"Hey, mind if I sit here?" I asked, sliding into the seat before the wolf in front of me could answer. He glanced up, his fawn-colored eyes meeting mine for a split second before looking back down at his sketchbook.
"Sure," he mumbled, his voice soft and quiet; it felt direct and dry, but not unfriendly. He shifted slightly, putting more space between us. I caught a glimpse of his drawings from the corner of my eye. It was a detailed sketch of Silberplatt Park; you could even see the emotions of the background characters from their facial features alone. Even the most minute details had intense detail on them. It was good, like, really good.
"Woah, did you draw that?" I asked, leaning closer to him. He stiffened, his shoulders going up, and his ears pressed down on his head, in that moment I realized I'd invade his personal space. "Sorry, didn't mean to-"
"It's fine," he interrupted, closing the sketchbook and sliding it into his backpack. His tail was tucked between the legs of the chair, I'd just noticed the darker streaks in his fur, they looked like shadows out of a manga, like the harsh chicken scratches of a shonen. "It's just... something I do to pass the time."
"Well, that's really cool! I-I think," I replied, I tilted my head to the side. The wolf looked back at me, his eyes were focused on my mouth. "The name's Ilhan, by the way," I stretched my hand out and smiled at the wolf.
"I'm Tao... uh- Tao Steele," he said simply.
Before I could say anything else, the professor began his lecture, and I reluctantly turned my attention to the front of the classroom. But I couldn't help but sneak glances at Tao throughout the class. He was quiet, barely saying a word from our short interaction, but there was something about him that intrigued me.
He doodled in the margins of his notebook, he didn't limit himself to plain drawings, I saw him solve integrals, while he was also taking notes. Seriously, how does one even multitask like that!? He seemed to shrink into himself whenever someone looked his way. Whatever it was, I wanted, no, I needed to know more.
What did he say his name was? Tao... St... Steele? Yeah I'm sure it was Tao Steele. Steele... The name replayed in Ilhan's mind over and over like an echo that wouldn't give up. Steele!? That's such a cool last name! And it fits him like a luxurious ring, reflects the way his fur had looked in the sunlight when I say him in the park. It was the glow of steel. If only his personality was as bright as it. He seems so quiet, I'm afraid of scaring him away. I don't wanna pressure him with my prescense, scaring someone I had just met from my attitude... it's fine! I just need to tone down my energy.
I fidgeted with my pen as I thought of ways of talking with him, without scaring him off. I tore a small corner off my notebook and began writing on it.
-Hay, da teacher looks like that engeeneer from Big Bang Teory- I wrote on the tiny piece of paper, as I discretely slid it into Tao's vision.
He examined it, I avoided looking directly at him, but from my rear view, I could notice he had a face of concern, with a raised eye brow, and an open maw. He began writing on the paper, sliding it back to me.
-'Hay' <- "Hey" with an "e", 'da' <- "The", 'engeeneer' <- "Engineer", the 'i' makes the 'e' sound in here, 'Teory' <- "Theory", 'th' sound please. But yes, he does kind of look like him.-
I giggled as I read the paper, I acted in instinct and whispered, with a more calm tone, and slower pace, "Is my writing really that bad?" I asked, with a rising tone as I tried not to giggle louder.
"It's horri- h-... horrible" the wolf said, he took a deep breath before finally saying the word. His ears flattened, in a sort of discrete embarrassment.
I looked back at my notebook for a moment, giving Tao his own space, before remembering, I jumped in my seat and looked back at the wolf quickly. "I completely forgot, my full name is Ilhan Tılıç."
He raised a ear in confusion, after all, my last name was foreign to most, I flipped our piece of paper and wrote -Tılıç- on it, and showed it to the wolf.
"Where's the do- the dot on the 'i'?" He asked, as he looked up at me.
"Oh, it's a Turkish letter, it makes the /ɪ/ sound like in 'bit',"
I could hear Tao repeat the word "bit" under his breath as he went back to focusing on the lecture. It was a boring lecture. The teacher talked and talked about the most obvious things, over and over and over. It was redundant at best. For 10 minutes he spoke about social mannerisms in different animal groups. I felt my head's weight increase, my neck giving out with each passing moment, as well as my eyelids that felt heavy and had begun closing on their own.
I glanced at my side and found Tao dead asleep. His ears were high and pointy but his calm breathing, along with his silent snoring, betrayed him.
Before I could catch a minute of sleep, the teacher began wrapping the lecture up.
"As your first assignment, I want you to make a team with the person next to you. Get to know each other, and get along. They'll be your teammate for the rest of the semester."
I looked to my side and found Tao, already staring at me. "You te- wanna team, with me?" he asked.
"Yeah, sure, let's team up!" I replied, as I slung my backpack over my shoulder and stood up from my chair, stretching my back, my arms and my neck, letting out a sigh of relief, relief from these uncomfortable chairs.
"Give your phoooone number, please." Tao pulled out his phone, it had a transparent casing with tiny sketches below it.
I pulled out my phone too, my casing was heavy, I had a really bad history with taking care of my electronic devices, so my dad bought me this casing that could make my phone survive even a two story fall. "It's 514-067".
Tao typed the number out on his phone. "I've added you to my contacts... I'll s-send you a message. This afternoon."
"Great! so uhm... What's your next class?"
His ears perked up and his tail's fur seemed to stand up in surprise, probably someone that wasn't used to people caring about his time. "It's a-ar, uhm... art hi-history." He said after a long pause.
"Ohh, that sounds nice! I've got Handball Practice," I said. "Hey, if you ever wanna go grab some coffee or something, just let me know. I'm usually at the Eichelcafe between classes."
He blinked, his ears twitching again. "Oh. Uh, sure... Maybe."
I was unsure if he was just being polite or actually considering it, but I decided to take it as a win. "Cool! See you around, Tao!"
As I walked out of the classroom, I couldn't help smiling.
Sure, he was a little awkward, he was awfully quiet, and his speech fluency left a lot to be desired, but there was something about him that made me want to keep chatting. Maybe it was the way he seemed so genuine at all times, unlike most people who hide behind a mask around others. He didn't mind hiding himself, or at least from what I could tell. I had a feeling this wasn't the last time we'd cross paths.
As I walked down the hallway, my mind kept drifting back to Tao. There was something about him, despite his genuinity, he had a mysterious aura around him, I wanted to know more, about his hobbies, interests, his life. I couldn't put my finger on what exactly made me gravitate towards him, but I was determined to figure it out.
I pulled out my cellphone and texted Adina.
Her reply was almost immediate.
I rolled my eyes but couldn't help grinning like an idiot. Adina always knew how to get under my skin, but she wasn't wrong. He was the type of person I'd befriend, I always tend to gravitate towards introverts.
The rest of my day was already set in stone, I needed to get to my first handball practice. But God, how will I concentrate if my mind is full of Steele.