[For Bobby] The reality of the situation [Early March]

[prodigalflame]

John was in what he personally called the library, the long L-shaped room that curved around the front of the house to the side where the main entrance was. It was one of the reasons he'd bought the place: between the library and the little study, the house was full of more shelves and crooks and spaces for books than he frankly knew what to do with.

For all the (unfortunately 1990s) renovations that modernised the kitchen and the bathrooms, this part of the house still smelt musty. Old. Like paper. Like books. And being the academic he was trying to be, the afternoon found John sitting on one of the window seats, book propped open against his raised knees, all but wedged in the window frame. There was a stack of books next to him on the carpet. From time to time he added little sticky flags or took notes on a notepad. He'd managed to get all his marking done for the week, but narrowing down his dissertation topic was still slightly out of his reach.

And for all that, he glanced every so often out the wrought iron setting of the large window, peering to see if his boyfriend was home yet. They needed to have a talk.

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[cold_blueeyes]

Bobby saw John through the window and grinned as he made his way up the front walk and into the house. He hung up his jacket, tired but pleased that he'd managed to get most of his coursework done before leaving campus. Evenings without the specter of textbooks and studying hanging over his head were always vastly more relaxing--especially on the evenings when John's workload was light, too.

"Hey," he said in greeting as he drew toward the window seat to press a brief kiss to John's lips, skirting the stack of books in the process. From the look of things, this wasn't going to be one of those evenings, but that was all right. He'd find things to do while John worked, and he'd be here when he was ready for a break. Or else he'd create a distraction and make a break mandatory, if he had to.

[prodigalflame]

"Hey yourself," John said. His mouth automatically curved into a soft smile after the kiss, not to mention the way his eyes lingered on Bobby. They'd had their ups and downs in these few months, but damn if Drake couldn't relax him and reassure him just by being there. He reached out to squeeze Bobby's hand and bring it to his lips, pressing them against the back of his hand. "You have a good day, sweetheart?"

He may have texted Bobby this morning to check up on him, but hell, it was practically evening now, anything good have happened....And there was a comfortable old leather armchair sitting just a foot away if Bobby wanted to take a load off.

[cold_blueeyes]

"Pretty good. Got most of my work done on campus, so I get to relax. Which...doesn't seem to be the case for you," he said with a sympathetic smile, nudging the stack of books at his feet. "I guess I'll have to entertain myself for a while, huh?"

[prodigalflame]

"Unless you want to hear me swear my ass off," John grumbled good-naturedly, idly leaning towards that precarious stack to make sure it hadn't toppled, but-phew. Besides, Bobby had heard him vent steam about his dissertation before. "I think I'm coming to some kind of crunch point anyway. Still," he murmured, "I have been waiting for you to come home. We got an email reminder to the postgrad mailing list for international students who were gonna be late handing in their thesis, or whatever - they needed to extend their visas. And I thought of you."

John crooked his head a little to one side, and then shoved his book next to him, before tugging Bobby into his lap with a grunt. From the sound of it, that pile did get knocked over, but...oh, hell. Stuff happened. Tugging at Bobby's shirt, he slipped a hand up under it, to lay his fingers and palm flat against Bobby's taut stomach: "And you're not allowed to go anywhere."

[cold_blueeyes]

Bobby hadn't even thought of his visa running out. He'd been so content with how things were going that the fact that the fairly new future could change it all drastically hadn't even occurred to him. "Oh...shit," he said, even as he curled an arm around John's shoulders, shifting a little to make himself comfortable. "Yeah, I should probably look into that, see what I have to do." He wasn't even sure he could stay on if he wasn't a student, although he could always enroll in additional classes, he supposed. Especially if London was going to be a long-term kind of thing, he would need them. He could probably easily become a CPA at this point back in the States, but there were differences he'd have to study up on if he was going to try to get a job here.

It was a heavy subject, one that got heavier the more he thought about it, and it led to other topics, discussions they needed to have. They'd only been dating a few months, after all. It was a big decision, to change the trajectory of his life so drastically based on a relationship that was still so new.

[prodigalflame]

John felt the heavier mood wash over his boyfriend. He curled his other arm protectively around his waist, pressing a kiss to his shoulder-blade through the fabric of his shirt, and then settled his chin on that shoulder. "Makes you think, doesn't it," he murmured, not really expecting a response. It wasn't just the relationship: the relationship was great. And London was clearly amazing for Bobby, a chance to lose some of the shadows, some of the ties that bound. There was nothing for him to worry about in London except being a good college student and a great boyfriend, and Bobby was certainly great at the latter. (As for being a good college student, well, John made assumptions without having direct experience. Bobby's accounting homework scared the fuck out of him.)

But while London had lifted many burdens from Bobby's shoulders, and had likely made this possible, it brought with it all sorts of complications, piling atop one another. "That'd be good." And John appreciated that Bobby did not arc up at the idea that he was not allowed to go anywhere. Besides, after Bobby had found out the forms or whatever, then they could have a talk. In the meantime...We're good for one another, John thought, even if he wasn't ready to say it yet. And just held his boyfriend for a while longer, before finally: "...I should keep going with the books, but there's leftovers from last night if you want to heat something up. And later, maybe you could distract me?" His voice held out a certain hope.

[cold_blueeyes]

While there were definitely things they needed to talk about, now was clearly not the time to do that. John was busy, and Bobby now had homework of his own to do, of a sort. "Yeah, definitely," he promised with a little smile, giving him a slow, lingering kiss that underlined that promise before pulling away and getting to his feet with a wistful little sigh. "Okay, work. Are you hungry? Do you want me to bring you a plate?"

[prodigalflame]

John felt the sigh within himself, leaning just a little after that kiss, but paused, licked his lips, and looked down at his books. God, they definitely seemed even more unappealing now. "Nah, I'm fine. Had a sandwich, mid-afternoon." He reached to grab Bobby's hand, though, and brushed his lips over those fingers, a promise of his own. It was almost becoming his own gallant little signature, anyway; that or a hand on his boyfriend's ass. (Okay, that was decidedly less gallant.) "I'd love a coffee, though." And God knew Bobby was way better with the machine than John could ever be.

And he could use the caffeine: he really had to crack this thing tonight. He had a meeting with his supervisor the following day and it would not go well if he had nothing to show. The irony of Bobby getting his visa extended while John got kicked out of his programme suddenly loomed large. Something to avoid, he thought, and sorted through the pile to pick up a particular tome.

[cold_blueeyes]

"You got it." Bobby flashed him a smile and headed to the kitchen to start the coffeemaker, grabbing his backpack as he went so he could pull his laptop out and get started looking into the visa thing while it brewed.