Draco: Dinner time!
* * *
That evening, I stared across the table in slight disbelief. My four neighbors had come home, all in as many pieces as they had left in, and then had cooked a meal the size of my family's holiday dinners. Apparently Nagi had done the cooking. Crawford had been too busy with work, Schuldich had just avoided the kitchen, and no one really trusted Farfello to cook. It all looked wonderful, if only I felt hungrier. Nervousness had sort of taken over as soon as I had walked through the door.
Farfello promised to show me around the house as soon as we all finished eating, and Nagi talked to me a little about our computer class, but the other two seemed to be studying me or something. I kind of felt like a caged animal at that point. There was no way to escape, and I didn't want to run out on the two who were being nice. Crawford was treating me somewhat like a test subject. He just stared at me through the whole meal. Schuldich on the other hand seemed rather amused.
I had discovered, quicker than he had expected apparently, that the redhead was wondering around in my head. It was something I was used to dealing with, having had a less than normal life thus far, and I knew how to deal with it. He seemed surprised at first when I blocked him out, then the amusement set in. This was a fun game for him, and he was more than willing to test my limits.
"So, Dragon," Crawford's voice broke the silence coldly. "I hear you've been able to help Farfello here."
I forced a smile that I hoped didn't look too nervous. "I'd hope so. That's the point of counseling after all."
Schuldich then laughed. "The nutcase doesn't really talk about anything from school other than you."
"He's been calmer lately," Nagi added softly to the others' comments, casting a disapproving glance at his red-haired housemate.
I nodded, having a little trouble keeping the smile plastered on. "That's good."
After a moment's silence, we all began to eat. It was almost as if something had clicked in all of our heads at the same time. Small talk was over for now, and hopefully it wouldn't go on too long after the meal either. In truth, I was praying to get Farfello's tour of the place, say goodbye to Nagi, and avoid the others all together, but it was doubtful that that would actually work out. Both of them kept watching me, Crawford over his glasses and Schuldich rather blatantly through a little bit of fallen hair. This, I decided, was going to be a long evening.
* * *
"What do you do other than peer counseling?"
Once again, I forced a smile at Crawford. In the past hour's conversation, I had discovered that my black-haired host was a senior at the local college, majoring in, not surprisingly, business management, and he worked as a management intern for one of the big companies in the area. Then there was Schuldich, who was a sophomore at the college majoring in liberal arts. Nagi, as I knew, was a high school junior, taking almost exactly the same classes as me.
"Well," I sighed, "I'm in the school theater troop, National Honor Society, and FBLA."
That last one seemed to, amazingly enough, perk his interest, and I spent the next half hour discussing what I did for my FBLA chapter. Somehow, I'm not sure in any way how, I ended up agreeing to speaking with Crawford's boss. Apparently they had been looking for a decent price for a good website developer, and Nagi had rather adamantly refused to fill the position alone. By that point, I think my head was about ready to explode. Great! Now I had a job! I didn't mind that I would be working with Nagi, that actually made thing easier, but I'd have to make regular trips to Crawford's office and Nagi and I would have to switch off on who spoke at planning meetings. My quiet classmate and I shared a helpless glance and sighed in unison.
The conversation then continued, and I got swept away in it again, until Farfello saved me. He developed a sort of nervous twitch sitting there listening to us all talking, and ask me to go talk. I tried not to seem too happy as I excused myself and walked with him to his bedroom. Nagi followed suit and disappeared into his own private quarters.
"They don't stop," he muttered, closing the door as I took a seat on the bed. "They never stop talking. If they aren't talking, they're arguing, though I suppose arguing is a sort of talking isn't it?"
As he rambled on like that, plopping down on the floor in front of me, I continued listening, but my eyes roamed the room. I hadn't had much time to look around before. It had been a rather quick tour because, much to my dismay, Crawford had wanted to speak with me.
The little room my crazy friend lived in seemed rather cold and oppressively blank. There was a small closet on one wall, a window opposite the door, and a bed opposite the closet. Everything was painted white, very white, and it would've been blinding if there had been more light than the sinking sun. As I listened to the long stream of mumbled nonsense and grumbled complaints issuing from my charge, I made a mental note to give him a poster or something. He needed it. After all, a person's room is never comfortably their own until they personalize it somehow.
* * *
That evening, I stared across the table in slight disbelief. My four neighbors had come home, all in as many pieces as they had left in, and then had cooked a meal the size of my family's holiday dinners. Apparently Nagi had done the cooking. Crawford had been too busy with work, Schuldich had just avoided the kitchen, and no one really trusted Farfello to cook. It all looked wonderful, if only I felt hungrier. Nervousness had sort of taken over as soon as I had walked through the door.
Farfello promised to show me around the house as soon as we all finished eating, and Nagi talked to me a little about our computer class, but the other two seemed to be studying me or something. I kind of felt like a caged animal at that point. There was no way to escape, and I didn't want to run out on the two who were being nice. Crawford was treating me somewhat like a test subject. He just stared at me through the whole meal. Schuldich on the other hand seemed rather amused.
I had discovered, quicker than he had expected apparently, that the redhead was wondering around in my head. It was something I was used to dealing with, having had a less than normal life thus far, and I knew how to deal with it. He seemed surprised at first when I blocked him out, then the amusement set in. This was a fun game for him, and he was more than willing to test my limits.
"So, Dragon," Crawford's voice broke the silence coldly. "I hear you've been able to help Farfello here."
I forced a smile that I hoped didn't look too nervous. "I'd hope so. That's the point of counseling after all."
Schuldich then laughed. "The nutcase doesn't really talk about anything from school other than you."
"He's been calmer lately," Nagi added softly to the others' comments, casting a disapproving glance at his red-haired housemate.
I nodded, having a little trouble keeping the smile plastered on. "That's good."
After a moment's silence, we all began to eat. It was almost as if something had clicked in all of our heads at the same time. Small talk was over for now, and hopefully it wouldn't go on too long after the meal either. In truth, I was praying to get Farfello's tour of the place, say goodbye to Nagi, and avoid the others all together, but it was doubtful that that would actually work out. Both of them kept watching me, Crawford over his glasses and Schuldich rather blatantly through a little bit of fallen hair. This, I decided, was going to be a long evening.
* * *
"What do you do other than peer counseling?"
Once again, I forced a smile at Crawford. In the past hour's conversation, I had discovered that my black-haired host was a senior at the local college, majoring in, not surprisingly, business management, and he worked as a management intern for one of the big companies in the area. Then there was Schuldich, who was a sophomore at the college majoring in liberal arts. Nagi, as I knew, was a high school junior, taking almost exactly the same classes as me.
"Well," I sighed, "I'm in the school theater troop, National Honor Society, and FBLA."
That last one seemed to, amazingly enough, perk his interest, and I spent the next half hour discussing what I did for my FBLA chapter. Somehow, I'm not sure in any way how, I ended up agreeing to speaking with Crawford's boss. Apparently they had been looking for a decent price for a good website developer, and Nagi had rather adamantly refused to fill the position alone. By that point, I think my head was about ready to explode. Great! Now I had a job! I didn't mind that I would be working with Nagi, that actually made thing easier, but I'd have to make regular trips to Crawford's office and Nagi and I would have to switch off on who spoke at planning meetings. My quiet classmate and I shared a helpless glance and sighed in unison.
The conversation then continued, and I got swept away in it again, until Farfello saved me. He developed a sort of nervous twitch sitting there listening to us all talking, and ask me to go talk. I tried not to seem too happy as I excused myself and walked with him to his bedroom. Nagi followed suit and disappeared into his own private quarters.
"They don't stop," he muttered, closing the door as I took a seat on the bed. "They never stop talking. If they aren't talking, they're arguing, though I suppose arguing is a sort of talking isn't it?"
As he rambled on like that, plopping down on the floor in front of me, I continued listening, but my eyes roamed the room. I hadn't had much time to look around before. It had been a rather quick tour because, much to my dismay, Crawford had wanted to speak with me.
The little room my crazy friend lived in seemed rather cold and oppressively blank. There was a small closet on one wall, a window opposite the door, and a bed opposite the closet. Everything was painted white, very white, and it would've been blinding if there had been more light than the sinking sun. As I listened to the long stream of mumbled nonsense and grumbled complaints issuing from my charge, I made a mental note to give him a poster or something. He needed it. After all, a person's room is never comfortably their own until they personalize it somehow.