💎A Collision of Fates💎 (Straight to Gay) (MxM) (18+)

23 - Adam

Life became a flurry.

It was hard to even think about the growing back-jewel, or the dying Goddess. All he could think about was Calculations.

Fucking CALCULATIONS!

It was his worst class by far. Herbonomics, World History, and Mechanics were relatively easier, he wasn't having as much trouble with them.

Part of the problem was that he could barely stay awake during that class. Master Inman had none of the charm and passion of Master Lyle, and none of the nerdy eagerness of Master Yelk. He was old, very old, and had been teaching Calculations for a long time. He droned on for those three hours, making unintelligible scribbles on a board. Adam had a hard time not falling asleep.

The other problem was that the actual content was impossible. But Landel seemed to be determined to help him. They spent all their evenings together in the library, Landel helping Adam with his Calculations studying. But Landel divided his time, some of it was Calculations, some of it was researching the crystal veins and the dying Goddess. That work never stopped for Landel.

Adam had picked up a little bit of it. The Prince read to him sometimes and, other times, would tell him what he had found. Apparently, there were many old mingot mines that had shut down because of crystal vein discoveries. The miners had been forced to leave because of Sesstria's strict rules about access to the Goddess, but, after that, there was no mention of the old mines. Landel told Adam that he was worried they had fallen into disrepair and ruin, easy targets for The Shadow Knight and whoever else wanted to drain the Goddess.

Still, though, Adam had to keep his mind on Calculations. Always MOTHERFUCKING CALCULATIONS. The terms end was coming fast, and, with it, the final exams in all four of the classes.

So, yeah, Adam spent a lot of time with Landel. It wasn't just that, though, it wasn't just the studying that was binding them together. Adam had to admit that he was having a great time with Landel. He was one of his best friends now, and they were able to talk and laugh and joke like they had known each other for their entire lives.

He remembered that moment on the balcony, when the Prince had grabbed his hand. It had felt... right. Warm.

It had felt fucking weird.

And that wasn't the only moment like that. They only became more frequent, the two of them would be in the library and share a weird look, or Landel would brush up against Adam in the hallway, or Adam would catch Landel with his shirt off in their room. It was fucking strange. They were best friends, but there was something odd happening, a weird tension. Adam wasn't really sure what it was.

Chris and Vinton didn't seem to mind how Adam and Landel were spending all their time in the library, they were spending all of their free time in the panae courts, or going for runs, or just dicking around like a bunch of kids. Adam was a little jealous that Chris was able to absorb the material so easily, but, then again, that was nothing knew. He had always been a natural.

On the breaks, they usually went back to Sesstria to see their dads. But, as the weeks progressed, it started to feel like Nick and Mark missed them less and less. Mark was busy working for Esteck, he had almost become a financial advisor to the man. And Nick was really loving his swordfighting lessons. One weekend, his dad had showed him what he had been learning, and Adam was definitely impressed. Nick spun around, swinging the sword in careful arcs, sparring against Kullver and Breck, meeting the other men's thrusts and swings. He had been learning a lot.

The pain in his and Chris's back got better. Adam found that the throbbing twinge turned into more of a warmth. It didn't sting, so much as it bloomed every so often. Their dads, by their accounts, were also feeling better, which was good. But, that still meant that the back-jewels had finished growing.