[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.