The day went by rather quickly, Elijah and Esther had met the rest of Daniel's friends, one of them, Deirdre, seemed to have gotten along well with Esther. Elijah preferred hanging out with Aaron, he was much quieter than the others and had a lot in common with Elijah.
"Hey, Esther,"
Esther turned her head, "Yeah?"
"Do you wanna go to that shop I was talking about in the morning?"
"Oh! Yeah of course, I'd rather do anything else than see her."
Someone put their arms around Elijah's and Esther's shoulders.
"Go where?"
Elijah's body tensed up and became as stiff as a rock, he turned his head,"Daniel..could you take your arms off of me.?"
Daniel put his arms back to his side,
"Oh, sorry."
"It's alright.."
"Hey where are you guys going?!"
The three looked behind them, it was James, and behind him, four other people.
"Ah right, we were going to hang out Elijah! I forgot to tell you!"
"…" A face of pure shock ran across Elijah's face.
Daniel waved his hand in front of Elijah's eyes which remained unblinking, he called out, "Elijah?"
"Can't go, we're busy."
Esther nodded frantically, immediately covering for her brother, "Yup! Don't forget Uncle Ben is coming over with his kids! Need to, er, childproof the house!"
A small genuine frown crossed Daniel's face, "Oh.. that's alright.."
Elijah immediately felt guilty after seeing the frown cross Daniel's face, reluctantly, he spoke up, "Er, I guess I could tell my teacher that I won't be able to come…"
Esther looked at her brother, a small look of realisation crossed her face, she added, "I guess Alex can help Ma and Dad around the house..I mean, he is old enough now.."
Daniels face lit up in an instant,
"Thank God! Okay, so there's this new noodle house, do ye all wanna go there?"
Samuel, looking up from his phone, replied "Sure, don't see why not."
Aaron grumbled something about how they could've just ordered instead, making Deirdre laugh quietly.
* * *
When they reached the restaurant, they gave their orders and found a good booth to sit in.
James suddenly asked something.
"Hey, Elijah? I don't want to sound rude or come off that way, but why do you wear headphones? Is it like for aesthetics or what?"
Elijah's body slightly jerked up, he looked away slightly, "It's not like, a thing,"
His fingers circled around the padding of the headphones, "It's just my ears are sensitive and there's this constant ringing in my ears. The headphones just make it bearable.."
James' eyes widened, "Oh, sorry if that was rude of me to ask.."
"No, it's fine, it's just that I'm not used to people asking.."
Daniel didn't say anything straight away, he just nodded.
After a moment he quietly said, "If you ever need help," he paused, "just tell me."
Elijah looked away and adjusted his headphones,
"I don't —," he stopped,
"I'll be fine.."
After a second he added,
"But.. thanks.."
The waiter appeared holding a tray of noodles, "Here you are! Three udons, two ramens, one soba, one pad thai, and one
chow mein!"
The waiter handed the bowls one by one to Daniel who then handed it over to the group.
Samuel, James, and Eijah had ordered the udon, Esther and Daniel had the ramen, Mary had soba, Aaron had pad thai, and Deirdre had gotten the chow mein.
Samuel took a bite out of his udon and spoke, "So Elijah, you got any hobbies?"
Elijah slightly stiffened up, his eyes flicked to Esther, and then to Daniel, and then back to his bowl. "I..do taekwando.."
Samuel nodded, a small 'ah ' sound escaped his mouth.
James smiled and loudly said, "I do taekwando too! We should have a match one day!"
Elijah froze, adjusted his headphones once more and looked away, "Ah, no, I don't do taekwondo competitively — it's just for fun…"
"Oh.. that's fine! But we should at least train together you know?"
"Sure.. but I'm not all that good.."
"That's fine! I can give you tips!"
* * *
The conversation thinned out as everyone was finishing their bowls, the atmosphere in the booth softened, there was less talking and more small movements.
Elijah gently touched his knuckles with his other hand. There were small moments where his eyes would silently drift to Daniel but then back to his hands just as quickly.
Samuel had spoke up and said how it would be good if they started leaving, complaining about missing homework assignments from the previous term. No one had disagreed, so they decided to split the bill and leave.
Jackets were put on, bags were off the floor, and the bowls were put near the edge of the table, but not too near that it would fall off.
Everyone started leaving the noodle house except for Esther who waited for Elijah as he adjusted his headphones once more.
A small wince sound came out of Elijah's mouth, a small look of worry crossed Esther's face.
"Are you alright?"
Elijah glanced at her and then back to what was in front of him, "Yeah, it's nothing, I'm fine."
Esther did not believe him one bit, but decided not to say anything.
The two quickly met up with the group who were loosely clustered out by the street, not exactly ready to leave just yet.
Elijah stood slightly outward from the group, more so listened than speaking.
Daniel looked at Elijah, a soft smile spread across his cheeks, "Ah, Elijah, what's your number? Just before we leave."
"Oh."
He hesitated, just for a second,
"Yeah — Okay."
Daniel took his phone from his pocket and held it out towards Elijah,
"Here."
Elijah reached for his own phone, he then took the phone from Daniel's hand and gave Daniel his.
Elijah typed, calmly, but still a bit hesitant, like he didn't want to mess up.
As they exchanged their phones back, their fingers slightly brushed.
Elijah shoved his phone into his pocket along with his hands.
Samuel looked at his watch, "'Kay, me and James are gonna head that way then. Cya at school!" The two boys started heading out.
Daniel shouted out after them, waving his hand, "See you!"
Samuel nodded and James waved goodbye back.
Aaron spoke without looking up from his phone "My mom's gonna collect me — We've gotta go to my aunts house so.."
Deirdre added, "I'm walking, but ye already know my house is the other way!"
Daniel said he understood and waved goodbye yet again.
Esther pointed towards a direction, "We're going that way, so.." Elijah nodded as he adjusted his bags strap.
Daniel smiled softly, "I'm going there too," he paused for a small second, "We could walk together if you like?"
Elijah blinked, slightly caught off guard.
"Oh."
He hesitated for a second before Esther replied, "Yeah. Sure."
He hesitated for a second before Esther replied, "Yeah. Sure."
* * *
The noise of the restaurant faded as they walked away, the car that Aaron had gotten into was also gone by then.
Elijah walked by Esther at first, keeping his hands in the pockets of his jacket and his gaze straight ahead.
For a moment, no one really spoke. Not awkwardly, but unfamiliar.
Daniel sub-consciously drifted slightly closer to Elijah, but not enough to notice.
"It's cooler out here." Daniel spoke as he glanced around his surroundings.
"Yeah, it really is," Esther replied "Better than being inside."
Elijah nodded faintly,
"..It is."
Say something else.
What if I say something wrong?
He didn't say anything.
Daniel glanced over,
"Your jacket's unzipped."
Elijah looked down, he really hadn't noticed.
He fumbled with the zipper for a second and then pulled it up properly.
"Thanks.."
"No problem."
It was a small thing, but Elijah couldn't help but think of how Daniel noticed that.
He adjusted the volume of his headphones, bringing it to a lower level, not as stiff as usual.
They kept walking.
Esther started talking about something, probably school, but Elijah only caught parts of it.
Not because he wasn't listening.
But because he was aware.
Of Daniel walking beside him.
Of how easy it felt to answer when he spoke.
"Do you still draw?" Daniel asked after a moment, glancing at him.
Elijah looked up, a little surprised.
"…Sometimes."
"Still the same kind of stuff?"
"…Mostly."
That was faster than when he replied to the others.
_That was normal. That's okay._
_Right?_
Daniel didn't react like it was anything unusual.
He just nodded.
"Nice."
Simple.
Elijah exhaled quietly.
_He wouldn't have asked me to walk with him if he minded._
A small pause.
_…Probably._
He looked ahead again, shoulders relaxing just slightly.
The conversation shifted back to Esther, something light and easy.
Elijah didn't say much after that.
But he stayed close.
And this time—
it didn't feel like he was forcing himself to.
* * *
When they had reached the street, Daniel gestured towards a different direction, "I gotta go that way."
Elijah nodded, "We're going that way."
Daniel opened his mouth for a second but closed it quickly.
Daniel shifted slightly, glancing at Elijah before speaking.
"Could you bring your sketchbook tomorrow?" he asked, "I kinda want to see."
Elijah hesitated.
Not for long, but enough.
"…It's nothing special."
Daniel shrugged lightly.
"That's fine," he said, a small smile appearing, "I still want to see it."
Elijah looked away slightly, adjusting his sleeve.
"…Alright."
Daniel's smile softened a little.
"Cool."
A small pause settled between them.
"…Don't expect much," Elijah added quietly.
Daniel huffed a quiet laugh.
"I won't."
A beat.
"…But I think it'll be good."
Elijah didn't say anything, but gave a small nod.
And that was that.