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The weeks in this new semester felt like they were rocketing past. The first month was almost over, which also meant that most school sports were gearing up for competitions.
Out on the field, Cirrus’ foot made satisfying contact with the soccer ball, sending it rocketing narrowly past the goalie’s head and into the net.
“Awesome job man,” Yoochan clapped him on the back. Cirrus nodded at him, wiping sweat off of his face with his shirt. It was a cool day outside, but practice had been more intense than usual since they had a game coming up.
They played for a while longer, the sun dipping further and further towards the horizon. Cirrus found himself looking up at the clear sky when the team took breaks. Messy hair and brown eyes would drift through his thoughts, and then linger there even after he'd torn his eyes away.
“Okay, let’s wrap it up folks,” the coach yelled across the field. That usually meant it was already almost 5pm.
While the rest of the team flocked together to head to the locker room, Cirrus walked lazily along the fence to retrieve a rogue soccer ball that had wound up abandoned in the corner of the field. Doing that also gave him the perk of not having to chat with everyone in the locker room or turn down invitations to study.
Since he wasn’t in any hurry to get home and sink back into that wretched hellhole, he absentmindedly juggled the soccer ball on his foot on his way back through the field. A couple of his teammates lingered near him to complain about how the neighboring school’s team had much better colors for their uniforms. Cirrus mostly tuned it out.
Then, movement in his periphery caught his attention and he glanced up beyond the fence. His eyes widened as he saw a familiar figure walking along the side of the school alone.
He caught the soccer ball and tucked it under his arm before he took off running. If his teammates called anything after him, he didn’t notice.
Skylar had his backpack on and his camera in his hands. He stopped and crouched in the grass by the building, his bangs brushing the top of his camera. He seemed to be taking pictures of some trees on that side of the school. Were they that nice? Cirrus couldn’t tell, but then again, he'd be the first to admit that he couldn’t give less of a shit about the best framing for a picturesque landscape and failed to appreciate such things.
As he got closer, he could see how focused the other boy was based on his stillness. Skylar barely moved, laser focused on getting the shot. He didn’t seem to notice Cirrus jogging towards him.
He couldn’t resist approaching the area Skylar was photographing. When he got within range, he ran faster and jumped as far as he could, landing somewhere - he hoped - in the frame of the shot and waved with a huge smile.
Skylar startled, then lowered the camera so Cirrus could just see his eyes, glaring at him.
“What’re you waiting for? Take the shot!” Cirrus started bouncing the soccer ball on his knee. “I can do this for a while, you know, so take your time.”
“I hope you know that you’re not cute,” Skylar called to him.
“At least document my ugliness then,” Cirrus responded.
He bounced the ball a few more times, waiting for Skylar to blow up at him. Then, he could’ve sworn he heard a faint clicking. Like a camera shutter sliding closed and then open again. He glanced at Skylar in surprise, a pang of exhilaration passing through his chest.
The other boy’s hands were still on the camera. It even looked like his finger might've been on the shutter release button. Which meant it was possible that Cirrus hadn’t just imagined it, right? He made a mental note to investigate whether or not a picture existed later.
And then his knee totally missed the ball and it hit his foot instead, clumsily rolling away from him.
“Oh shit,” he started to scramble after it, and heard a peal of laughter behind him.
He instantly stopped and whirled around, his eyes wide.
Skylar’s cheeks were flushed, one hand partially covering his mouth, his large eyes crinkling with a smile.
Cirrus stared at him, his mouth slightly open.
Skylar had laughed. Skylar was genuinely laughing and he was the reason for it.
A wave of giddiness washed over Cirrus, radiating through his entire body. His brain worked at full capacity to absorb every detail of this moment.
When he saw Cirrus looking at him without saying anything, Skylar’s smile faded into a confused, then suspicious look. “Uhh... what's wrong?”
Cirrus finally blinked and took a step forward. “You laughed just now.”
“Yeah, so?” Skylar glanced away with his classic self-conscious scowl. It was always so gratifying getting to watch his reactions to things.
“So,” Cirrus smiled at him, well aware that he was making the other boy flustered. “It’s nice.”
Predictably, the other boy grimaced at him. “Just- just hurry up and get the ball, I’m trying to take actual photos here.”
He made a shooing motion at Cirrus, like he was warding off a stray dog.
“Yessir,” Cirrus cheerily said, going to retrieve the abandoned soccer ball.
Once he had scooped it up, tossing it between his hands, he walked over to stand next to Skylar. The boy was still crouched, taking pictures quietly.
He patiently waited, bouncing the ball on the side of his foot to entertain himself.
“You’re so damn noisy, cut it out,” Skylar turned and glared at him.
Cirrus obediently let it drop to the ground and pinned it there with his foot.
Ten seconds passed. Twenty. Thirty.
Almost forty-five whole seconds passed before the thwack of the ball started up again. Cirrus only managed to do it a couple of times, though.
Skylar suddenly stood up, spun around, and - to Cirrus’ complete shock - stole the ball from Cirrus with his foot.
He watched, stunned, as Skylar neatly bounced it once off of his shoe, then kicked it up into the hand that wasn’t holding his camera. As though it were completely effortless.
“C'mon, do that again!” Cirrus exclaimed, genuine excitement in his voice.
“No,” Skylar flatly replied, and continued to glare at him.
The taller boy pouted, but unfortunately, Skylar was one of the few people mostly immune to his largest, pleading eyes. “Fine, well, at least give it back to me then. I'll be so good this time, really.”
“I’m holding onto this because you can’t be trusted with it,” Skylar’s voice was a little taunting.
“Oh," Cirrus sweetly said, "so it’s going to be like that then.” He widened his stance. Skylar immediately tensed in response, a defiant look in his eye.
Cirrus smirked.
Then he leapt for the ball, confidently swiping at it with his hand. His arms were longer than Skylar’s, but the shorter boy quickly dodged and spun around him, keeping the ball cradled in his palm. When Cirrus turned around and tried to grab it again, his fingers brushing the surface of the ball, Skylar snatched it away, hiding it behind his back. He was fast.
For the briefest of moments, Cirrus considered simply picking Skylar up. That’d count as retrieving the ball, right? But the thought was fleeting.
The dark haired boy grinned up at Cirrus with flushed cheeks and tucked the ball firmly under his arm. Skylar looked satisfied, almost smug. Was he gloating? If he was, Cirrus had to admit, it was a good look on him.
He raised his hands, acknowledging defeat. “Okay, it’s all yours. When he asks, I’ll tell the coach it wasn’t stealing because it was a fair duel and I honorably lost.”
“It was barely fair because I was holding a camera the whole time, and you could’ve broken it by the way!” Skylar berated him, but he didn’t sound angry.
He seemed to be done taking photos, because he turned and started walking towards the school exit, carrying the ball with him.
Cirrus trailed along behind him, the usual how do I get Skylar to keep spending time with me wheels turning in his brain. Since they'd been on good terms for a while now, asking Skylar to spend time with him had a much higher success rate than it had previously. That said, Cirrus did still get rejected a fair number of times. He was never completely sure how Skylar might react to certain things.
“Hey, are you going home now?” He looked down at the other boy, trying to gauge his expression from his side profile. “Are you hungry? Cause I’m really hungry.”
Skylar didn’t say anything.
“Can I buy you dinner?” Cirrus cheerily continued. "Think of it as a reward for besting me earlier. You can choose the place."
When he still didn't get a response, he added, "Literally anywhere your heart desires, just say the word.”
Then, very belatedly, Cirrus realized that he was still wearing his soccer uniform, with nothing in his pockets, and dragged his feet to a halt.
“Dammit, I have to head back to my locker.”
He half expected Skylar to just keep on walking without him. But instead, the dark haired boy turned, slowing down and tossing the ball back to him. Cirrus caught it, a little surprised.
“I’ll wait for you by the gate, so hurry up.” Skylar said it so confidently, but his eyes darted away with that telltale sign of shyness, his cheeks blushing.
That elated, dizzying feeling bubbled up in Cirrus again.
And he was pretty sure, as he turned to run back into the school, that his face was red too.