Somewhere to the back of Edwin's mind, he
knew that he had obligations that day. He
knew that Lucio was going to show up soon for their first study session together. Edwin had offered while visiting Russ one day. He enjoyed STEM subjects the most, and Russ's roommate took up the free study opportunity through the course of that particular visit not long ago. Although Edwin had reviewed a few materials to be fresh on the matter, at present, he'd forgotten what specific subject he was to cover.
Somewhere distant within Edwin's floating thoughts, he knew he should have been on better watch for Lucio's arrival. But the wind held his willing hand in fleeting passes. Autumn tangled its chilly gloom amidst the naked oak branches overhead. He'd internally slipped from a watchful precipice into a daydreaming ravine.
A gust had swept up a large, brittle leaf and swept it across the faded mountain graphic on his otherwise white t-shirt. It settled there at the peak for a moment, conquering the depicted peak from back home. Edwin had become vaguely aware of the leaf's temporary coming and going – as it did soon sweep away again on its continuing journey elsewhere. The ambiance of shoes shuffling by now and then on the nearby sidewalk, the hiss of leaves scraping by on that same concrete – it all became a soothing backdrop once more.
Until a face manifested above his own.
Eyes. Like sun-warmed earth set in a passive expression. The moment of admiration was incredibly fleeting where alarm quickly took over.
Edwin's limbs scattered upward in a haphazard jolt, even as a breathless yelp caught awkwardly in his throat. Not only had he been jarred from his daydreaming, he'd
definitely not expected someone to be suddenly so close to him,
focusing on him no less. Of course,
logically, he'd known Lucio was meant to arrive at any moment. Though logic didn't necessarily frequent dreams, waking or otherwise.
Edwin's vision tremored when his head rebounded against the top of the table. He'd lifted his face as a reaction while the rest of his limbs had shot through with adrenaline, but they'd all been pulled back safely by gravity about the table. The back of his head?
Thud.
"Ahh...
rrgh.." Edwin mangled a surprised sound of pain and winced his eyes briefly closed. There was nothing remotely aggressive to any of the utterances he choked on.
Oh. LUCIO.
What a great first impression. Well. First
on his own separate from being an extra to Russ in Lucio's mind. It'd only get worse whenever Edwin had to tell the guy about locking himself out of his dorm room. Edwin really was a great student, he was doing so well – he was
ahead in all of his courses.
Yet here he was, post-flail, laying on a picnic table outside making idiotic sounds of surprise and ache. Ah yes, the great Edwin, indeed.
Edwin swept both hands up across his face, briefly sifting black-chipped nail polish through the lazy brown tendrils of hair that'd been tossed about his eyes. His own irises carried less of a sense of sunlight in them in his mind than Lucio's (which he now felt a little inward embarrassment for that knee jerk appraisal). His were darker, cooler, though they likely were framed in a more expressive way – especially then. Edwin's face was a mingling of remnant surprise and apology. All the while he tried to pull a polite smile through it all, which probably also sat with a crooked slant.
Oh, right, sit up. Edwin shot up, almost headbutting Lucio (
great).
"Ah, hey, sorry about that! I uhh, this is out of the ordinary...-" He began quickly, shuffling a hand to the back of his head to feel about for a bump. Yeah, there was one. He'd power through that pain, though,
be cool now, geez. But being cool was more Hunter's forte, far from Edwin's own.
"Uh, oh yeah! Yeah, I'm Edwin. Edwin Sterling. Russ's friend." Well, good job over-explaining it. At least now the pale slant of a polite smile warmed with something more amused – albeit at himself.
Edwin rotated where he sat until his yellow sneakers made purchase on the bench below. Sitting upright and stable, he languidly drooped both arms just behind his lanky torso, propping his palms to the tabletop. Well, whatever impression he'd made, he'd made, so he figured he'd just ease into existing and what would be would be. Still, he had to address their change in study location.
"I hope you brought all your books? I uh, well. I locked myself out of my dorm, and I have
no idea where my brother – Hunter – yeah, I have no idea where he is. Uhhh, and my phone's dead so I couldn't check. Look, I'm not normally this disorderly. If you need some confidence before we study, you can look me up in the school system, see my marks. Here's my ID number."
Edwin pulled out his wallet from a back pocket of his black jeans with a shift to one side. Soon, he offered up his school ID card to show his student number. Whether Lucio took it or not, he wanted him to know he meant it – he
was a good student and could be trusted with academics. He'd also happened to absently give this guy a bunch of his personal stats and address marked on the card, too, but he'd not thought about that part.
"It was one of those kind of days – but it's still a nice one, right?" Edwin had initially confessed along a sigh, but warmed with a silver lining in conclusion. The gloom, the chill, the dead trees – to Edwin at least, it
was a nice day. A holiday, too, oh right.
"Happy Halloween, too? Do you have party plans or anything? I can make our time as efficient as you need – I'm not going to anything so you've got me all night if you need, too. Uhh, but we should probably find a new spot to study since, uh, for right now, I'm homeless."
He gave an apologetic grin, but his glance that risked finding Lucio's steady eyes carried a sort of hopefulness despite the admittedly humiliating first impression. There was nothing he could do about it – so why not try to set the rest of the evening up to be different, better?
Edwin slouched forward, then hopped to his feet and straightened. Even at his full height, he was still a few inches shorter than Lucio. Sometimes people thought Edwin was taller in general simply because he was long in the torso and lanky in the limbs. He gave a tiny shrug to his right shoulder while his head subtly slanted its way only for a moment. He was visibly shaking off his startled fiasco. Hopefully Lucio would, too.
: Hey Babes, left those shoes you wanted to borrow by your door! See you soon! xxx
