Make it clear

[Jon Phillips]

With the recent revelations in his family, his new half-sibling, and his workload of preparing for the exams at the end of that semester, Jon was feeling more overwhelmed than usual. Overwhelmed enough to make the decision to avoid caffeine in order to keep himself from worsening his nerves and overwhelmed enough that he was made to turn to one of his friends that day with a pretense of more than just a simple chat so they could catch up on the happenings in their lives. Dan was someone Jon had known for years, and someone he now worked with. The guy had been his friend through many of his problems and Jon had no reason to question whether or not he would continue to be there for him. Such a thing seemed to be given between them and this was one of the many reasons Jon felt comfortable turning to him for support in this time of need.

After his class for the day, Jon had ventured to the library and then to Daniel's office. He was unsure if his friend would be there but he knocked anyway and looked around the library to distract from how out of place he felt as he waited for his friend to answer.​

 

[Daniel Clairoux]

Daniel had been having a slow morning, and three cups of coffee later, it still felt like it was dragging on forever. Truth be told, he hadn't even noticed the time dripping by until his stomach protested it's emptiness, and caused him to leave to search for food. When he returned, he plucked a book from the shelf to have a bit of reading to hopefully distract himself from monotony. He managed to completely miss Jonathon, right up until he saw his office door and the professor standing before it. His previous complaints of boredom left very quickly and a smile grew on his face. Daniel placed the book on the closest shelf (he'd apologise to Stefan later) and wandered closer to his friend with a spring in his step.

"Hey you," he trilled happily, slipping past so he could try and pretend he had been in his office the entire time. It obviously wouldn't work, but if Jon didn't mention it, Daniel was completely happy to pretend it didn't happen. "How are you - take a seat. Want a cup?" He began pointing wildly to the seats and coffee in the office. ​

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[Jon Phillips]

"Hey." Jon greeted his old friend, smiling knowingly as he watched him attempt to slip past and enter his office undetected. He shook his head, choosing not to comment on the action as he followed Dan into the small room. As he walked into the office he held one of his hands up, declining the offer of coffee and dodging the question of how he was for the time being. "Nah, no coffee for me." He sat in one of the chairs, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees and waiting for a moment to gather his thoughts. Dan was one of his closest, oldest friends and one of the people who knew him at what had been his worst until recently. There was so much he needed to spill to his friend, and he wasn't even sure where to begin. Eventually he decided to cut to the chase, thinking it was more appropriate and practical given the fact Dan might have an appointment with a student at any minute. The last thing Jon would have wanted was to intrude on someone else's time to vent their emotions. "Do you think I should change my name?" He asked, looking from the spot on the floor his eyes were drawn to, and towards his friend as he waited for an answer.​