and if Ichabod ever offered him some, he would just refuse it.

He pulled out his own cell from his back pocket, shifting a little to pull his phone out and flipped the mobile to ready himself for Ichabod’s number. He was a little confused when he didn’t receive the numbers right away. He looked up from the small screen of his phone to the concerned look in Ichabod’s eyes. When the other gave his reasons for looking so concerned he could only smile.

“I am tired, but I don’t mind. This was fun Ichabod, I really enjoyed this night...slash day. I am sure you are tired as well” He didn’t want to leave either, but dark circles were beginning to form beneath his eyes and he did have to work later this night.

[pinkroses]

Ichabod wasn\'t at all tired, he was still buzzing from everything that had happened, but Nikki was, and he didn\'t want to disturb the other man. He quickly gave Nikki his number before slipping his phone back into his jeans pocket.

"I had a great time too," Ichabod said, "Do you live far away? Maybe we could walk home together, I\'m not quite ready to go straight home," he said, hoping it wasn\'t go to sound dodgy or anything, he just didn\'t want to go home by himself yet.

[Daeron]

Nikki typed the digits into his phone and saved it before placing it back into his pocket. He didn\'t want to go, but he knew he had to, so he stood and stretched his tingling body, working out the kinks.

"It isn\'t that far and I would like that a lot" Nikki said before placing a hand over his mouth with a yawn.

[pinkroses]

"Great," Ichabod said with a smile, standing up as Nikki did. He piled their cups into a pile and as they started to walk out of the library he deposited the rubbish into a bin.

As they walked into the night air Ichabod shivered involuntarily as the sudden change of temperature, then grinned at Nikki, “Your turn to lead now,” he said pausing to see which way out of the library Nikki would turn.

[Daeron]

Nikki looked at Ichabod for a moment; he noticed that the other was cold. He didn’t have a jacket either but was warmer than he had expected. Without thinking he moved closer to Ichabod, placing an arm around the others shoulder in a friendly manner. He hoped that Ichabod didn’t take the gesture wrongly.

“My turn, well it’s this way…” He smiled and directed Ichabod to the left once they were out of the library and once more in the empty streets, the faint daylight could be seen in the horizon.

[pinkroses]

Ichabod hesitated for a moment as Nikki put his arm around his shoulder, but then relaxed slightly, he didn\'t really mind having Nikki\'s arm around it, really it was quite nice, relaxing.

He hated the fact that if there was anyone else around he would be shrugging Nikki off straight away, but there wasn\'t anyone, so he didnt need to worry about that.

"I reckon it\'s going to be a nice sunrise," Ichabod said, feeling like he should say something even though he was pretty comfortable just walking next to the blonde. "Looks like it\'ll be a good day to stay in bed," he added with a laugh.

[Daeron]

Nikki knew that if anyone were to walk by that he would most likely slip his arm from Ichabod\'s shoulder, no matter how much he liked the warmth he felt from the simple touch. It wasn\'t that he didn\'t want others to know of his friendship with the other, it was what the others would assume without a fair reason.

"It will be a good day, all the more reason to sleep in, yeah!" He laughed softly to himself, thinking that any sudden noise would break the serene feelings of the break of dawn.

"Just a block from here is where I live..."

[pinkroses]

"Oh, right," Ichabod said, lowering his eyes to the sidewalk, a little disappointed at how close it was. Still, they\'d see each other again the day after tomorrow, well, now tomorrow. Suddenly thinking about bed Ichabod did feel a little tired and ran a hand through his hair, trying to wake up a bit.

"Pity it\'s hard to see the sun rise with so many big buildings around," he said quietly, execting that any moment Nikki would say their walk was over and it would be too soon.

[Daeron]

The hand around Ichabod’s shoulder occasionally brushed across the joint in the arm, just making sure that Ichabod wasn’t too cold or too hot. He walked slower than normal trying to prolong the quiet championship, but sooner than he wanted, they reached his small apartment. It was about 5 stories high, and was almost invisible compared to all the bigger buildings around it.

“I know, one day maybe we can go to the lighthouse to see the sunset and rise” He smiled letting his hand fall from Ichabod’s shoulder reluctantly.

“Well… this is it”

[pinkroses]

"That\'d be good," Ichabod said with a grin, looking up at the apartment building they\'d reached. He shuffled his feet on the ground slightly, still not wanting to leave Nikki yet, but knowing he should.

"I guess I\'ll be off then, let you get some shut eye before you have to go to work," he said, nodding at Nikki to say goodbye, not really sure what he should do. "Call me, we can arrange what we\'re doing about the theme park and stuff," he said, trying to prolong the time before he had to leave, sort of hoping Nikki would go inside first so that he wasn\'t the one walking away.

[Daeron]

"Yeah, it would..." He said softly, shuffling from one foot to the next, not wanting to see Ichabod leave just yet, but he really had to sleep.

"Okay I will call you later, well umm. see you around." Nikki said not sure how he was to say good bye. He threw some caution to the wind and wrapped his arms around Ichabod in a warm embrace before backing away and walking to the front door and opening it.

"Bye Ichabod" He said over his shoulder before dissapearing behind the steel doors.

[pinkroses]

Ichabod rested his cheek briefly on Nikki\'s shoulder as the blonde wrapped his arms around him, then pulled back as Nikki let go, hooking his thumbs into his jeans pockets.

"Bye," Ichabod said as the doors shut in front of him. He frowned and shook his head, wondering what the hell was going on. Why did he wish he\'d followed Nikki up the stairs? He turned away with a sigh, kicking a stone as he walked quickly away, heading for home.

[Daeron]

Nikki stopped just inside the door, peering out of the small window as he watched Ichabod leave. He sighed and slumped agaisnt the door, resting his head on the cool steel. Why was he feeling this way, why did he want to run after Ichabod and bring him back into his home. Lifting his head from the door he turned and began to walk up the two flights of stairs to his apartment, 3B.

He pulled out the key from his other pocket and slipped it into the lock, twisting it until the faint clink was heard and he pushed the door open and walked into the seemingly dismal and dull room. He didn\'t know how, but his room no longer seemed as lively as it had two days ago.