Chapter Text
“Gria, I know you’re gonna do great..you just can’t let too much anxiety get to you.”
Mumbo’s voice echoed from where Grian had set his phone on his dorm room desk.
Taking long strides to cross the room, Mumbo came back into focus and Grian could see worry set on his face. He hated seeing his boyfriend look so stressed for him when he most definitely had his own life to be worried about.
“Yeah I know, I’m working on it. It just feels different than last year.”
Grian began to run his thumb over the stitching of a stuffed parrot Mumbo had given him for his birthday last year. Last year, when they still went to the same university
“Well it IS different but that’s not bad! A change of interest doesn’t change us. I’ll still be here for you and I bet you’ll find plenty of people to support you there as well.”
Making friends was always harder without Mumbo and he knew it too. He feared being judged when on his own and that usually overtook the want of friends.
Mumbo couldn’t see Grian’s hands but could tell he’s mostly out of the conversation and it made his heart ache. It definitely wasn’t an ideal year for either of them when Grian swapped colleges but he was pursuing what he wanted now and that was important! They couldn’t be attached at the hip for forever.
Wanting to change focus for his checked out partner, Mumbo asked,
“Have you met your roommate yet, Gria?”
He looks up for a moment from the plush that kept his hands occupied,
“Mmm not exactly. He was leaving when I was coming in..”
Grian’s focus was now back to his boyfriend through the screen.
“Do you think you guys are gonna hit it off? That’s one friend that can easily be made!”
His enthusiasm was always contagious for Grian which caused a smile to spread across his freckled face.
“Not too sure, he seems like a bit of a busy bee..”
He looked away for a moment like he was thinking and then continued his thought with a grin.
“ He is a little hot though if that’s something you care to know.”
Mumbo let out a boisterous laugh that made Grian roll his eyes.
“Not exactly what I thought to learn about him but it’s something! You’ll have to try to sneak me a–”
Grian began to wave his hands to motion Mumbo to stop talking ASAP as panic overtook his expression,
“I think he’s back.” he said hushed and swapped their video call to just a regular phone call for both of their sakes.
Wanting to make a more casual sight for his roommate to come in to, he leaned back in his desk chair with his phone pressed up to his ear. This is obviously what he’s been doing this whole time! With his heartbeat filling his senses and everything!
The echo of ending conversations and goodbyes carry through their shared kitchen and into the equally shared bedroom.
“–totally catch up to you guys later!” The voice who Grian assumes belonged to his roommate grew closer and closer. Grian, remembering he’s on the phone with his boyfriend, catches Mumbo’s question finally.
“Does that mean you wanna hop off? It could be a good time to talk to him!”
“Yeah maybe… I hate to cut our time short though.”
He hears a quiet “Oh!” from the doorway followed by a quiet click. The door has shut and his roommate is in the building!
‘Don’t worry about it ! This will be really good for you..”
He pauses for a moment with a small hum. “Aaaand maybe you can tell me if he’s worth a date or not.”
An unexpected chuckle escapes from Grian’s lips.
“Yeah, as if it’ll even get that far! I’ll talk to you later, I love you Mumjum,” familiar sweetness overtakes his tone and hopefully it isn't too weird to have in front of some dude he hardly knows.
“I love you too, my sweet Gria. Have fun!” The line is now quiet and Grian has to face his new audience. Luckily, he doesn’t have to start this odd snowball.
“Ya got a girlfriend back at home?” Grian turns to look at the source of the voice to spot his gorgeously tanned room looking back at him from his bed. A very casual position for not knowing the weight of the question he asked. At this point, Grian shouldn’t care about what other’s think about him and his boyfriend but he has to live with this guy! If he hates him, this year would get so much worse! Grian lets out a small hum before he begins to speak.
“If my girlfriend can be some 6 foot 5 guy at a university hundreds of miles away, then yeah. He’s my girlfriend.” Maybe a weird thing to say but Grian didn’t have much time to prepare for this!!
The staring contest begins. Grian, staring to not show fear and his roommate just seemed stunned. Maybe he messed up.
“That’s cool man. I don’t have someone back at home like that so it’s cool you do.”
Mission success. Roommate is chill.
Oh.
Roommate is now hopping off his bed and walking to Grian’s side. He’s now in front of him and, my god is he better up close. Looking up at him from a slight angle and he was in fact more than a little hot. Is he talking to him? Grian just realized he may be being spoken to.
“ – your name is?”
Eye contact is made and Grian swallows.
“Huh”
“Huh?’
The man repeats with confusion as Grian gathers his words.
“Sorry, what did you say?”
“Oh! Sorry I must have spoken too fast.” An apologetic look relapses his confusion. “My name is Scar Goodman and your name is? “
Ah.
He wants to know his name. HE WANTS TO KNOW HIS NAME.
Scar’s hand is extended to Grian.
“Ah It’s nice to meet you Scar.” He takes the other man’s hand. “I’m Grian Amsel.”
They both shake on it and maybe for just a moment, both men feel the bit of a spark.