Sooo I owe you guys an FH story.  From like a month ago.  (Seriously, a month.  He told me he liked me on May 27--which I actually only remember because my friends and I had an inside joke about the number 27 way back in high school and it remains one of my favorite numbers.)

Things about FH: he is from South America (which means that he has both a wonderful accent and a wonderful way of phrasing things).  He is tri-lingual (he got his M.Sc. in Japan).  He loves cute and fuzzy things (we watched My Neighbor Totoro together and I nearly died of CUTE) and also cephalopods.  He likes to cuddle and to spoil me.  He is 5 years older than me (I call him "asalta cunas"--cradle robber).  He loves books as I do; we have been trading our favorites back and forth.  His taste in music is reprehensible.  He makes delicious coffee.  He is very laid-back about things (though admittedly I am not sure how much of that is actually FH's character and how much of that is just due to cultural differences between the U.S. and South America).

And he likes me.  Very much so, according to him.

Watch it!  It's adorable!

Here is a copy/paste of the message I wrote to wonderful friend back when all this happened (because I have been analyzing data all day and I am tired.  Also I'm lazy):

He'd asked me if I wanted to move in with him and Y, since their other housemate is leaving. We were pretty good friends at this point, and he assures me now that he had no other intentions besides friends then (yes, I asked). I was, at the time, going through all the uncertain shit with D. FH knew this; I'd talked about it with him a bit. And so I asked him and Y to give me some time, I'd let them know in June (remember, the original plan was for Dl and I to take a 2 month break and then talk in June to figure out what we wanted. I figured that if D and I were still together that I would live on my own just so that I wouldn't have to commit to a full year's lease here). And they were both fine with that. 

After the official "I am no longer interested in you" from D, I went to FH and Y and told them that I would move in with them.

FH and I had been hanging out before then too, but the frequency escalated--partly because I have been making an effort to socialize more (immediately after the D thing, being on my own was horrible because I could not distract myself from being sad. So I spent a lot of time in the office doing work and in coffee shops with friend H and playing board games with FH & Y & A (Y's girlfriend)).

And last Friday we watched American Astronaut together and sometime during the movie he put his arm around my shoulders. And I told him he was being very confusing and I wanted some clarification. "I like you," he said, "and um yes, so. I like you." (Text doesn't actually get across how this sounded, and I don't actually think I can describe it--it was just very very classic FH. He is awkward just like me sometimes, and a little shy.)


And I said, "Wow. I... You like me?" And he said yes. And I said, "Okay. What are you going to do about that?" And this is when he kissed me.

In retrospect, I sort of walked into that one. It was horribly a stereotypical mushy romance sort of question. But I swear I did not intend it that way! My brain had already skipped to the "Oh that is not possible at all--we work in the same department, we are planning on living together, the D-thing--there is no possibility of a relationship" and so my question was intended more sort of as an "oh dear, well...how are you going to deal with your feelings?" (Gah that still sounds weird. But I think you will understand what I meant.)

Anyway. So then we had a very long talk and I tried to be as transparent as possible about my worries and concerns and everything. And his response is that he is patient. And so for now we are FH and Salix. And that is that.

He gave me a makkuro kurosuke for my office window.