Chapter Text
"That'll be two dollars"
"Thanks"
Norton barely looked up as he stuffed his change hastily into his wallet, there wasn't much time left until his class started.
"Come again" he gave a quick glance up to the cashier and gave a quick nod. A brief thought of 'cute cashier' flashed through his mind as he left the store in a hurry. It was only 8am in the morning and he already felt busy.
It was another usual day of busy classes, Friday’s were the busiest for Norton with classes packed back to back with only an hour or two worth of free time in between. He took his usual seat next to Eli who greeted him cheerily. When he finally had time to take the first sip of his already close-to-cold coffee the professor entered the class. And so his day began.
When the clock hit 12pm and the students were finally released from the confines of the stuffy classroom Norton quickly packed his notes back, looking in a hurry to go somewhere.
“Not joining us for lunch, Norton?” Eli asked, still taking his time gathering his scattered notes.
“Nah, I needa hop by the library real quick first. I’ll catch you guys later or maybe after the next class” Norton replied in a flurry, the book he needed for his next assignment was always rented out quickly and he really didn’t want to miss it again.
“Alright then, don’t forget we’re going out drinking tonight though!” Eli yelled after Norton’s disappearing figure through the door, a wave of his hand serving as his reply.
Norton had thanked all the gods he knew when he finally grabbed the last copy of the book he had been searching for, right under the nose of another desperate student. Norton gave a shrug and mouthed ‘sorry’ and left straight to the checkout counter.
He placed the book on the countertop and took out his phone to quickly check the time. Maybe he could still manage to grab a quick bite with Eli and the rest before his next class.
“The due date for you to return this is exactly a week from today” the librarian behind the counter was listing off the terms and conditions of borrowing books from the library and honestly Norton would have just grabbed the book and left without listening to the whole spiel but something was familiar about the voice.
Curious, he turned up from his phone to see who the voice belonged to. The librarian stared back, handing the book over to Norton while looking slightly confused. It wasn’t anybody Norton knew, that’s for sure and yet it felt like this wasn’t the first time he had seen this face today.
“He’s cute though, maybe I walked past him a few times on campus” Norton silently thought to himself, grabbing the book and stuffing it into his bag. Within seconds he had already dashed out of the library, with thoughts of grabbing a quick donut to go on the way to the next class.
A tired sigh escaped Norton when his last class of the day finally ended, he stretched his tired arms, cracking his knuckles that were almost sore from writing so many notes. Eli was texting next to him, still looking fresh despite having been through the same amount of classes.
“We’ll be meeting Aesop and Will around 10-ish, we could go grab dinner together first. There’s this place I’ve been wanting to try but I heard it’s usually packed on Friday evenings but my senses tell me we’ll be lucky today!” Eli prattled on as usual, Norton only giving small hums of acknowledgement while he packed his books.
“Better get packing then, Clark” Norton gave a smug grin as Eli stopped mid sentence to realize he still had everything out.
Norton was already standing up, Eli scrambled quickly to gather his belongings.
“Wait for me!” Norton only laughed, leaving the classroom with Eli stumbling to follow him from behind.
The pair stood outside a chinese restaurant, the one Eli had mentioned earlier. True to his words there was a long line forming already but the duo had been lucky enough to arrive in the queue before it got too long.
It wasn’t long until they got a seat, Eli looked content that his prediction was right while Norton was just glad they didn’t have to wait out in the cold. The restaurant was full, many waiters scattered about delivering food and taking orders. Norton could see some familiar classmates as well, like the popular Vera Nair sitting by the side laughing at her companion, Martha Behamfil, near choking from a dumpling for being too hot.
“Hello, may I have your order please?” Norton snapped his attention back to the waiter who had finally approached their table. The sight of the waiter took him aback for a second, while Eli went ahead with his order Norton was caught staring at the waiter.
“Norton? Aren’t you going to order?” he must’ve been silent for awhile because Eli had nudged him on the arm, finally realizing he had been staring for a bit too long because the waiter looked a little confused as well.
“Oh uh, sorry, I’ll have what he’s having” Norton quickly gave his order, breaking his gaze away from the waiter. The waiter repeated their order and left, Eli gave Norton a concerned look.
“Are you too tired? Are you sure you still want to join us later?” he asked softly, Eli’s mother hen side showing up again.
“I’m fine, I just feel like I’ve seen that waiter before so I was surprised” Norton explained quickly, not wanting Eli to worry too much. It seemed to work because Eli’s brows relaxed and he went back to smiling again.
“Must be one of the students, I’ve seen him around campus I think”
Their conversation went on different topics after that, a different waiter served their food after and it wasn’t long before the two had finished off their meals, paid and left.
If Norton was being honest, he’d rather be back at his dorm right now instead of going out for drinks with the gang. He had a ton of assignments piled up and he honestly just felt tired.
“C’mon dude! Where is your energy?” A loud voice boomed from beside him, Norton wincing at it. William had always been a loud guy, he was probably the loudest in their little group. Eli talked a lot but he had a gentle voice, Aesop barely talked and Norton himself wasn’t that big of a talker either. But then again maybe that’s why Will balanced them out perfectly.
“Show some energy, tonight’s the night my loner roommate is finally joining our gang! You have no idea how hard it was for me to convince him to join us, it only took like, a few months!” William was very enthusiastic that night, he continued talking about how his roommate would be here soon because ‘he just got off his shift!’ and downed another shot.
Five minutes later Norton felt the weight off his shoulders, William had finally taken his arm off him.
“Naib, you made it! Over here, pal!” William’s booming voice resonated across the bar, Aesop was covering his ears at the side.
“Sorry if I smell like...dumplings or whatever I just got off work” Norton was minding his own business, fiddling with his phone but again there was this voice. He had heard this voice all day long, turning around in his chair he got a good look and William’s roommate.
“I swear this is like, the fourth time I’ve seen you today” before he could stop himself the words came out on their own.
Naib blinked, registering what this stranger had just said to him. A few seconds passed and a look of recognition surfaced on Naib’s face.
“Oh, yeah I recognize you, what a coincidence” he looked amused, to say the least.
“I remember you from the restaurant! Meeting here must be fate, I’m Eli Clark” Eli popped his head over instantly, already giving his introductions.
“I’m Naib, I work three part-time jobs to pay off the demon called student loans” Naib returned with a short introduction of his own. His dry humour earning a laugh out of Norton.
“Naib here is a real good boy, he’s workin real hard so his momma doesn’t have to worry! But dude you seriously need a breather!” Will gave a mock sigh, his arm now having a new home over Naib’s shoulders.
“Thanks for explaining my backstory, besides that’s what I’m here for isn’t it?” Naib gave a wry laugh, shrugging off Will’s arm so he could finally take a proper seat. More introductions were done soon after, Aesop being curt as usual. Naib got to familiarize himself with the rest of the gang, a drunk Will ordered another round of shots to celebrate the beginning of their new gang name ‘ANNEW’ which made absolutely no sense but it got Aesop to chuckle so that was something.
The gang had a good laugh when Norton was pressed further to tell the rest details of the ‘four times he met Naib Subedar’ by coincidence in one whole day in all of his three different part time jobs. Of course he left out the important bit, the fact that he had thought Naib was a ‘cute guy’ every time they had met. No one needed to know that.
And now that they had finally properly met and Norton having seen his face properly for an extended period of time he had concluded that Naib was in fact, very good looking. His voice was distinct too, it was firm but soft, a deep voice that sounded very much like a seasoned war veteran. Norton enjoyed listening to Naib talk, almost to the point where he’d just stop talking entirely just so he could focus more on listening.
“Alright ANNEW gang, that’s it for tonight! Hope you guys enjoyed meeting good ol Naiby here” Will laughed heartily, it was near 2am in the morning and Norton bet it was the alcohol fueling his vocal chords.
“Quiet you dumbass, it’s late and you’re drunk” Naib reprimanded lightly, his tone suggesting it was of the norm for him to be scolding Will. He had Will’s arm over his shoulder, despite the big height difference between the two Naib seemed to have no problem lugging William back to their dorm.
Aesop had already left way before, at a reasonable hour, he would say and it was left with Eli and Norton waving goodbye to the other two.
“Mmm...maybe the two of you meeting was destined by fate” Eli broke the silence, he had one of those smiles again. The kind of smile he reserved for his ‘premonitions’, it looked cheeky, smug even, but at the same time one could tell he meant no ill will.
“It’s just a coincidence, you’re drunk too” Norton scoffed, he’s never been a believer of such things but maybe...maybe the thought of a ‘fated meeting’ sounded nice. Romantic even.
“But I had fewer drinks than Aesop did!” a pout formed on the shorter man's slightly red face. Norton laughed, shaking his head lightly, Eli was a funny drunk.
“Let’s go home” Norton ended the conversation there, on their way back he thought back again to what Eli said. A fated meeting, it was almost too romantic for his tastes but it had a nice ring to it. Norton has no idea what the future has in store for him, he’s convinced the multiple meetings he had with Naib today was pure coincidence but maybe just for tonight he’ll entertain the thought that there was a deeper meaning to it. He’ll blame it on the alcohol tomorrow.