All the Beautiful Things

XI

"SOCIETY CAN EAT it's own ass," Casper said over Skype at approximately two thirty seven in the morning. Calum, who was enjoying the dramatic compliments of If I Stay with silent tears streaming down his cheeks, paused his viewing for a moment just to give his Hispanic friend a look of concern.

"Well... I mean... I guess so?" He replied, unsure of what to say in a situation like this. He was not one to use this kind of language or related analogies, so he was more or less lost inside Casper's twisted logic. Of course, being the supportive best friend he strived to be, the boy was more than ready to understand the words coming from his friend's mouth.

There was silence on both sides of the Skype screen, Calum due to confusion, and Casper due to sudden realization that the word selection he used was not the one typically practiced in the presence of the younger boy. "Woops" was the only word going through his mind. "Casper you're disgusting, yet I agree!" Mali shouted from a room nearby, that Calum could not see because of the computer's limited projection.

It was only two thirty in the afternoon in Casper's location, but in the morning for Calum, so it was no real surprise when he blushed at his sister's words, then immediately changed the subject by saying "you look like you haven't slept in a decade" to his brown haired friend.

This was how Calum ended up falling off the couch in excitement, wanting to show his favorite person the project he had been working on. It had taken one poster board, fifty colored Sharpie markers, and hours of dedication on Cal's part to make. Ronan obviously did not care about it, so he didn't even bother trying to show him, and he couldn't bring it to Everest's attention quite yet, so Casper was the best option provided.

See, Calum often went overboard on his projects and proposals when they involved people other than him. It brought joy to his life, though most things did as well, so it was not much of a comparison. Something about putting time and dedication into a project and seeing the result inside a fellow person's facial features inspired Calum to work with everyone and do even more amazing things. In a way, the annoying boy who could never seem to stop talking had impacted everyone's life in a way, only nobody knew it yet.

People were his project, yet they were also the oblivious test subjects.

"Okay Cal, show me this masterpiece," Casper grinned knowingly, rubbing his hands together and silently gaping in awe at the heat it created, unaware that such a thing could happen. He was more or less excited to see the other boy's project, simply because part of what made Calum, well, Calum, was his extravagant attention to detail in whatever he was working on. He loved seeing his best friend in host truest, most pure form: creating.

Grinning, Calum ran a hand through his dark hair and looked at the pixelated image of his friend through the screen. A pang of sadness at his distance from him battled the barricades in front of his brain, but that was not the topic of the night's conversation, so the war waged silently, inside of his colorful mind, while on the outside, the brunette calmly unraveled the poster board like it was a scroll and held it up for Casper's black eyes to take in.

"This," Calum began to explain, pointing to the very top of the board. "Is the color chart! I made it for Everest, so we can keep track of all the colors and emotions he learns how to figure out and avoid any and all confusion. I thought he might like it just in case he forgets something and needs to remember. Of course, I personally think it would be rather insane to forget something so monumental, but in don't judge! I don't forget anything though. My memory isn't photographic, but it might as well be because I remember everything. It's one of those things that's a blessing and a curse, you know? Cause some things in would rather forget than remember but I just can't because my brain won't recycle them," he said quickly, shaking his head back and forth repeatedly while he spoke, simply because his hands were too occupied by the large poster board to take part in the wild hand gestures he typically used in his rambling situations.