Chapter 827: ASTRID IN A GOOD MOOD
ASTRID walked across the campus with a bounce in his step that had not been there before. He was smiling more than usual, almost like he was holding back a grin. Students passing by greeted him, and he greeted them back with a smile even wider than usual. A few of them blushed at the sight. A soft tune left his lips as he walked. He didn’t even notice he was doing it.
His mind was still on last night. He thought about Wulfric’s face when he asked if they should make it official, how his eyes had gone wide and his mouth had fallen open. He thought about how Wulfric had grabbed him like he was afraid he would disappear, arms locked tight around his back, holding on like he never planned to let go. The memory made him want to laugh and melt at the same time.
So when he woke up that morning, he was in an unusually good mood. The kind that made him want to whistle while cooking and smile at his own reflection in the bathroom mirror. Nothing had changed in his life, except for him and Wulfric being officially in a relationship. But somehow, that small change made his world felt a little brighter.
If someone had told Astrid a week ago that he and Wulfric would finally be in a relationship by now, he would have laughed. Not because he thought it was funny, but because he would not have believed it. It was not something he had planned. The idea had not even crossed his mind when they set up that movie date. If Wulfric had not asked him that question, things probably would have stayed the same for who knew how long. Astrid was glad he asked, though. Because honestly? He probably would not have thought to bring it up anytime soon. And that would not have been fair to Wulfric.
The fact that they had been acting like more than friends for a while now, even before the kissing started, should have pushed their relationship to the next level a long time ago. But his mind just had not gone there. Not yet, at least. His body had clearly been ready. He had no problem touching Wulfric or letting Wulfric touch him. That should have been a sign. He just had not stopped to think about it. Mostly because he was too busy with work to really consider where their relationship stood.
Although, if he had just paused and taken the time to think about it, the answer would have been pretty clear. Astrid was just glad that what happened last night actually happened. At least now, that question was answered. No more uncertainty about where they stood.
Astrid walked into the building where his first class of the day would be held. It was a lecture on film history, a class he shared with Snow. When he entered the lecture hall, his eyes immediately scanned the room for his friend. He spotted Snow sitting in the middle section and made his way over, dropping into the seat beside him.
"Good morning, Snow," he greeted.
Snow glanced at him and raised an eyebrow. "You seem perky. Did something good happen?"
Astrid looked a little surprised by the question. "Is it that obvious?" he asked, touching his cheek. "I’ll tell you and Kiran about it later at lunch. But first, how did your audition go?"
Snow was curious about what had put that almost silly smile on Astrid’s face, but he could wait until lunch to find out. So he did not mind the change of subject, especially since he also wanted to talk about how his audition went.
It was an audition for a pretty big project. An adaptation of a popular fantasy series with multiple novels. That meant if the first season did well, the show would almost certainly get more seasons.
Snow had auditioned for the lead role. The production team wanted fresh faces for the main characters so viewers would not already have fixed images of them in their heads. They wanted the actors themselves to become the image of the characters in people’s minds. But Snow suspected the real reason had more to do with keeping costs down. Most of the budget would probably go into the production itself, since the director wanted to use practical props instead of relying on holograms. Of course, they would still need holographic effects for certain scenes. But that was the basic idea.
That worked in his favor, since he was still considered a new face. He had been worried at first that he might not get the role, especially since it was not just some minor character. But the director’s preference for unknown actors had helped his chances. Yes, he got the role.
He turned to Astrid with a small smile. "I got the part."
Astrid grinned and gave Snow’s shoulder a firm pat. "Congratulations. I knew you would."
***
At lunch, Astrid, Snow, and Kiran headed to their usual spot to eat. The greenhouse was filled with the smell of food from the containers Astrid pulled out of his space ring.
Kiran swallowed as he looked at the spread before him. There were two large containers of stir-fried noodles, mixed with bits of meat and vegetables. A platter held pieces of soy sauce chicken, while a plate featured crispy fried shrimp. A bowl of braised pork chunks sat nearby, the meat appearing so tender it might fall apart with just a touch. Another bowl contained mixed vegetables in a light sauce. A large pot of soup, with steam still rising from the surface, completed the feast, along with a basket of fluffy steamed buns off to the side.
He had money now and could afford to eat whatever he wanted without worrying about going broke. But even with all that, Astrid’s cooking was still the best. He did not know if it was because Astrid’s food was the first good meal he ever had, but no matter how many other dishes he tried, nothing compared. So he was excited to dig in. He just wondered why there was so much food today.
"I’m thankful for the food, but is there an occasion I didn’t know about?" Kiran asked, both in confusion and curiosity.
