All The Ways We Touch [BxB]

fifty-three - tears from a god pt. one

After getting up shortly after sunrise, sitting on the rock in the sun for hours, and hiking for three more, Elliot was beyond exhausted and bordering on cranky. Despite that, he was adamant about not taking a nap and instead had brought his notebook outside to copy his notes while Jamison worked on a drawing. Rereading them helped him memorize the content well enough for a regular test but an important test was quickly approaching, and with this being worth forty percent of his Advanced Economics grade, he wasn't going to take any chances. So, he turned to copying his notes, something that helped him to retain and understand more complex definitions, theories, and concepts. They say the true test of knowing something is if you can successfully explain it to someone else, and copying his notes meant that Elliot would be proficient in his understanding to a degree where he could tutor someone else. However, being as tired as he was, the information wasn't sticking as easily as normal, and so his mind wandered back over to Jamison, who was hunched over his notebook, making delicate motions with his pencil, just lightly brushing it across the page.

"I can feel you staring."

"Oh, come on, Jam," Elliot whined. "Just let me see it."

Shaking his head, Jamison carefully closed his notebook and set his pencil atop it. "Like I said back there, not until it's finished."

"I posed on that rock for like two hours," he mumbled, rubbing one of his wrists. "I should at least get to see what I hurt my wrists for."

"You will," Jamison assured, glancing over at Elliot. Maybe it was unnecessary to have had him sit in that position for so long, but he looked like a statue, defined, smooth, and infinitely admirable—which Jamison had trouble denying himself. "When I'm done with it, I promise."

"I just don't see what the big deal is," he grumbled, rubbing his eyes with his palms as he stifled the urge to yawn. "You know I'm not going to criticize it, right?"

"Consider that it's not about your feelings." Frowning, Jamison reached over and gently squeezed his arm. "Take a nap, Elli. You look like you're gonna pass out."

"I'm fine." Looking back down at his notes, he realized that he hadn't retained any of it, but it still didn't sway his resolve to stay awake. "I'll be fine."

It took effort to hold back an eye roll, but Jamison didn't let his mild annoyance show. It was more than obvious that he wasn't going to relent while he was awake. "Let's go nap together."

Shaking his head, Elliot picked his pen back up and began to copy the same paragraph. "We're not gonna sleep the day away," he said. "I may be a spoiled brat, but I'm not that selfish."

"What if we go inside? You can nap and I'll just hang out and draw on the couch."

"Trapping you inside also defeats the purpose of being here," he sighed, continuing to rewrite his notes as if it were just a fluke that the definitions hadn't stuck before. "Just drop it, please."

Fine, if Elliot wanted to be too stubborn to sleep, then so be it, but he wouldn't let that stop him from doing what he wanted. "I'm going to go on a run," he said, standing up and grabbing his notebook. "On the nature trail. It'll be really useful. Stress relief, you know, and it'll help recharge my creative juices." He had no doubt that Elliot would give him pushback, but if he could lay out a case as to why it would be worse if he didn't go, Elliot would likely relent.

It was a completely reasonable desire, one that Elliot had even planned for, but with how tired he was, he worried that his preparation wouldn't be enough, so there was only one way to guarantee that he wouldn't fall asleep once he was gone. "Okay," he said, his voice breezier than he truly felt, "I'll come with you."