Closed This Is The First Day Of My Life

[Manaia Te Rangi]

One thing about leaving Hogwarts that Manaia had never expected to miss was roommates. He had hated the thought when he started school - mentally, he had compared it to what it would be like to have to share a room with Rāwhiti, which... nah. He had realised pretty quickly though that it was closer to a 24/7 slumber party with so many of his best friends. If he was ever lonely he could find René or Nolan to cheer him up, or pour his heart out to Eugene or Charlie. It had been home, especially when his parents separated. As fractured as his life felt at home, when Manaia was at Hogwarts his people had only ever been a bed or two away.

Moving out after school had been profoundly lonely in a way he never really prepared for, and if Manaia hadn't had such a social job, he thought he might have had some kind of breakdown. He had definitely never thought of himself as an extrovert, but he had gotten so used to the ambient noise of having people there, and living alone had been deeply jarring. It was a relief when he started spending more and more time with Nolan; having him around felt like a comfortable piece of the dorm life he missed, and he had always been one of Manaia's closest friends.

Over time though, that closeness was changing. Manaia wasn't even sure exactly when it had happened, but he had found his eyes lingering longer on Nolan, the other man sitting closer to him on the couch, shared smiles becoming more and more meaningful. Manaia had always flirted with his friends of course, and in a few cases it had gone beyond flirting, but this felt different. Nolan was... comfortable, he was easy, he was home, and Manaia felt more and more drawn to him with every day that passed. A few times he had almost, almost taken the step to close that gap, but every time he had felt himself pull back at the last second. He was... fairly sure Nolan felt the same, but if he ruined this friendship he... he didn't want to think about it.

But he couldn't keep his eyes off Nolan. Couldn't keep his thoughts off. The breaking point was coming, and Manaia knew he wanted to do this right. He didn't want to risk his feelings spilling out in a drunken rant at the end of a messy night - he wanted to do this right. And the right time came on a normal day, during a normal jam session. The two of them were just sitting together, letting music spill off their strings and into the air, and... something about the twist of Nolan's mouth did it. Manaia's hands trembled a little as he shifted what he was playing, moving from his own improvisation in to an old love song, one he remembered listening to at his kuia and koro's house growing up. His heart fluttered with nerves as he spoke, trying to sound nonchalant. "Bro, come closer, check this chord progression." And so I thought I'd let you know. Yeah, these things take forever, I especially am slow...

 

[Nolan Burke]

It had taken Nolan a while to adjust to life after Hogwarts. It was hard not seeing his roommates every day like he used to. They were like his support system when he was away from home, especially when it came to the issues he had with his mother while he was at school, and he still did to this day if he was being honest. He hadn't spoken to his mother in years, but he was content with where he was in life. Nolan had been working at the music store for a couple of years now, which he was happy with.

Music always had a special meaning to Nolan. It was part of his day-to-day life. Whether it was his job or making connections with his loved ones, he didn't see his life without it. Music was always with him and part of him, even if his mother couldn't see that. Speaking of music making connections, it's what had helped Nolan make friends when he was back at school; it's pretty much what had led him to the moment he was currently in.

Here he was, sitting with Manaia. They were doing their usual jam sessions, as they had always done. But this time, Nolan had felt something different. Actually, no, Scratch that, this feeling didn't feel different this time. It felt different for him for a while. A good different. He couldn't really explain what this feeling was, but he had noticed it the more time he had spent with Manaia. The more time he had spent with his former roommate, Nolan, the more he felt a certain pull each time he was near him that he couldn't really explain. But noticed things. Or, well, he noticed things he was doing himself. The stolen glances that happened more often than Nolan would've thought. He noticed the atmosphere slowly changing between the two before suddenly feeling the feeling of being pulled back, while it still lingered a little. His heart fluttered at the thought of it.

They had been jamming for a while now, sitting, like they usually did. The atmosphere felt a little different to Nolan, like it had been recently. But he tried to shake it off, thinking it was just him who was thinking it. Nolan had felt himself grinning a lot during their jam session, laughing a little from time to time, from enjoying it all. The song they had been going into was one that Nolan wasn't really familiar with, but he tried to follow suit in what Manaia had been playing. Nolan grinned and nodded at what Manaia had said, feeling his palms feel a little sweaty and his heart beating. "Sure," Nolan says softly, as he makes his way closer to Manaia, maybe a little closer than he had expected, but Nolan didn't mind, and he had hoped that Manaia didn't mind that either.

i may have gotten a little carried away with the writing.... whoops LOL

 

[Manaia Te Rangi]

Manaia was by no means blushing and innocent, he'd spent plenty of time at Hogwarts hooking up with Louis and Caleb and hadn't shied away from approaches after leaving school. Flirting had always come easily to him, but... this felt different. So different. He'd never been nervous going in for a first kiss before, but... looking into Nolan's eyes, he almost chickened out. It had never mattered before, he realised abruptly. Sure, flings with friends and strangers alike were fun, but this was different. This was another world.

But he'd made it this far, and wasn't going to chicken out now. He ignored his racing heart and leaned in, catching Nolan's lips with his own as soon as he came close enough. It was light but steady, a question rather than an insistence, the door left open for Nolan to figure out how to respond. Manaia's hands acted on autopilot, carrying on lightly plucking at the guitar even as their lips met.