HS AU

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Lately, Aesop noticed that the corridors were noisier, even more so than usual. There was a strange feeling in the air wherever he went, as sweet as chocolate, so sweet you could almost be disgusted by it. Some students giggled at him as he passed here and there and he found that even stranger, creepy almost. At last, he was going to be able to get away from all those smarmy looks, as he had just arrived at the student council office.

Normally, a person like him wouldn't have joined such a group, but the fact that it was a little something extra to add to his academic record was not negligible. So he quickly entered the small room and let out a sigh, which immediately drew the attention of the only other person there.

"Aesop? Is there a problem?"

A dark-haired boy put a bookmark down in his book so as not to lose the page where he'd left off, then looked up at his classmate.

"Eli... Don't you think the school seems strange these days...?"

The blue-eyed boy raised an eyebrow while mimicking reflection.

"Oh, it must be because of Valentine's Day, they're advertising it everywhere at the moment and I believe some of the teachers were talking about organising an event too."

Eli showed Aesop the news page on his phone, on which there was a myriad of small ads like: "The five best chocolate recipes", "Original gift ideas", "How to confess your love", as far as the eye could see. Aesop grimaced and sat down opposite Eli.

"I didn't know..."

"That's just like you," Eli replied with a laugh, " have you never received anything during this period?"

Eli's gaze became a little more insistent at this question. This disconcerted Aesop for a second; he didn't really understand his reaction, there was really nothing to get excited about a holiday that existed solely for capitalist purposes on the basis of a completely degenerate consumer society. Well, maybe he was overreacting.

"Hmm... I got flowers once."

"O-oh, really? Looks like even our president has a few fans..."

"Nothing to get excited about. I don't understand the point of giving something to someone you don't even know."

"That girl would cry if she heard you."

"I'm not heartless, I rejected her properly."

Eli crossed his arms, an amused smile on his lips, contrasting with the melancholy in his eyes. Aesop noticed, but he wasn't socially savvy enough to ask him what was bothering him. Instead, he thought back to his conversation with Eli. He had received flowers once, or rather, one flower.

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It was a year or two ago, so the other man probably wouldn't remember, but it was Valentine's Day, almost like today. Aesop was looking after some files in the council office when Eli suddenly appeared, his arms full of flowers and beautifully decorated little packages. There's no need to describe what exactly all these presents contained. The mass was too great, so Eli hastily placed everything on the table where Aesop was sitting before it all fell.

"The council room isn't a rubbish dump."

"I'm not going to throw them away!"

"You'll get cavities if you eat all that."

Eli laughed awkwardly as he examined a box or two, reading the few scattered letters, he had no intention of returning the feelings of any of them but he'd feel bad getting rid of it all without giving some attention to the effort that had gone into it.

"If you want some, by all means."

Aesop glanced at the stack of boxes of chocolates. He hesitated a little, but it didn't last long and Eli was the first to know that the grey-eyed boy wouldn't be able to resist a sweet temptation. Despite his tough looks, Aesop was the kind of person who always kept a jar of sweets in case of emergency in a safe lying around the council room cupboard.

He grabbed a chocolate bar so quickly that Eli didn't even have time to watch it disappear from the pile.

"I wonder how high school students can afford to buy chocolate of this quality."

Aesop threw the wrapper of the chocolate bar in the bin when he'd finished, then opened another box of strawberry-shaped chocolate sweets. It was nearly lunchtime and he didn't like to snack too much before meals, so he took just one before closing the box. As the lid snapped shut, he felt something behind his ear.

His eyes widened in surprise but he pulled himself together as he touched the thing with his fingertips and realised it was a flower, a tulip based on the shape. He turned to Eli, the instigator behind this act, who only laughed at the confusion he was experiencing at the moment.

"A gift from me."

"I don't know what to think of a gift that's already been given by someone else," he stated skeptically.

"I can't take all this home with me, so you can have some of it."

Aesop frowned, and feeling his cheeks heat up a little more, he grabbed the box of sweets he'd already opened then turned his back on the dark-haired man.

"That'll do."

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"-sop!"

"Mhm?"

"I said, a new cafe has just opened next to the station, do you want to pop in?"

At the mention of a new source of desserts Aesop's expression lit up, well that was the impression he gave, he always kept that same poker face no matter the situation so it was hard to know what he was thinking, except for Eli of course.

"Right."

"Great, we'll meet at the gate after school's over then!"

Just like that, Eli was out of the room in a flash, a bright smile on his lips that dazzled Aesop. A café... just the two of them... could he consider this a date? Red flushed in his ears and he stood up abruptly to tidy up the council library. If he kept himself busy, perhaps the end of the day would come more quickly.