Ryland Grace was a strong student at university, working on getting his bachelors to one day work up to his doctorate for Molecular Biology. Spending most of his days in labs or writing up lab reports, the rest of his time spent at the tutoring center on campus, helping other students who needed extra help while also making a little money to pay for tuition.

Grace was good at what he did, breaking down complex concepts into something that could easily be understood. Even if he went about it in a slightly unorthodox way of explaining, using different colored markers and almost childish analogies that somehow worked very well to explain what was going on for other people of all ages and majors to understand.

Ryland had saw that an appointment got requested during one of his free times and now sat in the library. Reading over a textbook that broke down cell and molecular biology, his specific concentration of science, the wire frames of his glasses pushed up as an unfamiliar voice called his name, causing his head to pop up.

And…oh gosh if you weren’t a sight for sore eyes, he swore he had to fight his jaw from slacking to the floor as his ocean blue eyes dragged across your features as if you were a cell under a telescope that he wanted to figure out. A complex problem to get to the root of how you functioned. A lab report that he wanted to spend hours thinking and writing about. A—

“Um… hello?” Your voice called before he realized he had totally been staring at you, dumbstruck.

“Oh! Yes- sorry I just.. your-your face it’s.. very very nice—wait I’m sorry that’s weird, okay.. forget I said anything” Ryland immediately fumbled with his words, already bringing a palm up to his forehead as if trying to smack his brain into acting right, the apples of his cheeks burning a bright red as he spoke again. Trying to recover what little dignity he might have had left.

“I’m sorry… that was a horrible first impression. Yes, I’m Ryland.. It’s nice to meet you.” He recovered, moving his hand through shaggy hair before offering it out. But then retracted it as if he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do before changing his mind one last time and putting it back out. The tips of his fingers shaking from nervousness, trying to will himself to stay cool and calm… already failing miserably.