[IC] Disconnected; The Perks of Being Insane

[Teal]

December, 14, 2014

07:30 a.m

"Right, left, right, left, right, left!", The boy counted, panting as he kept dodging the colorful pillars falling down from the sky. The world presented to him was bleak, yet irresistibly charming. Bleak as in, white, for the better part, while it's charm stemmed from the blocks the black hole that circled above his head brought down. What Ethan had created was a Tetris-inspired setting. It wasn't his most creative work, but he was bit tight with time at the moment, having just arranged his stuff for school. Disconnection or day-dreaming, as everyone referred to it, wasn't part of the boy's morning routine, but it just so happened that he was, to some extent, addicted to it. Besides, it's not like he would lose track of time that fast.

"This is getting boring. Let's have a little fun!", Ethan uttered, a great dose of determination detectable in his tone. If only he would be that invested in improving his real life. It was then that the blocks started diving in faster. Even though not as effortlessly as before, Ethan still managed to barely skip through the oncoming blocks, until a blue horizontal one had him tumble down the white abyss below. The rules of the universe didn't apply to Rorke, as he asspulled a jetpack and flew to the direction of the black hole, the source of all evil in the dimension he had created. All he had to do is wish, and voila! An oversized red plunger appeared. It was the size of a building, yet Ethan could hold it effortlessly. He lunged at the hole, dodging the onrushing rainbow of pillars before finally sticking the mega-plunger in the hole's entrance. There were no more blocks coming out.

"A job well done!", a floating Ethan spoke, brushing the imaginary sweat off his eyebrows. Suddenly, a screeching noise was coming from somewhere. It wasn't part of the teenager's fantasy setting. It was coming from the outside - something, somebody, was creating an overflow. The high-pitched voice released shock waves which in turn shattered the plunger's wooden handle into pieces. Just as a sharp piece was about to hit the blonde boy, he got out - reconnected. The high pitched voice was now less high-pitched, but not any less annoying. It was his six year old sister, Karen. That was her way of greeting good morning.

Ethan rushed out of the closet, now facing a seemingly unfazed Karen. "You know, one of these days, I'm gonna sweep you off your feet, roll you down a rug and throw you off the window!", he spoke angrily. But her brother's empty threats weren't affecting the little brat. Even though six, she knew that the threats were meaningless and that they would still have to get along with each other by the end of the day. She was pretty sly.

"Mom sent me to tell you that if you don't get your ass moving, you won't be able to catch the bus", Karen spoke fluidly while doing her trademark fast blink that she knew Ethan hated. Those words stroke Ethan like a heart attack. His grades were shambles and he already had enough absent notes to warrant a face-to-face meeting with the principal himself. He rushed down the stairs and directly into the kitchen, where his mother was sipping on a coffee mug. “What took you so long?”, she asked in a motherly tone, eyeing his choppy, hurried motions. “Sorry. Won’t happen again!”, Ethan came up with the best excuse as he emptied a glass of milk and devoured his morning pancakes in the blink of an eye. He knew how to be resourceful when his ass was on the line. On his way out, he kissed his concerned mother’s cheek and deliberately bumped into Karen, who responded by sticking her tongue out.

Several curse words later, Ethan had finally arrived at the bus stop. He was so pleased to see that yellow noisy monster hadn’t departed yet. Climbing up the stairs led to the bus driver making a statement about how he was late again, one which Ethan easily ignored. He was way out of breath to respond to every rebuke he heard on his way out. There were two empty seats near the end of the bus which Ethan spotted as he pranced his way through the students. He took the seat near the window. While there was no sight of snow, it was real chilly outside. The pressure Ethan had to deal with from the get-go sort of distracted him from that.

[MiddleEarthRoze]

Steph drummed her pencil impatiently against her drawing pad. She was out of erasers, and she wanted - no, needed - to finish this drawing today. She'd been working on it all week, an extra piece of art to stash in her various portfolios. Her walls were already taken up by paintings, drawings, print-outs and plans, maps of the fantasy worlds she obsessed over, copied to painstaking detail. Even her ceiling had been peppered with constellations and galaxies of other other universes - for her own universe was perfectly unworthy of life, in her opinion. Her very existence had no meaning - that was, until she discovered a hidden talent. Disconnecting.
That was truly the thing that had brought her back from the deepest pit of depression. It allowed her to journey to the worlds she so craved. Only last night she had been in the middle of creating sweeping landscapes that belonged to Middle-Earth. The red sun-set sky and the cool rush of the wind had overtaken her senses in her mind, Steph becoming so overcome with it all she cried in frustration as her alarm awoke her for school. That had been an hour ago - skipping breakfast in favour of finishing her drawing. But she had used up the tiniest nub of rubber, and still it lay un-finished.
"Thank God I have art today." She muttered, packing the A3 sheet of artists paper into a portfolio and tucking it under her arm, closing and locking her bedroom door behind her, and descending the shabby stairs of her house. From the lack of snoring often heard resonating from the front room, her Dad hadn't come in last night. Again. Not that she was complaining.
Opening the front door a crack, she exhaled for a moment, taking in the frost, and a grin growing on her face as the air misted around her warm breath, the clouds billowing out like steam from a dragon's maw.

Swiftly pulling an over-sized black coat on over her thin, off-shouldered sweater - displaying a motif of a lightsaber from Star Wars - and simple black leggings, the laces of her black combat boots trailed behind her as she walked towards the bus stop, her pace quickening to a job as she saw the school bus pull up.

Once on, she sighed inaudibly, taking in the overwhelming lack of seats barring one at the back. She preferred to sit on her own, staring out of the window and losing herself in her music. Keeping her head down - despite everyone ignoring her anyway - she walked to the back and sat next to the boy; Ethan, she was sure he was called. He never bothered her like most of the others boys did. Offering up a shy smile, she untucked her black curls from her ears, letting her mane of ebony swing forward and hiding her face. For some reason, she felt glad she had remembered to pull a brush through it this morning.

[Teal]

Stephanie Harris; Sixteen years old, excellent in Art class and well renowned for her bad habit of day-dreaming. That's all the valid 'intel' Ethan had on the girl that occupied the seat next to him. He had noticed her before, but they never went past the formalities. Considering she was a loner like him, you'd think he would finally grow some balls and approach her, but she was always either listening to music or making art in her A3 sheets, setting a figurative barrier around her. There was nothing Ethan could do but show inner admiration at Stephanie's matter-of-fact attitude and her courage to be herself, downright oblivious to the many rumors that featured her as the protagonist. The school was not short on outcasts like Steph and him, but at least the school jocks knew which of Ethan's physical shortcoming is worth printing on a flyer, where as Stephanie is almost, for the lack of a better word, perfect. She is good-looking, she never bothered anyone and she owns quite an athletic body, albeit one that she covered in a rubble of weird fandom-related clothing. With not enough material given to them, the 'cool' kids resorted to gossiping about her. Even though the gossips would fade away pretty fast, Ethan's favorite was the one where they established her father as an abuser. These kids were pretty inventive.

Ethan responded to the girl's shy, timid, smile with a wide grin before veering his sight towards the window to his right. For some reason, today of all days, the popular kids, who would usually travel by car, decided to use the bus for a change. That explained why there were no empty seats left and why Stephanie, who would always accommodate herself in an empty corner sightseeing through the window, was compelled to sit next to the kid with the shittiest reputation in the school. Ethan spontaneously felt the need to treat her with a degree of courtesy and allow her to switch places with him. But first, he had to overcome the difficult bit; conversing to her. He had no idea how to ask her if she wants to switch places without making it too awkward. Either way, he gave it a shot.

"Uh..can y- I mean, do you wanna switch places? I've noticed you always sit near the window, so maybe..", Ethan cut his sentence abruptly, unwilling to make himself seem like more of a creep than he already is.

[MiddleEarthRoze]

Steph's eyes whipped back to Ethan's own blue ones, blinking in surprise as a light blush crept onto her pale cheeks. She had expected him to just sit in silence by her, as most kids did whenever she was forced to be near human contact. Yeah, she did admittedly hang around the fringes of a crowd of the less-popular girls from the school, but it was rare for her to say anything to them. She assumed they let her linger nearby because they felt sorry for her, somewhat. Honestly, when she was just a kid in elementary school, she was more comfortable talking to kids, but since the divorce of her parents and high school, she'd retreated in on herself. The girls she stuck with (More for safety in numbers than anything else - she didn't appreciate the looks she got from others in the school, despite on the outside being unperturbed by them.), who had been friendly with her in elementary school, just accepted her introverted-ness as a fact and put up with it.
"Um... yeah. Thank-you." She said softly, smiling at him, taken aback - and almost flattered - at his surprising kindness. Standing up and easing over to his side and he shuffled over to hers, she sat back down with a content smile, watching the world rush by at the window. The seat radiated a comfortable warmth from Ethan's body heat, and she settled into the window seat with more ease. It wasn't just the window she liked. It was the 'boxed-in' feeling.
Now, normally, someone in her position would be fairly abhorrent of closed in areas, especially in such a hostile place as high school. But she enjoyed it. It reminded her of her little cubby-hole, hidden in an alcove in the wall, which was where she went to Disconnect. No-one, not even her Dad, knew about it, and it was dark, warm, and pretty much the only soundproof place in the house. So, window or corner seats were her most loved places, which was normally the places she sat at in school. It made it easier to concentrate - but she tended to day-dream anyway.
Her eyes were now lingering on her hands, and she shyly darted another glance at Ethan. She felt the need to somehow pay him back for his kindness. Perhaps talking to him would do it? From what she had seen, he didn't really have any friends, just like her. She assumed it was the noise often erupting from his mouth, seen by most as obnoxious and irritating. However, it didn't seem to bother her. From what she had seen from most of her fantasy worlds, most characters like this were just hiding something painful. Or, were just Dwarves. But, hell, she liked both of those things.
"Ethan..." She began, saying his name for the first time softly. "Erm... did you do your art-work this week?" She asked with a coy smile. It was a fairly medicore thing to talk about -school work - but they were in the same art-class, so it was something to talk about, at least. Her headphones were almost yelling at her from her bag, but she ignored the fact they were there. Yes, it would be a far less anxious bus journey with them on, but for the first time ever, she thought it would be rude to just ignore someone - or, specifically, to ignore Ethan.

[Teal]

Only while he was swapping his seats with his quite reserved classmate did he notice her coat exhibited a lightsaber. Not to say he was astonished by it or something like that, considering most, if all, of the clothes she wore displayed the symbol of a fandom. While most people would find that off-putting, Ethan, who himself was part of many fandoms, learned to appreciate it. He actually made a guessing game off her back, trying to ascertain if he can guess the origin of every symbol her fashion choices expressed. So far, he has guessed each one of them. He had the impression that the shared knowledge on pop culture would make a good conversation starter, but in Stephanie's case, switching places would mean she would get accommodated and eventually lose herself in her own world. It was hard to blame her, considering how hard life was being on both of them. Birds of the same feather do flock together, but that wasn't the case this time, so Ethan was left with nothing to do but hold himself back and let the girl be. Her genuine expression towards his unrehearsed act of kindness made him simper, before she cast her sight at the window.

A black smudge on his dark blue slim fit jeans captivated the boy's attention, as he reached to remove it with a grubby tissue he kept in his jacket's pocket. He wasn't buried on firmato clothes, to be precise, but ever since he reached puberty, he would always take good care of the ones he had, refusing to let anyone else but him wash and/or iron them. His fashion preferences often tended to cause turmoil in his house, as both his parents continuously disagreed with his selection of skinny jeans over average ones for the main reason that they made him appear way too slim, but all of their complaints fell flat. Ethan himself also had issues with his ectomorphic build in the past due to it being the center of many teasings, but once he got over middle school, he decided to embrace it and stopped giving a damn, well, at least to a certain extent. Not to say that the comments he gets about his appearance don't cause him distress, but due to his new mindset, the mental pain is somewhat subverted. Ethan also likes to believe that his newfound ability to Disconnect helped him overcome the stress, but while it may have been true, he uses it more as an excuse to shelter himself from real life.

After he was done wiping the smudge, the boy crept the tissue into his jacket's pocket. He moved his hands at a leisurely pace, almost like he was exhausted, up to the top button of his beige shirt before undoing it. Ethan didn't expect anyone to even consider sitting next to him, so it goes without saying he had to keep himself cozy. Now that Steph had transmitted some of her warm, however, he needed to loosen up a bit. Suddenly, the boy's ears caught a voice. It was Stephanie herself, asking him whether he had done his art work. Ethan felt a light sense of pleasure, pride even, that he made the shy wallflower stick a thumb out of her safety bubble, even though it was about something as tedious as homework. While rubbing the back of his neck, sort of ashamed, Ethan responded, "Yeah, I made a sketchy drawing, but..", he paused for a second, looking for ways to phrase what he was about to speak. "Let's just say my baby sister was holding the sheets hostage and wanted to know the location of her favorite stuffed toy. I didn't comply, and she shredded them to pieces.", he finished, as a half-assed smile crept into his face.

"I'd ask you the same, but I'm pretty sure I know the answer to that", Ethan's last remark was followed with a candid grin, a persisting feeling of pride still lurking on his insides.

[MiddleEarthRoze]

Steph shook her head as Ethan told her the tragedy of his homework. Although he clearly wasn't all that bothered, she knew what it was like to have something you've worked on shredded in front of you. However, her gaze was drawn back to him, and she couldn't help but offer up a smile in return. Art was just about the only thing she cared about -although always turning in homework for pretty much all of her lessons, Art was the only thing she really put effort into.
"Yeah... y'know. I did more than one sketch." She said, then paused, opening up her portfolio and rifling through the various sheets and materials stashed in there. The task had been simple - just do a drawing or painting, etc, of an animal. She'd done a few different ones before finally deciding on two wolves, howling at the moon on a clifftop. She slyly placed 2 moons and constellations from the Elder Scrolls series, after being told repeatedly by various teachers to stop sneaking fandoms into her work - the art teacher was far too dense to notice this insertion of hers.
Finally finding a brief sketch of a lion, she took it out and looked back at Ethan.
"You can have it, if you want. Maybe add some more details before class." She said softly. It was a simple enough drawing to avoid the accusation of plagiarism from the teacher, but it was something for him to hand in. "Saves you getting a detention." She added, blushing slightly. Nearly every lesson, he got detentions or reprimands for something or other. Again, it didn't bother her - it actually took the heat off her for day-dreaming in class.

[Teal]

"S-Sure", the boy uttered, taking the sheet from the girl's soft, clean hands. He was talkative alright, but ever since his conversation with Stephanie fired up, words were sticking to his mouth like peanut butter. He looked at the sketch for a good thirty seconds or so. It was the drawing of a lion, unfinished, but enough to spare him from certain admonishment. "Thanks!", he excitedly pronounced, before slightly leaning over to have a better look at her drawing. He was tip-toeing his way through the situation, trying to appear friendly yet maintaining a distance, fearing that she might feel uncomfortable if he was to invade her personal space. Then again, who wouldn't feel uncomfortable? Her drawing depicted two wolves howling at the moon, a pretty common sight, only this time there were two moons. One would think that she simply added two moons to correspond to the number of wolves, or because she thought they were cool, but Ethan who was well aware of Steph's, for the lack of a better word, obsession with fandoms quickly came to the conclusion that it was a reference to the Elder Scrolls video game series. He slowly and carefully reverted back to his previous position before opening his mouth.

"You play Elder Scrolls?", he asked, a perpetual smile covering his face. As mentioned previously, Ethan was part of many fandoms and even though he wasn't exactly big on Elder Scrolls, he had played it enough to gather knowledge on the lore and what the game was about. He also expected Steph to take advantage of their Art teacher's conservative mindset to get away clean, considering she had been reprimanded by several teachers for sneaking fandom into her work.

[Teal]

....

[MiddleEarthRoze]

Double-taking in surprise at Ethan's query, Steph's own smile grew into a grin as she looked down at the 2 moons on her page.
"Yeah! Just Oblivion and Skyrim though. I love those games, they're just so... big. If you know what I mean." She said, then chuckled nervously. Roleplay games were her favourite, Elder Scrolls closely followed by the Mass Effect series. It gave her a chance to be someone else in a better world - while not having to Disconnect. "I was tempted to place a troll or something in the background, or maybe a dragon... but the teacher's started to notice the more obvious stuff like that." She said, then her smile turned back to Ethan. "I'm impressed you spotted it - do you play them a lot?" She asked, her eyes still on his as the bus lurched to a final stop. They were at the school already - the journey had been surprisingly fast while talking with Ethan.

[Teal]

"I wasn't much of a fan, but I did play it, yeah. Well, at least until I discovered I can.." Ethan made another abrupt stop, as his sight scurried away. His heartbeats fastened for a split second or so. He got too involved in the conversation, so involved that he almost gave away his status as a Disconnector. While the blue-eyed boy was certain that Steph wasn't one to judge, Disconnectors were perceived as mentally insane by the society ever since their appearance, in spite of the fact that top neuropsychologists around the world have confirmed the occurrence is not a mental disorder or in anyway related to one. It was expected someone would eventually set up an awareness tour, or a pro-Disconnecting movement, but Disconnectors haven't gone through enough loathing to have that privilege, so they're left fending off for themselves. What better way to do that than to remain closeted, unable to unfold your talent and creativity, right?

"Uh, time to go", an awkward Ethan stammered as he lifted himself up, the noisy school jocks waltzing and bumping past him. He had a tendency to stay in the corner of the bus until it was all clear, in order to avoid the daily abuse by the cool kids, but since Steph had occupied the best spot he had to get up and make way for her. That's the least he could do after the decent treatment he got.

[MiddleEarthRoze]

Although it was obvious that Ethan had very nearly revealed something he considered to be less than decent about himself, Steph couldn't help but feel slightly rebuked by his sudden change in manner. However, she didn't mention it, instead gathering her things and closing her portfolio, standing up and easing herself out from the seat. As she did so, she brushed past Ethan, being almost uncomfortably close to him - at least, it would have been uncomfortable, had it been anyone else. Her hand brushed across the rough material of his military jacket, her breath intaking the scent of his deodorant and natural musk. Blushing and ducking her head, she muttered a hasty 'thanks' before passing into the main walkway of the bus, falling amongst the ranks of the other students as they stepped off.
As the cold air of the outside hit her, she lingered for a moment by the entrance of the school, her face turning to glance over her shoulder, arms hugging her portfolio to her body.
Should I wait for him? She wondered to herself silently. Although she was sure they would be able to talk fairly amicably to one another throughout the school day, she wondered if his sudden halt in conversation had changed his ideas about her. Would he just walk on by? Or would he act like nothing weird had happened?
It's not like I have anything to lose. A small voice in her head reminded her in an almost wistful tone. She was right though - even if he did decide to ignore her, she wouldn't be losing anything. Planting herselves determinedly beside the school walls, Steph ignored most who passed by her as she waited for Ethan. She gained scornful looks from the popular girls, leers from most of the boys, and ignored by the majority of others... barring a group of girls - who, by the worst of luck, had decided to notice Steph for once in a while. These were the girls who normally allowed Steph to hang around them, pretty much ignoring her, as they knew she preferred her own solitary confinement along with some form of protective companions,
"Steph! Are you coming inside? It's freezing out here." Asked one of the girls - Paige, she was called, the girl who made the most effort to include Steph as much as possible. The rest of the girls in the group lingered only for a second by the entrance, not even noticing Steph until she answered in an almost unnaturally clear voice.
"Um... no thanks." Steph began, and the girls stopped talking, looking at Steph in surprise as they realized she had actually said something, rather than just following them absent-mindedly. "I'm waiting for someone."
They stood there, dumbstruck, as the crimson blush returned to Steph's face at all the attention she had suddenly gained. Her eyes darted back to the bus as she was suddenly bombarded by eager questions, asking who she had finally made some form of decent contact with that made them wroth waiting for.
Oh, hurry up, Ethan. She thought to herself miserably, as her cheeks reddened even further as one of the girls asked her if the person was a boy - bringing forth excited squeals from the others. Honestly - as soon as gossip was mentioned, the victim became the most favourite person in the school.

[Teal]

Stephanie passed by and along with her a couple of other students who previously occupied the back seats. Ethan loitered around his spot, waiting for the bus to empty before he could get underway. The bus driver, a slightly overweight man, was aware of the boy's penchant to stick around until the coast cleared out, so he didn't bother him probably because he knew he'd leave after a short amount of time either way. Ethan's brief conversation with Stephanie left him wanting more and, in addition to that, also gave him a slightly overwhelming sensation. Confidence wasn't something Ethan exuded but it wasn't lacking either, yet in spite of all that, he still couldn't muster enough courage to at least talk to her again. He sought to understand what was the reason behind that. Maybe it was because she was very secretive. Maybe it was because he had the impression that she only talked to him to avoid coming off as rude. Or perhaps because he wasn't willing to disturb her any further, in fear of having his good intentions mistaken. The boy was clueless.

"Hey! Kid! Out of the bus, now!", a gravelly voice cut into Ethan's introspection, figuratively waking him up. He shifted his sight towards the source from where the voice came from to see Bob, the bus driver, visibly annoyed by the boy lingering around. What characterized Bob was probably his wheezing, most likely due to careless amounts of sugar intake obstructing his air passages. It was then that Ethan finally realized he stuck out for a tad too long, as he hauled himself up and made his way towards the small stairs leading out of the bus. Before taking off, he sarcastically performed a royal bow in front of the driver, then sneered "Yes, your highness!", further pissing him off. Just as he was about to descend down, he heard a soft, soothing voice, most likely Stephanie's, coming from somewhere near the bus. He couldn't help but let a smirk as he figured she actually waited for him, hurrying his pace in the process. What followed after that, however, was a nightmare in the shape of a stream of consecutive questions accompanied by a high-pitched unison shriek. "This is bad", Ethan grumbled inaudibly, already aware of what was happening. In any case, he couldn't help it - he had already revealed himself before Steph's friends, the 'talebearers', who made sure anything that happens in school, ranging from trivial to significant, falls into the ears of every single student and teacher alike. All he could do at that point was watch their reaction.

The first to have her jaw dropped was Paige, the bubbly, outgoing but especially nosy of the group, who was pointing at Ethan while suspiciously looking at Stephanie. When converted to a verbal medium, that spelled out disbelief with maybe a hint of disgust. Paige followed the same reasoning like the majority, so it goes without saying that she wasn't quite fond of the boy, and he was okay with that. Paige's companions swiftly followed after, gasping in horror and letting occasional mocking sounds. Ethan was used to dealing with such reactions, but Steph in the other hand was showing distinct signs of anxiety, which is what drove him to finally clear some things out. He shifted his gaze towards Paige, speaking in a quiet, reassuring manner.

"Oh for God's sake, chill out! She lend me a spare drawing to get me through Art Class.", he presented the Lion drawing to the girls, before veering his sight at an embarrassed Stephanie. "It's okay. You don't have to wait for me. You can go with them if you want."

[MiddleEarthRoze]

Although bathed in embarrassment from the sudden landslide of popularity, Steph felt an undeniable bout of anger at the reaction of her supposed friends. Paige was giving her strange looks, and then leant in to whisper - although quite loud enough for Ethan to hear.
"Don't tell me you were waiting for that weirdo." She muttered, darting a glare at Ethan. Another uncharacteristic wave of anger hit her, and she backed away from the group of girls , heading towards Ethan with a scowl beginning to show on her face.
"Yes, I was." She snapped, tightening her grip on her portfolio, clutching it tighter to her chest as if it could somehow shield her and Ethan from all the judging looks they were getting. Honestly, it's not like he was an actual bad person. They would have had a better reaction if Steph had been waiting on one of the junkies which frequented the back alley of the school, smoking weed and various other drugs. Glancing at Ethan, she found it surprising that he was offering to let her off the hook - as if being friends with him was a bad thing.
"I reckon I'd rather go with you Ethan." She said in a final sort of tone, then stepped well out of the group, looking at him expectantly. "C'mon... I don't want to be late for class."
Judging by the shocked silence and obvious dark looks behind her back, Steph had a feeling she was no longer welcome around those girls anymore. Eh. She wasn't losing anything special. In fact, she had a feeling she'd gained something better instead.

[Teal]

Stephanie's hostile response left everyone stunned, including Ethan himself, the boy who was being roasted up until then. In one hand, he felt responsible for severing Steph's friendship with the Spice Girls, not because he believed they were decent company to have around, but because he feared they might dish out a bunch of lies as an act of retaliation. In the other, he was staggered to find out a good-natured and innocent girl like her had enough face muscles to snap like that, but he was also glad she did. It was about time those girls would get a taste of their own medicine.

Paige gave Ethan a confused look, as if he was the one responsible for Steph's sudden change in attitude. He shrugged at her, before approaching Stephanie who was obviously agitated by the girls' attitude. They both made their way towards the school entrance, walking side by side, trying their best to ignore the dirty looks they got from behind and up front. It was difficult for the boy to adjust to the attention he got, especially after figuring it was the negative kind. He sunk his teeth down on his lower lip, slightly nervous, as a light blush crept to his face before directing his sight at his new found companion. "Hey, er, are you sure you really want to hang out with me?", he asked, as his voice cracked a little. "You're going to be called a lot of names, labeled a lot of things, most of which you aren't. Are you really sure you are ready to deal with this kind of attention for the sake of someone you met on a bus?", his tone got more serious, completely obliterating traces of his radiant personality. For an obnoxious kid, he surely knew the gravity of the situation.

[Teal]

"No, no, no, nothing of note. It's just that it seems to me mocking them has become quite trendy around." Ethan groused awkwardly, avoiding eye contact with Steph. It was funny how the tables flipped. Their meeting started with the girl being the shy one, and now that she finally got out of her cocoon, it's the noisy, most likely bipolar, kid who's deprived of words. Realizing that his behavior might feel overwhelming, he snuck a passing smirk at Stephanie before adding more to his response. "I, like you, think it's pretty cool too. You know, having the power to play God, even if for a short amount of time. Who wouldn't want that?", Ethan finished, ending his declaration with a rhetorical question. He then shifted his gaze at the door to where the duo was heading - the Art Class, renowned for being the quietest of all. Not all the students were reserved like Stephanie, but they were, at the very least, reasonable. To say that it's common for Art enthusiasts to be far more educated, is not an overstatement. It probably has something to do with their high levels of creativity As soon as creativity sprung to Ethan's mind, he veered his sight towards Steph, gazing at her in awe. "I bet my lunch money you'd learn Disconnecting in a matter of months. I heard it's possible through mental training and meditation, but that only people with a creative bone can pull it off. I've seen your work, and I'll be damned if creative is not the right word for you. Have you ever thought of giving it a shot?", the boy pronounced excitedly. Since most of the Disconnectors are either closeted or well-known celebrities, he never had a partner to share his ideas with. If, however, Steph was to become one, now that they've finally developed a stable friendship, they could each share their thoughts to each other without the need of words. Of course, he wasn't planning on pushing her to do something against her will. If anything, it was just a mild suggestion.

[MiddleEarthRoze]

Erm..." a blush crept up into Steph's pale cheeks, taken aback at Ethan's sudden excitement; and touched by his compliment. "Well, I-I'm sure it would be really hard to do it." She stammered, her face growing hotter by the second as she realized how close to the truth he was. Would it be safe to tell him? Although she felt she could trust him with anything, she just didnt want to risk alienating him - especially after just pushing away her group of aquaintaces. "Maybe I should tell him... He's so close already..." Steph thought to herself, and her eyes widened ever so slightly at another realization. In his excitement, Ethan had stepped closer to her, so they were but centimetres apart. If someone were to walk down the corridor to see this; the two so close together, Ethan with that excited smile on his face and Steph blushing like a total moron, they would definitely get the wrong idea. "Is it wrong?" A small voice in the back of her head asked. Choosing to ignore this, she gave a nervous laugh and began walking again, Ethan immediately following. "Maybe we could practice together. You're pretty creative yourself, y'know." She said, then paused, thinking of their lessons later. It was all boring, academic stuff like History and English till the end of school. She didn't listen in those classes - and she knew fine well Ethan probably didn't either. "Want to skip class after art? I know a quiet place we can go to." She suggested as they walked, still with that nervous smile on her face, and staring at the ceiling. She was still blushing, and trying immensely hard not to look at Ethan. "Why am I acting like this? Its not like I just asked him out or anything. Would I be that disappointed if he said no?" An internal debate swirled around Steph's mind as she awaited his answer. "Yes, I suppose I would." She replied to herself silently, an almost miserable tone in her mind. She was used to rejection - it came with being born into her family. But with Ethan, she just knew it would feel worse.

[Teal]

As they were marching down the hall, Ethan made an abrupt stop, gawking at Stephanie. "Skip classes?", he uttered, obviously taken aback by her sudden decision. If anything, he knew her to be very devoted with the classes she took. The boy stroke his chin, carefully taking into consideration the girl's suggestion. He wasn't even aware that he had invaded her personal space just earlier. "I don't know. The principal's got me in his shit list. I'm gonna need a solid pretext if I want to skip classes today.", he spoke, only then realizing that he probably should have steered away from the 's' word. He scratched his neck, still pondering. He had already made up his mind about whether to answer Stephanie's question with a yes or no; it was a yes, but he still needed an excuse to get a pass from the school's staff. After a couple more minutes characterized by Ethan stroking his hairless chin, he finally said; "Fine. Let's do it.", traces of determination detected in his tone. "I have come up with no solid excuse as of yet, but we'll see how it goes.", and with that said, he marched past Stephanie and into the Art Class. The Art teacher hadn't shown up yet, so that was good. Another absent note and he'd probably get expelled, which was something he tried to avoid, especially now that he'd found a good friend. He casually sat in his seat and then placed his tools down; a pencil, a bunch of A3 sheets and a set of water colors.