"Uhm… I think it's Epistemology, which comes under theoretical philosophy, right?" Kalen looked at Claude, hopeful. He could see the tiredness in the other, and immediately regretted accepting the help offer. Claude needed a decent night's sleep, and Kalen wan't doing him any favors.
"I think so." Claude clearly was in no state to be working right now. Editing had taken a lot out of him, clearly. "But.. what do you need help with, specifically? What's the assignment?"
"Compare different theories dating from ancient times to theories from the modern era." Kalen yawned, shrugging. "Comparing is something I really struggle with unless it's explained to me." He paused for a moment to rub his eyes with his palms. "Get some sleep Claude, I'll figure something out before the lesson tomorrow."
Claude didn't want to admit it, but he knew he needed to go to sleep sooner or later- and he preferred that it were sooner. "Are you sure?" He spoke through a yawn, his jaw popping as he did so. "Ah, fuck.. yeah, I have to go to bed soon or I'll crash." Claude smiled slightly, giving a small laugh. "I'll see you in the morning, then?"
"Yeah, see you in the morning." Kalen smiled tiredly, taking the papers back to his room. He crashed onto his bed, but as tired as he was he could only stare at the ceiling. What was he going to do now?
(Should we do a time skip or something?)
(yeah, that's the best plan!)
Claude gathered up all of the edited papers and his book, making his way back to his room. It seemed that as soon as Claude's head hit the pillow he fell asleep.
(Shall I do the skip? I don't mind.)
(if you would!)
(Alrighty!!)
Kalen ended up oversleeping the next morning and so barely had any time to properly get ready before heading down to breakfast. His shirt was open by three buttons, his tie was a little loose, and his hair was a wild mess of waves. Hopefully Claude would be down at breakfast too, he didn't exactly feel like being among only strangers at that time of day. He left the common room in a hurry and made his way down to the dining hall.
Claude sat at his usual table, engaged in conversation with Edward and Wilhelm. They were calm, given that it was so early. "God, I can tell today's the day I fall asleep in class."
"What? That's so unlike you, though!" Wilhelm gasped, definitely playing up the drama in his voice for comedic effect. It was true, though.
"Stayed up too late last night editing papers, and well, speak of the devil- hey, kid. You were the English paper on..?" Claude raised his eyebrows, expecting an answer.
"It was a literary analysis. A Tale of Two Cities." The younger student piped up, rocking back and forth.
"…Right, that was you, wasn't it? You have a lot to work on. Here's your paper."
Kalen smiled upon seeing Claude at the table, and was even happier that at least one student had gotten their paper back. He shoved his hands into his pockets and strolled up to the table. "Good morning…" he sighed to the small group. "What a nice day." Was the sarcasm obvious?
"Indeed it is." Claude rolled his eyes, leaning back.
"Yeah, Dutch here's in a real good mood t'day! You can tell by jus' how nice was was to that kid." Edward barked. He, unlike most (if not every) other students was Pheasant Brook, was American, and it was easy to tell through his voice.
"Aw, piss off, Barker!" Wilhelm slugged Edward in the arm, beckoning to the open seat across from Claude. "Well, Kalen, are you gonna sit?"
Without a word, Kalen flopped into the open seat and let his head rest on the table. Without looking up, he opened up the front pocket of his satchel and placed the sheets of paper on the table. "I did it…" he mumbled. "Took me until 5 in the goddamn morning, but I did it."
"God, just the thought of that gives me a headache." Claude reached for the papers, thumbing through them. "How do you do it- ah." Claude looked at Kalen, head tilted. He bit the tip of his thumb. "Button your shirt and fix your tie."
"Watch your tone, Claude. You sound like a massive prick." Edward drummed his fingers on the table, taking a sip of his water.
"What? My tone was fine!" Claude huffed, standing up. "I'll be right back. I'm getting more water." The tall boy walked off, blinking sleep out of his eyes as he did so.
"Sorry about that, Kalen. The boy's just showing he cares, you know. He's trying to make sure you don't get nailed for being out of uniform." Wilhelm said simply, shrugging.
Kalen silently did as Claude asked, finally picking his head up from the table. His hair was still a wild mess but it wasn't inclined to go down anytime soon. "Thanks, Wil." he took the papers and put them back into his bag. Claude didn't appear to be a morning person… Perhaps it would be wise to keep his head low around Claude today.
"It's nothing. He's a little bitchy in the mornings, but you'll get used to it." Wilhelm took a bite of his toast. "How's your mornin' been so far?"
Claude came back to the table, rubbing his eyes as he sat down. He was quiet, listening to the chatter around him and picking out small bits and pieces.
"It's been hell, barely any sleep ya know? What about yours?"
When Claude came back to the table, Kalen gave him a nervous—sad?—smile and refused to make eye contact. It was too early, neither of them had slept much either.
“It’s been just fine. Went to bed in time last night, but I woke up around 4:30 and couldn’t go back to bed.” Wilhelm straightened his tie. “But that’s just life, I suppose.”
“You should tal’ to the nurse about that, Wil. I don’t like how much that happens to ya.” Edward frowned, pressing his lips into a thin line. “You understand what I mean, right? You gotta see if you can get that fixed.” He picked at a splinter on the table.
“As much as I hate to agree with Barker here, he’s right. Go to the infirmary after classes, they might at least be able to get a sense of what’s going on in that skull of yours.” Claude’s tone was flat, as normal, but there did seem to be an underlying edge of concern, however hidden it was.
Kalen thought for a moment before clearing his throat. "If I may? I read that difficulty sleeping can be caused by things like stress, grief, anger, worry and whatnot. Perhaps something current, or past related, is weighing on your mind and causing this to happen?" Now, Kalen was no medical expert, and he never claimed to be, but he felt he needed to say his twopence in case it offered any help.
“Well, how ‘bout that, Sallow?” Edward nudged Wilhelm gently. “Pop open your head ‘n dig around a bit, maybe we’ll find something.” He smiled toothily, giving a small laugh.
“Yeah? See if I really live up to the ‘tortured poet’ stereotype after all.” Wilhelm looked at Kalen with a tiny grin. “You might be right, you know. I’ll try and figure it out.” He picked at a small scar on his thumb absentmindedly.
Claude was speaking to another student, seemingly one who had given him his paper to grade. The younger boy rambled on and on about his paper, but Claude stayed relatively silent. He definitely didn’t look too amused with the chattering.
"I think a title like that suits you." Kalen shrugged with a cheeky smile, raising his hands a little for emphasis. "The tall, dark and handsome man with wild curls, sparkling hetero-chromatic eyes and a deep background—'Tortured Poet' just seems to fit." Kalen wasn't even sure of 'hetero-chromatic' was a real word, but it worked.
“Yeah? Might just have to adopt it, then.” Wilhelm laughed, grinning wolfishly at Kalen. “And thank you for noticing my eyes, my one and only source of pride in my life.” Wilhelm joked, his voice saturated with humor.
“Called him alley cat for ‘bout a year, on account of his eyes and all. Stopped when he socked me in the throat for it, but it was fun while it lasted, eh?” Edward’s voice was boisterous as he spoke, and his sentence soon fell in a guffaw as Wilhelm punched him in the arm.
“If you’re lucky, Wil might read you some of his work. It’s very.. moving.” Claude began, silenced by Edward clapping a hand over his mouth.
“Shuddup, Dutch! We don’t need to give him any ideas! If I have to listen to one more poem about your fake-ass girlfriend, I’m gonna lose my mind.” Edward pointed at Wilhelm, eyes narrowed and voice teasing.
Kalen's bright smile appeared once more, this time with a light chuckle. The quirks they shared between the was definitely something to be admired, and it took Kalen back to a time when he shared such friendship with people like that. "Your eyes are the first thing I notice about you, about anyone really. But I wouldn't mind hearing some of your work, if that's okay with you?"
“You’ve opened Pandora’s Box, Kalen.” Claude laughed. Clearly his mood had lightened up since earlier.
Wilhelm tipped his seat back slightly, careful not to allow himself to fall backwards. “I don’t have any with me, but after classes I can share it, yeah?”
"Yeah that sounds good." Kalen offered Wilhelm a toothy half-grin and leaned his head on his palm, propping his elbow in the table. His eyes drifted to Claude, the sound of the boy's laughter made something jump inside him. It was nice to hear Claude laugh.