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Andres watched tiredly how his brother rummaged through countless shelves looking for books. They had been touring Berlin libraries for two days but they still didn't find one of the books in Sergio's list.
"Do you really need that book?" Andrés asked his little brother that had his nose buried into a wall of books.
"It's fundamental for my research" Sergio sighed "I told you that a million times" he pulled out a red book "You can go amuse yourself in the meantime, just don't cause any trouble"
"Trouble? me?" He smirked.
"Do me a favour and hold my things for awhile" Sergio pushed his satchel into his brother's arms.
"You are lucky I love you" Andrés rolled his eyes and walked towards the common area of the library. Since it was an University library it was full of youngsters coming and going. Some were talking silently with each other, some were stressing over a laptop surrounded by papers and books and others simply slept on desks. Among these characters he spotted a man balancing a high stack of books even though he had an arm cast. Before he could think about it, he was walking towards the man. It was weird, he usually wasn't a charitable person but there was something about this man that lure him close. There was an nerdy aura about him but unlike his little brother the man had an edge.
"Braucht du hilfe?" He asked in his broken German.
"Ja" the man smiled. His German was light years ahead of Andrés' but it still had a foreign accent to it. Maybe italian "danke schön!" The man beamed. While Andrés was taking the books one of them slipped from the man's arms "shit! Entschuldigung!" He apologized.
"It's okay" Andrés picked the book from the floor "I see I don't need to dust off my German"
"Oh!" The man's eyes grew in recognition "That's wonderful! I'm fed up of it!"
"Show me the way" Andrés smiled.
"Over there" he pointed over a row of shelves.
"There you are" he said as he finished arranging the last book.
"Thank you... Eh..." The man ran a his fingers through his fluffy brown hair "I don't know your name"
"Álvaro" he lied.
"Thank you, Álvaro. I'm Martín. Are you from Spain?"
"Yes, I've just arrived to do some research" he said "I see you are a bookworm just like my little brother"
"Ass hours, my friend that's what we called them back in Argentina" Martín laughed "to study until your eyes fall off"
"That will be a pity with such beautiful eyes" He whispered. Martín blushed. It was not a lie. The man had gorgeous bluish eyes that looked like they belong to a puppy "So what do you do?"
"I'm an engineer" Andrés grimaced. He hated numbers and everything of the sort "I know" Martín laughed "I get that reaction a lot. You?"
"You can say I'm an artist" Andrés answered.
"Nice" he said "we don't get many of you around here"
"But I'm unique"
"I can see that" Martín smiled "I have to get going. Thank you for the help and the break from all the German"
"A pleasure" he smirked.
As he watched Martín leave, he heard a series of footsteps getting closer to him.
"Looks that you got entertained" his brother said in a sardonic tone "not your usual type though"
"Yes, I did. He was Argentine" he explained "It was nice to speak two words without stuttering like a retarded"
"Don't say things like that" Sergio admonished him.
"Ok, ok" he shrugged" but wait for the best part... He is paying for the drinks!!" He showed his brother a black leather wallet.
"Are you kidding me?" Sergio hissed " I told you not to cause any trouble"
"Come on!" He threw an arm around his brother's shoulder "You know I can't help myself. It's a talent"
"Give me my satchel" Sergio requested shaking off his arm "I need to check something" Andrés handled him the bag and watched his brother rummaged though his stuff for a few minutes "do you have my plans?"
"No" Andrés answered "I didn't touch your things"
"The tunnel plans are gone"
"What do you mean with gone?"
"I mean, I had them inside a folder that is not here anymore" his brother frowned.
"Son of a bitch! That Argie must had stolen it"
"Stolen? Are you joking? He had stolen from you? YOU?" Sergio kept nagging him.
"Well, Sergio. I know I look perfect but I'm still just a human" he took out Martín's wallet "don't fret, little brother. We know exactly where to find him"
They walked through the university, stoping in the way to ask for directions and inquiring about Martín's whereabouts. The students happily helped them found the engineer in a huge classroom.
"Álvaro!" Martin exclaimed when he saw them enter the room "miss me so soon?" He smirked.
"Don't play games with me, you piece of shit" Andrés closed the distance between them in strides "where is my brother's folder?" he took him by the collar of his shirt and pinned the man against a wall. This time he didn't give a fuck about the man's arm "I won't ask again"
"Oh! kinky!" Martín said in a mocking tone that earned him being slammed against the hard surfaced of the classroom wall "You wouldn't hurt a crippled man"
"That's it" Andrés was about to punch the man when his brother stepped in.
"Wait!" Sergio said "Stop it, Andrés"
"Don't you want your stuff back?" Andrés rolled his eyes. He could feel Martín's chest rising and falling as he breath.
"Andrés?" Martín said "You definitely look more like an Álvaro"
"Do you ever stop talking?!" He shook him.
"It's a talent"
"Did you do these calculations?" His brother pointed to the white board full of mathematical formulas that Andrés didn't even register when he got into the classroom.
"Yep! I'm not just a pretty face" Martin answered still pressed against the wall "what can I say? I got curious. Don't get me wrong. You are good. Really good actually. It's just that you didn't take into account the underground water and therefore the solidity of the ground and you could absolutely optimise your resources"
"Fascinating" Sergio whispered as he turned back to the board.
"At least I've got a fan in you"
"Come on, brother!" Andrés let Martín go "get your things and get the fuck out of here!"
"Wait! why did you..." Sergio was about to ask a question when a young girl bursted into the classroom and walked towards him.
"Hello Professor, I'm the exchange student from Wales. The Dean told me to talk to you about tutoring for some classes" the girl said without taking a breath "are you busy? I can come back later if you please"
"I'm... I am not..." Sergio stuttered.
"The professor would be me" Martín stated.
"I'm so sorry!" The student blushed.
"Don't worry!" He said "He looks the part doesn't he?" Martín patted Sergio on the back "Why don't you wait for me in my office? It is at the end of the hall. I will be there in a minute."
"Yeah. Absolutely" the girl smiled and left the room.
"It was a pleasure to meet you, gentlemen"
"You know all of this is an hypothetical, right?" Sergio asked the engineer "An a academic experiment"
"Oh, sure!" Martín laughed " I'm a huge fan of academic experiments but I prefer to experiment on shiny things" he smirked "Diamonds are the girl's best friend after all"
"Wait!" Sergio exclaimed "Can we meet again?" He extended the man a piece of paper before Andrés could say anything "I will meet you there. Tomorrow at 6 pm?"
"Only if you bring your handsome older brother with you" Martin winked. Andrés answered with a growl "I'm joking! I will see you there, Professor" he walked towards the door but came to a halt "Oh! I almost forgot. Would you be so kind to give my wallet back? There are a few things I need there"