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The rain outside was pounding on the windows as Gansey walked through the hallways, as always his mind was elsewhere, thinking over his newest bout of insomnia induced research and stewing in his frustration at yet another bout of dead ends and more cryptic shit that just made him want to rip his hair out.
Gansey didn't enjoy Aglionby, it was too proper and too strict, it had too many rules that were inconvenient for him when he needed to just do work, he liked Monmouth much better because no one would bother him when he stayed up late at night to do research, but here he was now navigating the familiar hallways, passing windows that gave views to a dark sky and pounding rain; even though it was only late evening it looked like it was an hour out from dusk, how appropriate, he thought, the weather must enjoy tormenting me.
The large double doors were closed for once, though he shouldn't be so surprised, it was a Saturday and Aglionby students tended to not make much use of the library during the weekend if they even used it during the week, the doors were heavy and old, with what he assumed used to be sharp and intricate decorations that were now worn and faded.
With a hard pull the doors, the old doors opened up just enough for him to slip inside. The library itself wasn't locked but it was supposed to be closed so it was a wonderful place to get some peace and quiet from the cacophony of the other students enjoying their weekend.
Gansey stood by the door long enough to hear it thud back into place, seeming to dim the light in the room, the library was different when it was empty, it felt cold and distant when it was missing the quiet hum of the other students studying or goofing off with their books, almost like they gave the room life and now it was just a cold husk of a place.
“I didn't take you for one to enjoy studying in the dark.” He said into the silence once he spotted a figure sat by one of the desks by large windows, a desk lamp turned on beside him.
He jumped slightly at the intrusion, too focused on his work to hear the sound the door made.
“Oh, hi Gansey.” Adam said softly, glancing over his shoulder at him, a small smile on his lips betrayed by the dark circles under his eyes.
Gansey walked over and sat down next to him, flicking on his own lamp, adding a bit more light to the space.
“What are you doing here on a Saturday?” He asked even though it was fairly obvious he was studying, Adam was never the neatest studier in the world, he stared off fine then slowly his papers would start to form in a dense semicircle around him, the organization of which only he could decipher from all the identical papers, as he pushed things aside in favour of other things he needed to finish. He was a smart boy, top of almost all his classes and he studied like he was going to be tested on it everyday, it was a dedication Gansey could respect and even admire even if the reasons behind them weren't ones he agreed with very much, but they've had this conversation before and he rather not repeat it again.
“I had a rare day off and wanted to get some work done, so I came here, I didn't mean to stay for so long but I got side tracked.” He said with a bashful look on his face as if it was a great embarrassment to admit that he got so into his work that he forgot the time.
“What are you doing here?” He stressed the ‘you’ in such a way that it made the question sound like an accusation, which Gansey supposed it was in a way, it was a Saturday and Gansey tended to use his weekends to do research or work or something else but he most certainly always steered clear of the school.
“I wanted some peace.”
“Liar.”
Gansey chuckled softly and shook his head, shifting to stare over Adams head, who had gone back to working, to stare out the window at the darkness and the glints of the light catching on the falling rain drops.
“It feels like no matter where I look, I just keep finding even more loose threads and cold trails,” he said, the annoyance he had managed to keep at bay seeping through, “it's like every time I feel like I finally found a possible answer to a question, I get three others presented instead.”
Adam only hummed softly and flipped a page over in his book. “ ad astra per aspera” He said simply.
Gansey looked over at him, still diligently doing his work. “What do you mean?”
“To the stars through difficulties,” he said softly as he set his pen down and rubbed at his eyes, “if you want to get to someplace great, there are bound to be difficulties along the way, the journey won't be as easy as it originally seemed.” He finally looked over and smiled, Adam always smiled like he understood and Gansey knew he did, both of them loving the process of learning though there was one key difference between them, he did it because he felt a calling to his studies, he was good at finding things and it seemed a waste to not go searching for things that could be found, Adam on the other hand threw himself into his studies because he didn't have a choice, in his mind making it in here meant carving a future for himself no matter how many times Gansey argued otherwise.
“Look at you being all philosophical.” He smiled and laid his head down on his hands, eyes sliding closed though sleep was far from his mind, he could feel the jumble of questions he had bouncing around in his head trying to piece themselves together and breaking apart every time.
“I just don't understand why I can't find anything, I know exactly what I need to look for and what the answers from those things should be but every single time I look the answers are conflicting with everything and make me backtrack too many steps.” He was rambling but he knew Adam wouldn't mind, used to being on the receiving end of his frustrated late night rantings.
“ saepe ne utile quidem est scire quid futurum sit.” Adam replied from beside him. Gansey lifted his head and watched him shuffle some papers around, adding more to the pile as he grabbed a paper seemingly at random, he set it in front of him and started writing again, how he knew where anything was was a mystery only he knew the answer to.
“I’m good at Latin but not as good as you.” He chuckled softly and sat up again, settling back in his chair content to watch Adam work, the way his hand glided over the paper and the I way he tended to worry his lip when he got stuck on something, Adam gave a small satisfied nod and turned to Gansey fully, and now Gansey could see how he really looked, he was paler, dark bags under his eyes and Gansey could see dark shapes peaking over the collar of his shirt.
“Often it is not advantageous to know what will be.” He said in a way that hinted to a deeper meaning behind the phrase, a meaning Gansey would never be privy to, a meaning that was locked behind sky blue eyes, cautious hands and mannerisms unknown to him.
Adam was only looking at him now, with that look he got in his eyes wherever they talked about his search, it was a look of understanding but also wanting to understand, a look that was hungry for knowledge.
Gansey smiled wider at him and rolled his eyes. “You’re too good at latin for your own good, you know that?” He shook his head and checked his watch, it wasn't super late, Nino’s was likely to still be open and he doubted Ronan would object to coming along to eat, if he was still able to stand that is.
“Are you finished?” He asked, glancing at the mess of papers and course books strewn over the surface, there was more paper than there was desk anymore.
“Yea, just finished up.” Adam said and turned back to his papers.
Gansey nodded and waited for him to finish packing up, he watched as Adam quickly and efficiently sorted through his papers and books, hands working in a familiar pattern that only he knew and as fast as he began, he had finished and was standing up, hand hovering over the switch for the lamp.
“Come on, let's go get Ronan then we can go to Nino’s for some dinner.” Gansey smiled and flicked off his light leading them out into the quiet hallways of the school, the two falling into warm comfortable conversation that seemed to make the walk through the dreary halls little bit more tolerable.