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Grian groaned from where he was laying down on his bed and let his head fall onto the laptop’s keyboard. Joel looked up from his own bed in their shared dorm, looking over at Grian to see what the problem was. “Studying going that badly, is it?” Joel couldn’t help but chuckle. Grian lifted his head to glare at him and Joel couldn’t help but laugh harder.
Jimmy looked away from the movie him and Joel were watching, looking over toward Grian as well. The borrower was currently sitting on Joel’s shoulder, as he had found that was one of the best spots for him to actually see the movie. “What class is it for?” Jimmy asked curiously.
“Biology.” Grian answered, though it was muffled since he planted his face right back down on his keyboard.
“Ah, that’s…” Jimmy trailed off when he realized he wasn’t actually sure what that was. It sounded familiar, of course, but he couldn’t even begin to explain the concept. Joel seemed to notice but thankfully didn’t tease Jimmy about it. Instead, he turned the teasing back on Grian.
“That’s your own fault for choosing to be a bloody biology major.” Joel quipped, only to yelp when Grian threw a pillow over toward him. Jimmy also let out a little noise of surprise as he was suddenly surrounded by a hand. It didn’t grab him though, just held him in place so he didn’t fall off as the pillow hit Joel in the face. “Hey, watch it! I’ve got Jimmy on my shoulder!”
At that, Grian looked up again. “Whoops, sorry Tim.” He didn’t sound very sorry. As soon as the words left his mouth, a pillow hit him in the face. “Hey!”
Joel chuckled. “You deserved that and you know it.”
Jimmy, still surrounded by Joel’s hand, suddenly felt the grip solidify around him. Now he was being grabbed. The hand lifted him off the shoulder and he was held within Joel’s fist as Joel got off his bed and went to stand next to Grian’s. “Here.” Joel finally opened his hand and Jimmy tumbled out and onto the cushy surface of Grian’s bed.
“Why are you giving him to me? I thought the two of you were watching a movie together?” Despite his words, Grian’s hand came up behind Jimmy and moved him closer to himself. It took Jimmy a second to gain his balance back after that but he was used to just being moved around like this.
“Yeah, what about our movie?” Jimmy said with a slight pout. He had been enjoying not only the movie but his time with Joel.
“We can watch it later, Jim. I think Grian needs you more right now.” Joel answered him and then looked back toward Grian. “Meaning, Jimmy is great to have around while studying.”
Grian looked confused. “He is?”
Jimmy also looked confused. “I am?”
“Uh yeah. Why do you think I always have Jimmy with me when I’m studying? Just try it and you’ll see what I mean.” Joel said, leaving both Grian and Jimmy even more confused. Joel then grabbed his wallet and keys and headed toward the door. “I’m gonna grab us something to eat, I’ll be back.” And then, he was gone.
“Still don’t understand what he means.” Grian mumbled, but his hand was already finding Jimmy again. He was once again surrounded but not picked up.
Jimmy looked over Grian’s hand toward his laptop, seeing a bunch of words, all of which made Jimmy’s head spin a little. “So, ah, what’s wrong?”
Grian hummed and moved his hand away from his head to scroll up a bit. “It’s just so hard to focus.” Grian said and then his tone became more frustrated. “I mean, do you see this big wall of text!?”
“Yeah, that doesn’t look fun.” Jimmy had no problem reading but even he didn’t understand most of the words currently up on Grian’s laptop. Jimmy looked away from the screen and back toward Grian, who’s eyes were darting back and forth, trying to read what was on the screen once again.
As Jimmy noticed this, he felt something move to the top of his head and quickly realized it was one of Grian’s fingers. And with how Jimmy was nestled in his palm, he figured it was Grian’s thumb now petting the top of his head. Jimmy sighed. Unfortunately, this was also another common occurrence between both Grian and Joel. They were both very touchy when it came to him.
Not that Jimmy minded too much.
Jimmy let it go on for a bit, but when Grian didn’t say anything Jimmy decided to break the silence. “Uh, Grian?”
“Shh!” Grian shushed him and didn’t stop his movements. “I think I just realized what Joel meant.”
“What? What did he mean?” Jimmy asked. Grian gave no answer, which made Jimmy pout. And a few minutes later, when still nothing happened and no explanation was given, he finally settled down and gave in to the fact he would be here, being pet, at least until Joel came back with the food.
Maybe then Joel would explain what he meant.