Misc RH OC Scraps

[REDSTONE] The Longest Hug Known to Man

Jules looked up at the sound of the studio door opening, expecting, perhaps, the ceramics instructor or another sculpture focus student— but glad nonetheless to be surprised at the sight of his boyfriend, Maxx Berrymore, entering the room.

"Mon amour," he grinned, quickly wiping his clay-covered hands on a damp towel, "what are you up to?"

Maxx, with pink cheeks, held up a fast food bag. "Making sure you eat today. I got us Chinese." Jules cleared off a section of his work table and Maxx deconstructed the bag so they had a sort of tablecloth keeping the food away from any clay or plaster dust. By the time Jules had covered his work so it wouldn't dry out, washed his hands, and prayed over his portion of the food, Maxx was halfway through his.

Jules hummed happily (but tunelessly) as he opened the Chinese takeout container to see it was his favorite menu item. It was so thoughtful and sweet of Maxx to surprise him like this; he was so grateful for his boyfriend.

"You know, I DID eat lunch. I'm not completely hopeless," he said lightly as he tucked into his dinner. Maxx snorted sarcastically.

"Wow, that'll show me. How stupid was I to care?"

"Pretty stupid. Everyone knows you only need one meal per day. And nobody wants their loved ones to love them back, that's gross and mushy."

"Yeah, that'd be gay." They used their free hands to reach across and casually entwine their fingers on the table. There was a pause as they continued to eat. Maxx glanced at the covered project. "So—" he swallowed— "what are you sculpting now?"

"Same thing I've been sculpting for the past week. It's gonna be my final project." Jules's grip on Maxx's hand tightened nervously. "I'm not progressing as fast as I want to. I mean, this thing is gonna be the deciding factor on if I graduate or not, you know?"

"Oh, I know," Maxx grimaced, his mind flashing back to his own final project, which he was ignoring purposefully at the moment. "Come on, all your grades are As. As if you'd fumble on the last step. You'll graduate just fine."

Jules half-smiled. "Yeah... Then it's back to Wendake."

Maxx paused for a second. "Oh, right. You're here on a student visa."

"Heh! Don't tell me you forgot I'm not American."

"I didn't forget, I just... didn't think about it." The room suddenly felt colder as the boys sunk into silence. Unasked questions made the air thick with tension. It seemed to Jules that they were approaching a tipping point where if they didn't really want it, their relationship would naturally fall apart. That made his stomach twist up in knots. Maybe the reason he wasn't making progress on his sculpture was just that somewhere deep in his mind, he thought if he prolonged this project, he could stay. But that wasn't true. And if Maxx didn't want to address the distance issue and they just operated the way they had for the summer break before, then...

"You know the jewelry shop I intern at?" He had intended to let Maxx speak first, but the words slipped out. He wanted to test the waters.

Maxx sounded surprised. "Uh, yeah, it takes up your afternoons on weekdays?"

"Yeah. The boss was saying he could use someone who takes custom orders for the shop, and he offered to file a petition for, uh, a work visa. If I wanted to stay in the states a bit longer. I– it would take a little while for the visa to be approved and I might have to go back to Canada for a few months, so it's back to Wendake either way, but it's a... possible route."

Maxx tilted his head and kept his hands busy by gathering up the trash from their takeout meal. "And you want to stay in the states?"

"Sorrel will still be in school."