"Hey, Matt!"

"Yes, Braxton?"

"Why are leopards so bad at hiding?" Braxton's wide grin accompanied the whispered joke.

"I don't know, Braxton. Why." Matt sighed as he wrote down another answer.

"Because no matter where they hide, they're always spotted." Braxton snickered at his own joke. "Why don't other animals like to play games with the leopard?"

"Why."

"They all think he's a cheetah. What's smarter than a talking leopard?"

"Hmmm."

"A spelling bee! Why did the-"

"Why did the cyborg have no face?" Stalkinew interrupted with a quiet snarl.

Matt pinched the bridge of his nose. "Why am I seated between you two?"

"Tell me." Braxton challenged with a grin.

"Because he wouldn't shut up." Stalknew glared over at Braxton.

Braxton snickered. "Oh please, that wasn't even a joke."

"It wasn't supposed to be a joke!" Stalkinew's roar filled the classroom.

Up at the front their teacher looked up from his papers. "Is there a problem, Mr. Stalkinew?" He inquired with a frown.

"No sir," The leopard muttered.

"Then there should have been no disturbances to my class. I will be adding one service day to your schedule. Back to work everyone, I want those worksheets completed by the end of class."

Stalkinew growled at Braxton again, his ears plastered to his skull.

Braxton gave him the most innocent smile he possibly could. "If you don't want service days, don't talk in class. Or fill them all up at the start of the year, the way I do."

"Why are you even still here?" Stalkinew demanded. "You should have had your disciplinary hearing three days ago."

Braxton kicked back in his seat. "Maybe I already had it and you just got unlucky they decided to keep me."

"I am trying to work, Braxton."

"Sorry, Matty."

Matt hummed in response and continued to mark down his answers. Stalkinew's low growl continued to emanate from beside him, though thankfully it wasn't distracting enough to keep him from being able to complete his work.

By the time naval history was over, Matt was more than ready to get out from between the rivals on either side of him. He was practically the first one out of his seat, moving quickly to intercept Braxton before he could clash with Stalkinew again.

"Come on, Brax. Let's go."

Braxton just laughed. "You can delay it, Matty, but you're not going to stop our fight. You know that."

"You are practically on probation, Braxton! You are not getting into a fight!"

"Not in front of you," Braxton agreed amicably.

Jim snickered as he joined his friends. "Matt's right, Braxton. Let's not push any more limits than we already have. I'd like to keep you around, personally."

Braxton rolled his eyes, though he was still smiling. "You two are no fun. Fine. I won't fight Stalkinew. For now."

"Thank you." Matt turned to head out of the room.

"I'm just saying, if this is my last week, I should be allowed to have as much fun as I want."

"Braxton!"

Braxton wrapped his arm around Matt's shoulders, ignoring the way his friend buried his face in his hands. "It's gotta be really bad if it's taking them this long to call me for a disciplinary hearing, so I probably won't even be allowed to visit you. I'm just saying, if this is my last chance to get done all the things I wanna do, I should be doing them this week."

"He's got a point, Matt."

"You're not helping, Jim."

"628's in agreement! Look, we even snuck into the kitchens last night to steal some leftover cookies!" Braxton produced a handful of cookies from somewhere in his uniform. Jim wasn't about to ask where.

"Oooh, cookies!" Varian took one from Braxton with a bright smile. "Thanks!"

"Sure, Vari. I have more in my room, we'll finish them off tonight."

"Sweet! I'll message Hogarth."

"Since when did you know Garthy?" Braxton inquired.

"Sy introduced me to him! He's so brilliant, and he has such good ideas to improve my Automatons!" Varian paused, then clarified, "They've been repurposed to defend the country, not destroy."

Somehow his explanation just made Jim even more confused. With Varian, though, he had learned that it was better not to ask. Instead he sighed and pushed the conversation forward. "You guys are determined to make him part of the group, aren't you."

"Yes," Matt laughed.

As the boys headed out of the room, Braxton filtered towards the back of the group. Just before he passed through the doorway he turned to face Stalkinew.

Braxton pointed firmly at the large feline, then jerked his thumb back towards himself. 'Tonight.' The word was mouthed with the same intensity of his gestures. Stalkinew nodded once.

Braxton turned, quickly catching up with his friends before they'd even realized he'd fallen behind.