Jester (Man x Man) ✔

9) e y e - c a n d i e s

A month and three weeks since Benjamin had met Eli. 52 days, since Eli had tried to kill himself and Benjamin had saved his life. He felt like he had known Eli much longer than that, yet they were still only getting to know each other.

This is what Benjamin had found out about Eli: he had a taste for everything overly sweet from chocolate bars to coffee. Benjamin could never think of adding two teaspoons of sugar in his coffee.. Eli's last name was Sola and he had no known next of kin. Sometimes he was out of money and sometimes he seemed to have more than a convenience store clerk should have.

His favorite drink was Cuba Libre and he drank and smoked too much. Eli had the loudest laughter in the room and every time Benjamin heard it it filled his chest with a bubbly sense of joy. He never sat on the sofa, but at least he slept on the bed instead of the floor.

Eli was active on Instagram. He posted daily, giving away an image of a carefree and outgoing guy. Even if Eli was outgoing and spontaneous, Benjamin wasn't sure how much of that image was true. He was certain Eli had a fair deal of worries and troubles, he just refused to talk about them. 

Sometimes Benjamin, who didn't yet want to believe he'd be smitten by Eli, found himself staring at all the selfies and pictures that were taken of the hazel eyed guy. He found himself yearning for Eli's touches on his skin and the scent of his fragrance. The mere thought of Eli's bare chest and his strong tattooed arms was enough to..

"Let me guess: you haven't listened to a word I've said." Judith's voice brought Benjamin back to the present. 

"What gave me away?" He chuckled awkwardly, lifting his eyes from his phone. It was possible he had been scrolling through Eli's Instagram again.

"Um, how about.. Everything?" Judith tried to look like she was pouting, but she couldn't quite hide the excitement of something she was about to say: "When are we going to talk about that little crush of yours?"

"What crush?" Benjamin tried. He didn't have time to react before Judith had already snatched his phone. "Hey, give it back!" He cried out, reaching forward to steal the phone back.

"This crush. I have to admit, he's drop-dead gorgeous." Judith teased while she scrolled through Eli's feed. 

"I mean, just look at that eye-candy." She said and showed Benjamin a picture where Eli was sitting on a dock, wearing a loose black sleeveless shirt. His tattooed arms looked perfectly toned, sculpturelike. He had turned to look at the camera, holding a pair of sunglasses in his hand and there was a winning smile on his face. 

Tell me about it, Benjamin wanted to concur, but instead he said: "Isn't that a bit objectifying?" Then he snatched back the phone, his cheeks burning.

"If you want me to have a broader vision of him, we should have a gathering. There's this new Japanese restaurant.. What was the name..?" Judith frowned, trying to summon it back to her mind. 

"Anyway. We should all go out for dinner. Me, Miles, Jeremy Preston, you, Eye-candy and his friends." She continued then, already getting full on plotting mode.

"I'll have to ask Eli." Benjamin hesitated. 

"He'll come, if it's you asking." Judith noted, her expression showing not a hint of doubt. She took a bite from her lox bagel and munched it down with great pleasure.

"I don't know.. I'm afraid of scaring him off." Benjamin began and as Judith just glanced at him curiously, he explained: "I think Eli has a fear of commitment."

"Do you think he would cheat? Because I don't you'd be r—" Judith began, her face clouded with worry. There were some topics Benjamin rather not talked about, and she was dangerously close to getting to one of the biggest of those.