[IC] [Tabbycat+Badfool]

[badfool]

With a new season came new rotations, and with a new rotation presented a new set of youth volunteers sitting clustered and attentive to their coordinator. Some new faces while others were familiar enough. A range of expressions wavered amongst them. Arthur sat through the opening greeting that could practically be recited ever since he was about ten. After a monotonous recitation of the bi-weekly schedules, the groupings and extra events the bank would put on, the meeting was disbanded and each person shuffled to their designated areas of work. Sorted that day were four groups: sorting, packaging, event coordinating, and loading. Arthur stared at the whiteboard positioned against the wall in search of his name and found it written brightly along with four others beneath a squiggly-underlined 'PACKAGING'. One name he had recognized. Some college girl who had worked with him for a few larger events while the others were foreign to him. Almost autonomously, he stood, gathered his possessions and found his group in the direction of tall standing shelves of miscellany. It wasn't the best chore, but it was undoubtedly better than the duty of speaking up during a coordinating shift or loading box after box up into a hot truck. It was a mindless task, but the kind which left one searching for something more stimulating. Learning about how much sodium was packed in a single can of green beans and contemplating the logic behind donating canned gravy alone was beyond him, but it sure beat the rest.

“Okay – I recognize some of you so I think I'm safe to say that a demo isn't necessary. Any damaged items should be set aside, glass containers should be left on the shelves. If you have a question about something just call one of us over and we'll help.” A middle aged woman responsible for rounding them up of clapped her hands together as a finishing note, offering a smile of finality before turning on a heel and leaving the group with two large bins labeled blocky as 'perishable' and 'non' on each of their sides. Arthur stared back and forth between the two as if they were somehow interesting until the woman left each of them amongst themselves and out of sight entirely from their area. Two of the members already got to chatting and name swapping, moseying at their own pace with secondary efforts to check any labeling. The blond already started at palming the nearest cans on the shelves, his expression mirroring either confusion or understandable sickened at the array of strange foods that awaited sorting. Nearly ten years of this kind of volunteer work and there was still something to surprise him. He wasn't sure which was worth it; tuning out the conversation at his side or learning something unsettling about processed food. Somehow, he settled between the two. A tweak of his expression here and there gave away his obvious eavesdropping while other times he found himself in a steady rhythm.

[Sincerely]

Theo woke up peacefully with the sin tickling his face. Wait, peacefully? Shooting straight up and ignoring the rush to his head, he ran to the shower trying not to trip over all the junk covering his bedroom floor. After breaking the record for quickest shower, he hopped around his room getting dressed, two articles at a time. Luckily, he only fell once. Grabbing his wallet, headphones, phone, and keys, Theo ran out of his apartment. Taking the stairs two at a time, he rushed to unlock his bike from the street sign pole. Hoping on, he pedalled with all the strength he had in his body. His shoelaces flirted with the bicycle chain the entire ride. Innocent pedestrians very kindly saluted him with one finger. But Theo was only focused on the slowly enlarging building. Going uphill, he rose off the bicycle seat and pedalled even harder. Sweat beaded on his forehead and his hair became stringy, sticking to his face. He hopped off at the top of the hill and chained up his bike before running inside. The first couple of volunteers who spotted him stared strangely. Theo ignored them looked for a middle-aged balding man with a clipboard.

He slowly walked over to him, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand. The manager was talking with other group leaders. Clearing his throat, he tapped the man on his shoulder. Turning around the man broke into a smile. "Theo, it's great to see you! I was afraid that we weren't gonna have your help this week." Theo returned the smile. "Not if I could help it. My alarm wasn't working properly, but I got here as soon as I could. I just wanted to let you know that I was here before I headed over to event coordinating." He explained before turning around. "Kid, wait." The manager shouted after him, before jogging up to meet him. "That section is full today, I'm sorry." Theo's face dropped noticeably. "But, my story. It...the events, I always help!" He stated in a fresh panic. The manager laid a hand on his shoulder. "I know kiddo, and I'm sorry. I know how long you've been coming here. But, hey, we could use some extra hands packing if you still wanna stay." Theo nodded bleakly. "Yeah, sure." He turned and headed in a different direction. After freshening up in the restroom, he walked into the packing section. Looking around he found an unsorted section of food and started loading them into the boxes without blinking.

[badfool]

The new addition to their group hadn't been addressed other than a smile and a wave from some of the more social volunteers. Theo seemed to be adopted by the established team for the most part and greeted sweetly by one of the females who led most of their idle discussion. She introduced herself with a sunny sort of charm, as did the rest followed by passing nods and mumbles; some recognizing Theo by face and voice alone while Arthur couldn't have scrounged up a name for the life of him. It couldn't have been more than twenty minutes before each one of their names rolled off of his memory and it was too troubling to gather them up again. Nicknaming them was enough as long as it helped distinguish between them at the very least.

"Ouch, get stuck with this job this week? You weren't listed in our group, were you? I've seen you around but I don't think we've been grouped together." Chatty Redhead rolled one of the smaller tubes of aluminum in her palms after plucking it from one of the shelves. She fiddled around with it as long as humanly possible in procrastination before placing it ever so gently on her newformed stack. Jim -or was it James who'd stuck by her side up until now? Either or. Jim-slash-James took the opportunity to break away and catch up on a denser wall that he'd been neglecting for her attention. Arthur wasn't sure why she pressed on so naturally for conversation. Something to pass the time? Maybe it was somehow easier to work with new friends since it wasn't all that uncommon to form competitive pacts for a sense of community and companionship in such a dull place. As long as he wasn't the target of any ramblings he minded himself along the perimeters... that was until he was reeled into the conversation as well.

"-You too," she signaled Arthur across the way. "I've seen you around. I think with your family? You have a few sisters who come here, right? Kind of anti-social and shy too?" She asked, though she carried no contempt in her tone. Arthur stared in her direction and sporting an incredulous kind of expression. One that washed over him as though he wasn't sure whether or not to take offense or not. He resigned with crinkled brows.

"Suppose." Was all that had been said to her before turning his eyes over to Theo. With a scanning glance he wasn't too sure what to make of him. Then, without much humble effort, out came the question: "Did you run here or something?"

[Sincerely]

Theo found it a little hard to find his groove with the packing. Not because it was a difficult task, quite the opposite actually. It was incredibly easy. But, he felt obligated to turn around and face the girl who was talking to him. He liked to know that he was being listened to, so he just assumed that others must feel the same way. After grabbing a new box he nodded in response to the girl's question. "Yeah, I wasn't even supposed to be here today. But I like to help whenever I can." He said running his fingers through his hair nervously. Despite how genuinely kind Theo was, he hated acknowledging the humble act to himself or to anyone else. A faint pink brushed his cheeks, but he continued. "I was trying to get a spot organizing the events, but it was full. So I was sent in here." His eyes widened slightly as he heard the double meaning in his words. "Not that you guys aren't great! I just...I just meant this was the only place where they needed an extra pair of hands." He finished softly.

He was relieved when the attention was turned off of him. However nice, that girl was trying to be. Theo had somehow managed to string his words together in a way that made him seem like a douchebag. At least in his own mind, he came off like a douchebag. In reality, no one else would have taken offense to him saying that he was sent her as a secondary choice. It was a food bank. They were all here as volunteers and did work wherever work was needed. Theo took his time and loaded a couple more items into the boxes. Hearing someone ask a question about running, he could only assume it was meant for him seeing as how he was the late one of the bunch. "No, I biked over here. Though it wasn't much of a difference with how fast I was going trying to get here. But, alas, I have to worry no more for I have arrived to my destination in a fashionably late manner." He said with the corner of his mouth twitching up into a smile. He glanced up to see who had delivered the question. Spotting the blond boy not too far away, he nodded to himself. "Your name's Arthur, right?" He asked. He had seen him around a couple times before.

[badfool]

"I'm 'fashionably late' to school all the time. And you didn't miss much here. At least in coordinating you actually get to plan shit." One boy sighed with a weary smile that longed for the kind of rest Theo must've gotten from sleeping in.

Arthur's face tweaked in recognition upon hearing his own name. He found it a little surprising that Theo had even remembered it. In a smaller town where most people knew you, being homeschooled didn't really apply. It must have just been the bank where he was recognized, where he lacked in schoolmates he made up for in this place. Nodding curtly and studying his face with a bit more effort than before, he supposed that he'd seen Theo around too. He'd mentioned coordinating was his usual for the bank, an entirely different sort of crowd and reserved for people who could stand conversing back and forth without wanting to tear hair out. Usually a friendly bunch for the most part. Or so he'd heard. If it wasn't already full he would've nominated Chatty Redhead who might've been named Callie if he heard right from one of the others a moment ago.

"Yeah, it's Arthur."He responded, pausing in his routine and glancing Theo once over from the top of his hair down to the tips of his ratty shoes. One of the boys in earshot piped up with a chuckle. Mentioned some weird animal from a children's cartoon bearing the same name as though he was somehow invited. With an odd look of confusion washing over him it was clear he had no possible clue as to what he was talking about.

"I don't watch television and if I did it wouldn't be that." He answered flatly and tried his best to ignore being looked at as though he'd sprouted two heads. It wasn't that weird, at least he wasn't exposed to whatever backwards 'morals' TV had to offer. That, and it wasn't as though he had much of an option.

[Sincerely]

Theo chuckled softly as one of the volunteers claimed to be late to school on a consistent basis. He could never risk to do that himself. He knew with the way things were set up at home. He needed every second of free education that he could get. He was determined to do his absolute best, so that he could get as much money as possible for college and actually be something. He wasn't sure what he wanted to be. There wasn't even an inkling of a hint of something he wanted to do. But he was going to do something. Something big. And he was going to take care of his mom. Right now, he didn't need to know all the details, he just needed the goal to keep him on track.

Theo grinned when someone established the connection to the show. It was one of those famous ones, where they teach life lessons by overcoming original diversity with the help of family and friends. Nothing serious. Well, of course it wouldn't be anything serious, it was a kid's show. When Arthur mentioned that he didn't watch television, THeo tried not to look at him in shock. He dropped his gaze down to the packaging and mouthed the words, "What the fuck." An awkward silence filled the room, and a couple of people tried to discreetly cough to break it up. "That's fine if you don't know the show. It's nothing special anyways. Maybe you were named after King Arthur. You know, the one with the Sword and the Stone?" The whole room slowly started to relax, like a meat defrosting. But that's what Theo was good at, fixing other people's mistakes and making sure no one was hurt in the process.

[badfool]

Theo's attempt at keeping what thin layer of peace there was seemed to be successful, and aside from a few raised brows and amused grins aimed away from both Theo and Arthur and scattered coughs of discomfort it had passed in due time. Arthur's face turned quizzical for a split moment, as though he were batting the idea of whether he liked Theo's conclusion better back and forth in his mind, finally settling on being as close to pleased as he could be. Still, he had no clue what Theo was referencing and while his confusion still hung on his face he dismissed any lingering annoyance with a single nod. No wonder he came from coordinating – there had to have been someone to keep the peace and everyone happy or else the entire group would turn into a madhouse without a director. It's why he chose this group out of all of them despite his family's encouragement to get more involved past manual labor. To be a leader, to steer a group in the right direction with a voice of steel and strength. But with a reddening face and pinched brows, dancing along the edge of grouching and staying it wasn't a path that presented itself easily. It's why he stuck himself here. To work, to keep to himself and go home as though he didn't have to expose himself to gaudy teenagers who made strange faces and said even stranger things. Kids his age who spoke and dressed vulgarly, shouting and cursing and staring. Kids who made his face red, his brows pinch.

He made a few more rounds before one of them spoke up again as though waiting for water to freeze before it was steady to walk over. "So, is it 'cause you don't like TV, or?" mumbled a boy who expressed an equal amount of both curiosity and amusement over the conversation. It took Arthur a moment to even realize it was him being spoken to, and with a surprising amount of might he answered in complete seriousness.

"No, I don't. I don't have one and I don't want one ever. It's trashy and perverted." Arthur mumbled back in minimized volume, his face lowered in concentration as though it took all of it to work through the simple chore. He didn't bother looking up and meeting the eyes of whichever one had asked. He didn't need to, didn't care to see their face. The other snapped his eyes over to Theo as if he'd somehow struck gold, shooting the brunette a tight smile and excited eyes that flew over Arthur's notice.

'Holy fucking shit', he mouthed to the newcomer through his smile.

[Sincerely]

Theo moved the full box onto the floor and picked up an empty one. He worked as quietly as he possibly could while the others just stood around looking between their feet and Arthur, and communicated through fake coughs. He couldn't stand when people did this to others. Society has groomed most teenagers to spot uniqueness like a "Where's Waldo" game. Except they treat it like a breakout virus. Somehow there was the misconstrued conception of normal, that people used to justify their bullying. Right now, even though there were only coughs filling the room, it was still bullying in Theo's eyes. Simply due to the fact that if Arthur turned around he would feel like a professor in a lecture hall.

One of the volunteers eventually spoke up. But rather than starting up some pointless conversation with someone else, the question was directed back to the one person Theo believed, wanted to stay out of the spotlight. But the answer he gave actually made him confused. He was dirt poor and he still had a TV, but this guy looked like he had money. Not rich, but financially comfortable. It just didn't make sense to him. Especially because he has enough knowledge of television to form a negative opinion.

Theo looked back to the one who voiced the question and only nodded in response. He was thinking the exact same thing. Trying to better understand it himself, he asked, "Why do you think that? Not all TV shows are bad. They have documentaries and stuff for little kids."

[badfool]

Arthur didn't seem to pick up on much of it. Or, at least, it didn't appear that he did. He kept his eyes level to what he was doing, where he was sorting things and didn't pay mind to a few lingering stares. What were they going to do to him now aside from a red face and tug at his nerves? Theo really seemed to be the only one interested in the topic, and though he didn't push it like the others did in their silence he felt compelled to respond nonetheless. A few flickers of a glance over to the brunette really seemed to be the only contact his eyes ever seemed to make with him, even in passing. He didn't understand. Didn't see why it was so fascinating to people how he lived and if anything he wanted to be the first one to point out that they were the odd ones out - not him. Never having gotten anywhere with that argument though it had quickly been retired.

"I don't 'think' it. It's true." Arthur practically sighed his answer to Theo, as though he were truly distracted with what he was doing to really be bothered by any of it. Realistically, he bit back his own irritation and to anyone who actually watched him it was evident. His shoulders tenser than how they usually 'rested', his brows furrowed in the kind of concentration that came about forcing concentration rather than a genuine sort, and he walked briskly back and forth like it were somehow his job to be doing this. And all the while he kept his tone low, forcing indifference despite the fierceness behind it. "It's indecent and immoral and it teaches people the wrong way to be," he began, drumming out each word with more and more intent as he went along. Soon enough, it seemed to really be only Theo that was in earshot of him, surprisingly for the better. This time, when he walked by, he turned his eyes directly to Theo. As if, somehow, he weren't a nineteen year old boy but someone much, much older. He concluded. "Tpo many shows that make kids promiscuous; it makes them violent, and some turn 'em into queers." Perhaps it would have been funny if Arthur cracked a smile thereafter, a hint of showing Theo that he was kidding. But when none came and when he turned away from him, he was every bit as serious as it sounded.