Open Lost in Work

[Eugene Nestor]

Eugene had a lot to do that evening, he was responsible for all the pictures for him and Ajax of the yuleball, which just put a lot of pressure on him to make sure he did this right. He had turned up at the celebration right when it was beginning, and he knew that Charlie would be here soon enough and he'd be able to meet up with him. He was looking forward to spending some of the dance with his buddy. He wouldn't be heading home, but he knew Charlie would probably still be going via his cousin if he was. Eugene got lost in the work of taking the pictures he barely noticed the time passing. He knew that Charlie would arrive and interrupt his work, at which point he would take a break and they would be able to hang out, dance and get some snacks. ​

 

[Charlie Helkovaara]

Charlie hadn't bothered trying to dress up for the ball. He'd considered it, but honestly he was still a little bummed that things hadn't been working well with Bern. He wasn't quite on time, having been dragging his feet. Eventually though he wandered in and found his way to Eugene. "Whatcha doin?" He asked casually, his hands stuffed in his pockets.

 

[Eugene Nestor]

Eugene waved at Charlie as he spotted him. He spotted that Charlie wasn't one to be too dressed up, which suited Eugene just fine who also didn't dress up, but mostly because suits tended to be quite expensive. "Just taking picture, Ajax is relying on me!" Eugene said with a broad smile. "How are you?" he grinned at his friend. "You wanna dance or get some snacks?" ​

 

[Charlie Helkovaara]

Charlie tilted his head. "Ajax?" He asked. He thought of the Deadpool movie but pushed the thought aside. His dad would kill him if he knew that Charlie had snuck into the theatres to watch that. He shrugged at the question, ignoring the first in favor of the second. "Why don't we start with snacks?" He asked.

 

[Eugene Nestor]

Eugene nodded, "Ajaccio, the editor of Accio, the guy I'll be replacing come next year. His friends call him Ajax," he said, there was a hint of pride and a lot of nervousness in his tone. He knew it would be a lot of work and pressure and he hoped he'd be able to be up to the challenge. He raised a slightly eyebrow at Charlie ignoring his question. "Don't think I didn't notice that bro, but yesss snacks!" he immediately began moving over to the snacks table. ​

 

[Charlie Helkovaara]

Charlie stopped, surprised. "Wait, whoa, back up. You're taking over Accio?" He blinked, before breaking into a bright smile. "Dude! You can't just drop that and walk away!" Charlie hurried after his friend. "That's super impressive!" He caught up quickly. "When were you going to mention this?" He asked, nudging Eugene's arm with his own.

 

[Eugene Nestor]

Eugene glanced at his friend and gave a little awkward laugh. "Oh, yeah," he hadn't mentioned it between everything else, there just hadn't been the time for it. He was also feeling quite nervous for it, since it would be a big job. "Oh it's not that impressive, it's just pictures," he tried to downplay it, suddenly getting a little shy around all the compliments. It wasn't like his music, he knew he was good at that, could easily take the compliments, but his photography, the work on Accio, that was just.....that was different. "It didn't seem that important to mention....," Eugene gave a little grin and a little shy shrug. "it's just pictures...," ​

 

[Charlie Helkovaara]

Charlie raised a brow and moved to stand in front of Eugene, his hands on his hips. "Excuse me? What?" He shook his head. "Eugene! No! You've accomplished something great! And we're going to have a party in the dorm later to celebrate it! You can literally not talk me out of this." He smiled widely. "I am so proud of you. And you should be proud too!"

 

[Eugene Nestor]

Eugene smiled shyly at Charlie's words. He really didn't think it was that much or too big to celebrate. "Okay, but I'm going to be here pretty late....don't stay up too late with it," Eugene smiled, he didn't want the boys to be up too later after the dance, he was pretty sure at least Rene was here with a date, he might not want to spend time celebrating something afterwards. "Thanks Charlie, it's crazy, it started just as a hobby, and like now if music doesn't work out....then I've got a back up.." he finally said, since he was actually proud. Eugene's voice faltered somewhat as he said it. Since for a moment his mind cast back to his mum. He pushed it away, and just smiled back at Charlie. "Come on, we were getting snacks,"​

 

[Charlie Helkovaara]

Charlie scoffed. "I didn't say I was doing it tonight. I'm not a miracle worker." He laughed, listening as Eugene doubted his music. "Oh please, you're going to be a famous musician that can take his own candid photos," He winked playfully, moving to follow Eugene to the snack table. "I was actually thinking of going to like a music school or something once we graduate here, would you wanna go too?" He asked, though he got the feeling Eugene would want to go a different path with things.

 

[Eugene Nestor]

Eugene laughed lightly. "Maybe not a famous musician, but a musician," he didn't need to be famous, he just wanted to be able to play his music. He would be happy doing just that. He thought it was cool that Charlie wanted to go to music school. "Wow, that's cool," he thought music school would be cool, but it would be so expensive. "Don't really have that kind of money," he told him with an honest tone and a little shrug, "Plus, I think music school wouldn't really help me, but it's really cool for you to do that bro," he told him honestly. He grabbed a cookie and began eating it. ​

 

[Charlie Helkovaara]

Charlie listened to Eugene, picking up a cupcake of his own and nibbling it. "We could figure out the money," He scolded Eugene. "But if you don't want to do it then we won't." He shrugged. He nibbled on his cupcake, moving over to grab a drink. "Honestly for a minute I was debating between music school and being a journalist like my dad. But I think that's his thing, honestly, I just do it because I want him to be proud of me." He admitted, blushing a bit and shrugging.

 

[Eugene Nestor]

Eugene felt a pang of jealousy course through him in moment Charlie said they could figure out the money, as if it would be easy. He loved his friend, but he didn't get the impression the boy understood or had the same relationship to money as he did. Eugene couldn't imagine and didn't want to imagine Charlie having grown up like he had with still very little money or as his cousin now did working to be able to study. he just ate his snack gladly and nodded. "I think your dad is proud of you and proud of you regardless of your path," Eugene said, and he was sure if given the opportunity Charlie's dad would tell him as much. He took another bite of his food. "I'm proud of you Charlie, you took to that violin like a duck to water, you're very clearly gifted. And your writing is great too, you don't have to pick between the two yet," his tone was honest and sincere, given that if Charlie's father didn't want to say it then he would. ​

 

[Charlie Helkovaara]

Charlie blushed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Dude, you're making me blush," he laughed lightly and took a big sip of his drink. "Alright, we're proud of each other. Why don't we grab some snacks and go lounge at one of the tables for a bit, watch the dance?" He asked. He was about to say more when he saw something out of the corner of his eye. He turned to look, and spotted Parker kissing a girl. Charlie's smile faltered and there was an odd little twist to is heart. He didn't know Parker was seeing anyone.

 

[Eugene Nestor]

Eugene gave a little smile and then nodded eagerly. "YES, my dude, my feet are kinda killing me," he exclaimed, he'd been on them for a lot of the day before this and then even more so during the ball, where he'd not sat down in hours. He spotted Charlie glancing at something and looked in that direction, "Oh look at that, Parker's kissing the new girl," Eugene said, almost with a little pride, since he liked Parker and that clearly was a date going well. "Come on dude, let's sit," he said turning back to Charlie. ​

 

[Charlie Helkovaara]

Charlie shook it off, turning back to smile at Eugene. He moved to the snack table to fill his plate and grab a drink, before walking over to an open table and sitting down. He pushed down his uncertainty about Parker kissing someone else. Of course Parker would be, why shouldn't he? Charlie had always known that they were friends, that Parker had his back but wasn't interested in more. Charlie fiddled with his snacks, and when he heard Eugene sit down, he spoke. "Hey... can I ask you something?"

 

[Eugene Nestor]

Eugene grabbed a last few things before moving to a table and sitting down. He immediately sat cross legged on the chair, getting his feet up off the ground. He took a sip of his drink and ate a snack before looking back to Charlie. "Yeah bud, any time," he replied, since of course as friends he did believe they should be able to ask each other anything at any time. ​

 

[Charlie Helkovaara]

Charlie hesitated, playing a bit with his drink. "I, ah... is it... dumb that I'm kinda jealous?" He managed nervously, peeking back to Parker on the dance floor. "Parker... we're good friends, y'know, and honestly... I kinda had a thing for him, but... he never seemed to notice me that way and I didn't want to mess it up..." Charlie sighed, shaking his head and sipping his drink. "Then Bern was charming and I thought... but we both know how that turned out," Charlie sighed, resting his cheek against his fist and pouting. "Maybe I'm just not cute enough or something..." he grumbled.