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"Bunny, what on earth is 'metahemeralism'?"
"What do you mean?"
"Metahemeralism? It's the title of the essay."
"Oh, metahemeralism! Yes, that's easy." Bunny grinned. "It's the glue! Comes from Latin."
"I can assure you that it doesn't."
"What?"
"Metahemeralism is not a word, Bunny."
"Are you sure? Pretty sure I heard it somewhere."
"I'm pretty sure you haven't. It is a word you have made-up, it has no meaning."
"Oh."
Henry sighed.
"I could have sworn-"
"Bunny, how many times have you mentioned metahemeralism in this essay?"
"A few."
"Well that won't do. We'll have to re-write it."
"It took me forever, Henry, maybe I should just hand it in like this. I'm sure old Mr Smith won't mind."
"If I helped you to write it this time, would that help?"
"Probably."
"Grab me my pen, it's on my desk in my bedroom."
"You want a page?"
"No, I have a notebook here." He grabbed the book from the coffee table beside him.
"Okay." Bunny nodded and left the living room. He returned with a black pen in one hand and a blue one in the other. "One for you, one for me."
"Alright, now, what was the question?"
"For the essay?"
"Yes."
"There wasn't one."
"No question?" Henry did not look convinced.
"Nope."
"Then what were you to write about?"
"John Donne."
"And what about John Donne?"
"Just about him. Twenty-five pages."
"Alright." Henry sighed. "Tell me everything you know about John Donne."
Bunny rambled on about John Donne for five minutes, each fact he said less true than the last. Henry eventually got to the point where he just had to stop his babbling friend.
"Okay, that's enough now."
"Really? Because I have a few more-"
"No, really. That's plenty for now."
"Okay. Now what?"
"Now we are going to create an opening paragraph. How do you suppose we do that?"
"You want me to say what to write?"
"Yes."
"Okay. 'Hello, reader! You want to know about John Donne? Then just listen up and be prepared to be wowed! My name is Bunny and I will show you everything about this Old Man.' How's that?" Bunny looked rather proud of himself.
Henry was silent.
"It was too good that I've shocked you, eh?"
"Absolutely." Henry managed to say. This was going to take a lot longer than expected. "Can I make suggestions?"
"That's why you're helping me, isn't it?"
"Yes." Henry nodded. "First off, we shouldn't say 'hello' to the reader."
"No?"
"No. It gives off an informal manner, which should be avoided when you are writing something such as an essay."
"Oh, right. So what instead?"
"Start with an attention grabbing sentence. 'John Donne was an English writer, and later a cleric in the church of England.' It tells the reader what you will be talking about, and does it in a formal manner."
"Ah, good move Old Man."
"Indeed." Henry smiled. "Now, what do you think comes next?"
An hour and a half passed and the pair had managed to write ten pages. If he was by himself, Henry could have had all twenty-five pages done in forty minutes, but with Bunny he was forced to work significantly slower. Not that he minded all that much. It was nice to hang out with Bunny just the two of them, like when they shared a dorm. He missed those days, though he would tell anyone that asked the opposite.
"Can we take a break?" Bunny groaned. He had done well to sit in the one place and work for so long with his short attention span.
"Yes. Would you like a drink?" Henry asked, standing up from his armchair.
"Mhm. What do you have?"
"Scotch, water, wine, tea, or coffee."
"What are you having?"
"Scotch probably."
"I'll have that too then."
"Alright."
They walked together into the kitchen, Bunny grabbed the glasses, and Henry got the scotch.
"There you go."
"Thanks, Henry."
"No problem."
They walked down the hallway in the direction of the living room, but Bunny stopped in front of one of the doors.
"Is this your room?"
"They're all my rooms."
"Smart-Alec." Bunny rolled his eyes and laughed. "I meant is this your bedroom."
"It is."
"Can I go in?"
"Why?"
"I want to see what it's like."
"Alright then."
Bunny opened the door and stepped inside. Henry hadn't tidied up in a while, so it was quite messy. Not the worst it ever had been though.
"Woah, Henry left a mess? Things have changed since we lived together then."
"I haven't had the time to tidy, if I could I would have." Henry frowned. Messes really did bother him, and he hated when he didn't have the chance to clean it up.
"You should see my room, Henry. I think you would cry."
"Would I?"
"Oh, it's such a mess."
"Why don't you tidy it?"
Bunny just laughed and went over to Henry's bed to sit down. Henry joined him. They could hear the clock ticking away on the wall, but other than that it was silent.
"Thanks for helping me with my essay, Old Man."
"It's no trouble."
The silence seemed quite heavy.
"Have you been up to anything lately?"
"Not really, have you?"
"Not really."
It was like it fell much too easy, and couldn't be properly lifted.
"Henry- mhm!" Bunny had tried to speak again, but Henry took his head turning as a chance to connect their lips.
He didn't try to correct his motion, and Bunny didn't pull away. At least not immediately.
"Henry."
"Bunny."
"Why did you do that?"
"Do what?"
"You know what you did."
"Do I?"
"Stop being infuriating and answer the question."
"I don't know."
"What do you mean you 'don't know'?"
"I don't know."
"You're Henry, you know everything."
"I don't."
"Henry, answer the question."
"I told you, I don't know, I just did it."
Bunny didn't say anything else. But he didn't leave.
Minutes passed in complete silence, apart from the ticking of the clock.
"I'm sorry, Bunny."
Bunny didn't answer. Instead he moved closer and gently, as if he was scared, kissed the boy beside him. Henry was surprised, but went along with it. Bunny pulled away and studied Henrys face for any clues of emotions. Henry almost laughed. He lay down on his back, convinced Bunny would stop there.
He was wrong.
Bunny lay down beside him and they continued. After a minute or two, Henry lifted Bunny on top of him without breaking the kiss.
It was like people who had been stranded in a desert had just found a fountain to drink from. Now that they were both sure the other was into it as much as they were, they were going much further. Bunny began to unbutton Henrys shirt and Henry undid Bunny's belt and trousers.
When he managed to remove Henry's shirt, Bunny began to kiss down his chest instead. When he managed to remove Bunny's trousers, Henry began to work on removing his own.
They were both wearing only their boxers, socks, and glasses when they heard the front door open. They shared a look of panic and threw on their clothes so hastily that they wore each others shirts, luckily there was virtually no difference. Without a word, it was agreed that Henry would go meet the guest and Bunny would stay hidden in the room.
"Hello?" A voice called from the hallway. "Henry?"
"Richard, is that you?"
"Henry, there you are. Francis was wondering about the translation for this, he sent me over. Said he would have come himself, but he was too busy."
"Let me see it." Henry took the page from Richards hand and read through it quickly. "That's all correct."
"Okay, thank you. Sorry for bothering you."
"See you in class."
"See you."
Richard left, and Henry locked the door after him. This was pointless as almost everyone from the Greek class had a key to his place, but it would at least tell them that they weren't welcome at that moment.
Henry returned to his bedroom to see Bunny sitting on his bed, looking rather nervous.
"It was only Richard asking about some homework." He explained.
Bunny did not look less nervous.
"I've locked the front door." Henry continued. "No one can get in."
"They have keys."
"They will know not to come in. I never have the door locked, so it will tell them I'm busy."
"What were we doing?"
"What do you mean?"
"What were we doing before Richard interrupted? How far would that have gone?"
"However far we wanted."
"It's wrong to want that."
"Who said?"
"Everyone, ever."
"A lot of the ancient Greeks were that way inclined."
"I'm not gay."
"I never said you were."
"You did. I'm not 'that way inclined'."
"You misunderstood. A gay person is a man who loves men and not women. You are with Marion, and I imagine you are happy with her, yes?"
"Yes."
"So you love women. Even if you enjoy other acts with men sometimes, you are not a man who loves men instead of women, so you are not homosexual."
"So, what just happened, it was fine?"
"Yes."
"I know you're gay, Hen. I don't want to offend you by being so adamant that I'm not, but I'm not, y'know?"
"I know, Bun."
Bunny was quiet for a moment while he considered.
"The front door is definitely locked?"
"Yes."
"Okay." Bunny nodded. Henry sat down beside him and waited to see what the blond would do. His answer was Bunny shoving Henry onto his back and getting back on top of him, working away at his shirt. Henry almost laughed and worked on Bunny's belt and trousers again. They went further than they had been when they were interrupted, and they both enjoyed it.
When they were done, they lay there for a moment before getting up to put their clothes back on.
After a while they picked up their half-full glasses and returned to the living room.
"Should we continue the essay?" Henry asked.
"Maybe tomorrow? We've done so much of it already."
"Okay. Will you come over again tomorrow?"
"Yeah. I will." Bunny seemed to blush when he said this, but Henry tactfully ignored it.
"Are you going now, then?"
"I should. I have to go see Marion. We had plans."
"Alright, see you tomorrow Bunny."
Bunny dithered for a moment before getting closer to Henry and going up on his tip-toes slightly to reach for a quick kiss. Then he stepped backwards before turning and leaving.
Henry could hardly believe what had just happened. Sure he had been having thoughts of Bunny in this way for a while, but he never imagined anything would come of it. All thanks to John Donne and old Mr Smith.