Examz + Coffee ☕️

Your eyes has always shown me the love you held for him

He is the gentleman in my eyes. He is such a kind man, and he rejoices when I get home safely. He is a person who enjoys learning specifics about my day. Someone who looks out for my overall health and wellbeing. Someone who will remind me to get a good night's sleep so I can wake up early on the days of my exams. During my difficult day, he is someone who keeps telling me, "You will rock it." someone who offers me their prayers for a positive day at school. He is not the person I refer to as my lover, but rather as my best friend. I would defend my best buddy from everyone who is against him.

dark-skinned south asian women in art <3

[from left to right] 1. shashikant dhotre / 2-3. s. elayaraja / 4. a. ramachandran / 5-9. s. elayaraja

Forget the typical affirmations of “you’re looking beautiful, pretty or hot.” I need someone to say “hayee” and place his hand on his heart as if he has seen the most pyara thing in the world.

On the topic of my best friend… my little sister told me that she thinks I’ll marry him one day, and even though I don’t think we’re in love even though we love each other, that we will one day.

I asked her why she thought that, because if a kid can say with such confidence you’re going to marry your best friend, you want to know what they’ve noticed. She listed off a bunch of reasons, like how we always spend time together, we’re comfortable together, we both are artists, we make each other happy and we feel safe when we’re around each other and how we both show up for the important things in each other’s lives.

And I get that maybe those all sound like healthy friendship things, and they are. But she isn’t the first person in my life to point out that my best friend and I are great together. We have strangers ask us how long we’ve been together, we had someone comment on how beautiful it was that we were on our art journey together and assumed we lived together, we’ve had co-workers ask about how we met and how long we’ve been together. I had a coworker tell me that she lived out dynamic and could see the way we supported each other, responded to each other and communicated without words, basically, the way we understood each other so perfectly. We have a friend from highschool who tells me constantly that she thinks we should be together by now, and asks me every time I see her if I’m dating him yet, to which I just laugh and shrug “we’re best friends”. My mum told me that he has more commitment and dedication than a friend, and doesn’t understand why we haven’t ever gone after more. She also commented to grandmother once that my best friend, was in fact, “grandson in law material”. My uncle told me over a coffee that he doubted he wanted to just be friends, that he was probably already in love with me.

And between the hugs that linger a little too long and are just a little too tight, and the walking so close that our arms are brushing but we’d never hold hands, and the comfortable silence yet knowing that no matter how long we talk for, we’d never run out of things to say, and the the casual “love you” at the end of every phone call, that maybe we accidentally became perfect lovers. And I thought maybe it was just me that had the temptation to pursue it, because adults have too much life experience and bias so how could I trust them when they say “I think he likes you more than a friend”. But my sister said it, and she’s not even 10 yet, and kids don’t lie about that, they don’t see love in places it isn’t.

So I guess I laughed a little, at her bold assumption, but really, it’s just the straw that broke the camels back and made me see, it’s always been him.

flower language prompts ˗ˏˋ꒰ 🐚 ꒱

❀ calla lily (beauty) — “you’re so beautiful.”

❀ aloe (affection, also grief) — “i miss them so much.”

❀ basil (good wishes) — “i just want the best for you.”

❀ begonia (beware) — “just be careful, okay?”

❀ gardenia (secret love) — “i don’t love you any less just because no one else can see it.”

❀ red chrysanthemum (i love you) — “i love you. please don’t forget that.”

❀ red columbine (anxiety) — “can you hold my hand? please?”

❀ daffodil (unequaled love) — “no one will ever come close to you.”

❀ edelweiss (courage, devotion) — “touch them again and i promise, it will be the last thing you ever do.”

❀ candytuft (indifference) — “i said that i didn’t care, but i lied.”

❀ holly (domestic happiness) — “i never want to leave this bed.”

❀ myrtle (marriage) — “i can’t believe it. we’re really married!”

❀ oak (strength) — “you’re stronger than you think.”

❀ aster (symbol of love, daintiness) — “i’m not fragile, y’know.”

❀ arborvitae (unchanging friendship) — “i’ll always be here for you, no matter what.”

❀ blue salvia (i think of you) — “here. this made me think of you.”

❀ yarrow (everlasting love) — “i don’t think i’ll ever stop loving you.”

I pleaded for more from him-more time to write about him and more days to learn about his passions for people, music and the art-but all he gave me was a bar of chocolate.

How am i supposed to say no?

Appears to be a typical nerd with impressive academic brains. But he is the source of brightness in my otherwise dreary life. Although everyone thinks he is a bookworm, in my opinion, he is a poet who is hopelessly romantic but don't show it. He must be treated with care because he has a pure soul.

it's okay to be bad in someone's story

Elaichi's real place is in chai, not biryani

Roses don't bloom quickly because, like any great work of art, beauty needs time to develop. Our love also blossoms in a very gradual, lovely way at its own speed, much like the rose. It's so lovely to witness how our relationship emits beautiful, wonderful sentiments at its own speed. Sometimes the thorns serve as a reminder that love may be painful, but the roses serve as a diversion and convince me that our love is also filled with beauty, affection, and passion. The rose will always represent how we are at our core true romantics.

(One week to go for valentine's day)