"Hey, smartie pants,"
Niles could feel the confidence radiating off of Austin before they even looked at him. They raised an eyebrow and turned around.
"Too much?"
Niles' expression softened. "A little."
"Are your notes for this class good?"
"Uh, not really. I've been zoning out."
"That's okay, as long as you have something."
Niles looked down at his notebook, scrawled with a few notes and a lot of drawings. "Nah, not really."
"Oh. Alright. Well, can I talk to you after class?"
"Sure."
Class continued, boring as it had been, for about another ten minutes until the lecture was over.
"Alright, students, that's it! And remember to finish your reading before next class!"
Niles groaned internally. The last thing they needed was more studying to exacerbate their exhaustion.
"Hey," Austin said, catching up to Niles as the pair left the lecture hall. "How's your week been?"
Niles eyed Austin again. Why he was being so chipper today, they had no idea. "Good," Niles said, not wanting to drum up the energy for a full response.
"Good, that's good." The conversation took a dip as Austin and Niles walked side by side through the hallway. It was obvious that whatever Austin wanted was losing its momentum.
"Hey, so I was wondering," Austin said, cutting Niles off and blocking their way, annoying them even further. "I saw some cool movies that were playing this weekend, and I was wondering if you'd wanna come see one? With me?"
"I don't really like movie theaters."
"That's okay, we can do something else." Austin looked at Niles expectantly, while Niles looked at Austin with no expression whatsoever.
The tense silence prompted Niles to continue. "Like... what?"
"Anything." More expectant smiling. "Like, a date."
"Oh, no, thank you, I'm good."
"Oh." Austin dropped the smile he'd been wearing. "Why not?"
Niles just looked at him in confusion.
"C'mon, lighten up! Have some fun! I'm sure you'll have plenty of time to study even if you spend some with me."
"I don't want to go out with you, Austin."
"Look, I get that you're kind of a dork, but would you lighten up a bit? You're in college, not jail."
Niles looked at his supposed friend in disbelief. "Fuck off," they huffed, pushing past Austin and towards their dorm.
"Hey, wait!" Austin called after them. "I'm sorry!"
Niles was silent through the entire walk to their dorm, even when a tear threatened to roll down their cheek. They blinked it away silently and their inability to speak doubled.
Damnit, they thought. I have to go to work as this crying, nonverbal mess.
• • •
Niles was anxious for work. Gnawingly anxious. Stomach-churningly anxious. They paced and chewed their bottom lip. Worrying about it just made them more tired and less verbal, so they concluded that it probably wouldn't be that bad anyway and tried to leave it at that. I'll just power through it like I normally do, they thought, but they were having a hard time admitting that they dreaded embarrassing themself in front of Miles.
They arrived at the office, made their way to the file room, and got started on their work, still nervously awaiting Miles' arrival. Barely five minutes in, they heard the familiar footsteps approaching in the hallway and through the door.
"Hey," Miles said.
Niles looked up and smiled effortfully. It was all they could really do.
Miles nodded and set his bag down in his usual corner. Miles walked up to Niles' table with the stacks of files on it and started to take half the stack, glancing at Niles and silently asking if it was alright. Niles nodded, prompting Miles to continue.
Did Miles just...?
Miles took the stack and silently sat down. Did Miles just notice I was nonverbal? And make an effort not to push my limits? Niles thought. No, no, that can't be what I thought it was. Remember what you've always known, Niles. You have to accommodate yourself. Niles opened their mouth to talk, but it was harder than they expected.
Miles interrupted them. You don't need to talk, Miles signed in clunky, slow sign language. "It's okay, don't push yourself," he said aloud. Niles tilted their head, both confused and grateful for what Miles was saying. "I, well, I saw your ASL book in Starbucks the other day, and I remembered what you said about nonverbal episodes, and, well..."
Niles sprung forward to hug their friend. Miles hugged them back and Niles tried not to cry from a mix of joy and exhaustion, burrowing their face into Miles' shoulder. After a good twenty seconds, Niles softly tried to pull away but Miles pulled them in tighter.
Miles finally let them go and smiled, gesturing for them to both go to work. The pair worked silently for about ten minutes, until Niles picked up his work and went over to Miles' corner. The look on their face seemed inquisitive, as if to ask for permission to sit. Miles smiled and nodded, and Niles sat down next to their friend and leaned on him slightly for comfort while the pair finished up their work.
Thirty minutes later, Niles started to drift off into sleep, still leaning on Miles' shoulder. Miles gently shook them awake. You're tired, he signed. "Let's get you home."
• • •
The pair walked back on to campus, which wasn't far from their workplace. Niles sleepily led them through the buildings to their dorm, up the staircase, and into their room. Niles sat on their bed, barely able to keep their eyes open.
Miles smiled warmly. "Get some rest, okay?" He didn't wait for an answer and instead turned to leave.
Niles reached out and grabbed his arm. Stay, they signed.
Ten minutes later, they were cuddled together with blankets and Niles' plushie watching a pirated version of Chirin No Suzu. "This is my comfort movie," Niles whispered.
Miles just looked at them.
"Once I rest a little bit, I usually can talk again." Niles smiled at Miles. "This is just how it works for me, but some people are different. If I avoid talking I'm usually good in an hour, or so, but sometimes I'm forced to talk through it and it makes it worse. Sometimes it can even last a day or two."
"You're not a hundred percent, though, right?" Miles asked. Niles' voice was controlled, and their words seemed carefully planned out. Miles had noticed.
"No. Not quite."
"Then let's watch the movie." Miles hugged Niles closer and put his cheek on their head, making butterflies swirl in Niles' stomach. Niles leaned them both back and rested their head on Miles' chest.
By the end of the movie, Niles had peacefully fallen asleep, still leaning on Miles. Miles gently scooted out from under them, tucked them in bed, kissed them on the forehead, and quietly left the dorm.
