Why are you talking to me? (TK)

[Deleted]

By now Oriel had figured out how to avoid the biggest crowds that plagued the cafeteria enough that he could save a buck or two by actually getting his free meals from it instead of cooking back at his dorm. He still did so in the evenings, when he could share it with his boyfriend Phoenix, but too many times did that lead to an excess of leftovers that his roommates may or may not eat...and Jack seemed to have stopped coming over to steal the food right out of his fridge while he wasn't looking, so he was actively trying to cut back.

But just like the last time and every time before that, there was the occasional stare from the random student who no doubt had heard rumors about Oriel's violent history over the past few months. Beating up fellow students, abusing his own boyfriend, knocking up that girl who got pregnant last year, sleeping with x, y, and z behind Phen's back. Oriel had stopped listening to them at some point and just continued to live his life, uncaring of what they said....ok, no, he did care what they said, but it was just easier on himself to ignore it, otherwise some of those that weren't true might become true.

And just like last time, and every time before that, Oriel took a seat at the emptiest table he could find which quickly became completely empty as people suddenly realized that they could eat faster, they weren't hungry, or they had somewhere else to be.

Oriel sighed. Whatever. Fuck 'em.

With a scowl, he picked up his fork and dug into his chicken and mashed potatoes. Heh...stuff wasn't half bad.

[Terrance Kellam]

"Allen, bro, you can't do that," T.K. moved through the line, getting the slop wonderful, nutritious, and delicious* food that the Hammel Institute was preparing for their meal today. Chicken, mashed potateos... T.K. told them to add a bit of extra gravy to his plate in the midst of his phone conversation with his little brother. "Just because I'm a fuck up doesn't mean you can be, got it?" His little brother, all of 12 years old, had failed three history tests. Their mother and Allen's father were pretty furious, especially when he used 'But T.K. dropped out of school!' as an excuse. Naturally, his step-dad called him and told him to talk some sense in to him, which he was more than prepared to do.

"If you keep flunking, you'll end up like ME... That's not supposed to be a good thing!" The two shared a laugh. "Seriously, don't do that again though. I'm a screw up. Don't be like me." His brother finally gave in and promised to do better and they ended their call shortly after.

T.K. was ultimately feeling like shit right now. Talking to his brother was great, but he didn't want to be that kind of an influence on any of his younger siblings. Depression was kicking in, and he didn't like where that lead. With his food, he looked around for somewhere to sit. It didn't help that everyone he knew at Hammel from two years ago was essentially gone, but that never stopped him before. If he was alone, he'd just make new friends. And there was a viable target within his sights.

"Dude, sitting by yourself cannot be healthy." He took a seat across from Oriel, completely unaware of the boy's troubled history. Without letting him get a word in, he dug a fork into the mashed potatoes and sniffed them. "Please tell me this doesn't taste like shit..." Sniff sniff.

[Deleted]

If Oriel was feeling as isolated as he probably looked from afar, he wasn't showing it on his face. No, the master of masks was putting on a face of annoyance and agitation, a scowl to out-scowl all scowls, and if that kept people away then so be it because nobody was going to see him feeling sorry for himself. He just needed to get this done and over with and he'd get back to the dorms where he can hide out and be recluse with his lover.

He lifted his head with what might seem like a glare of confusion when someone dared to sit across from him and point out the healthiness of his sitting alone. Oriel blinked as the other boy inquired about the food. "It don't," he muttered with a why-are-you-talking-to-me stare. "The fuck you..." he stopped himself from insulting the guy straight out and released a frustrated sigh. "Whatever..." he mumbled.

[Terrance Kellam]

T.K. took another sniff of the mashed food and nibbled. It wasn't bad, but he'd had better. A quick sniff of the bird told him it was also safe to eat, but would probably yield similar results. In the midst of him getting acquainted to the food, T.K. missed the beginning of Oriel's second statement.

"Dude," he began, fiddling with the mashed potatoes on his plate, "I think I need something fried. With french fries." He laughed a bit. Most people seemed unable to strike up random conversations with random people. For some reason, T.K. felt it was easy. Why spend life alone when you can meet everyone?

He looked around the cafeteria. Nothing really sparked his interest. He was going to have to hit up a fast food place after this. Until then, though, he nibbled at his mashed potatoes -- they tasted much better than the chicken to him. "You can not be enjoying this..."

[Deleted]

From someone who lived a long childhood of neglect and being forced to either feed himself somehow or just go hungry, Oriel couldn't think of the food he was eating as anything but good. He still thought his own home-cooked meals were better, though, but Oriel wasn't picky. And while it was well known that the chef here had high standards, Oriel wasn't much a connoisseur, so he couldn't really comment.

Then again, he also wasn't one who indulged in fast food. If he wanted french fries, Oriel'd just chop up some potatoes and toss 'em in a fryer himself. With an ongoing glare, Oriel licked the taters off his plastic spoon, like he was licking the love juices off a limp-stick.

No, Oriel wasn't enjoying this. But at least eating by himself was something he was used to. Being spoken to by someone who was a complete stranger, he was not used to that. And so he responded how he usually did when uncomfortable. "What's your problem, Home-boy?"

Oriel paused for a moment to look the guy over. Like really look at him. "I haven't glared at you before. Must be new." Oriel smirked in a halfway friendly manner and returned to his potatoes.

[Terrance Kellam]

T.K. preferred his mother's cooking above all else. His little brother, Allen, didn't care for much for their mom's cooking, but he was one of those kids who, when going out to fancy restaurants, would always order chicken strips. T.K. had a small phase like that when he was younger, but his mother broke him out of that fast. T.K. could only assume his brother's phase was lasting longer because of his mother's husband.

Since this wasn't his mother's, it wasn't up to his liking. The seasonings were off, consistency all wrong -- but it was edible, and tasty. Just not his mother's. And since he couldn't have her's, he needed something else. "It's... off," he poked at the chicken.

This food-poking was replaced by laughter for a bit hearing the boy accuse him of being 'new.' Funny thing was, he almost said the same thing to him when he sat down. "Far from new. I used to go here almost two years ago, but dropped out... Came back over winter break." He smiled and decided to give the chicken a second chance. Eh, it's alright I guess. "I'm T.K., homeboy," he said with a smirk.

[Deleted]

Again, home-cooked meals were by far the best, Oriel would have agreed. Though still, his tastes ran more around...well, whatever worked. Concoctions of whatever was left in the pantry. If there was only a can of cream of mushroom, a cup of uncooked rice, salt, and a random grapefruit in the fridge, Oriel would borrow a potato and figure out how to make it all into a meal.

Though in Oriel's opinion, this guy was just being picky. Just eat the damn food. It's already cooked, don't fucking waste it like a privileged idiot. He didn't say that, of course. Instead, Oriel tilted his head and gave him a cocky smile. "S'matter? Ain't fried enough for you?"

This was definitely not the way to be making friends.

Two years ago? No wonder Oriel didn't know the guy. He himself only got here two years ago and had been pretty reclusive for the first several months. "Thought it w's something like that. I never forget a pretty face." Too much? Didn't matter. This guy knew how to laugh and his self-introduction, using Oriel's own words, had the boy sporting his pleasantly amused grin. "I'm Oriel....T.K.," he acknowledged the older boy's name with a slight nod.

Oriel looked around the dining-hall, catching a couple people trying very hard to not look. "You do this kind of thing often, T.K.? The fuck they call it? Social suicide?"

[Terrance Kellam]

T.K. never really saw himself as 'privileged,' though looking back he was pretty well taken care of. Having divorced parents didn't stop either of them from being in his life. In fact, he had two sets of parents now... which was probably the definition of privileged.

"Nice to meet you. Now, you know this would be better friend, bro." He took another piece of chicken and ate it. Yup. Seasoned, dipped in batter, deep friend, served hot. Continuing to think about the crispy food was ruining his appetite; it was all he wanted at this point. He pushed his plate away, having left over half of his chicken, only a few spoonfuls of his potatoes lingering. He took a sip of water from his cup, leaning back in his chair.

"... Why is this social suicide?" He noticed him look around. T.K. tried to see what exactly he was looking at, but couldn't follow what the other was trying to get at. 

[Deleted]

Oriel couldn't say. While the boy couldn't say he was a healthy eater, he also wasn't one to go for the fried stuff. Again, as long as it was food, he was pretty happy. "If you say so." Though seeing the guy actually push the plate away and reject it outright...Oriel had to say something. "You just going to throw that away half done? Didn't your mom or whoever ever tell it ain't cool to waste food." Oriel was told that as a boy by his foster granny. Even if she hadn't, though, he probably would've developed the same perspective.

"Hmmm..." This guy really was new...ish. Well, he did say he only got back over break, so he might not have heard the rumors yet. "Dunno, but you ever think there might be a reason or eight why I warrant my own personal crater?"

[Terrance Kellam]

"συγνώμη!" TK blurted out in Greek, apologizing with a slight smirk. He actually found it a bit funny that his new bud had taken offense to such a thing, but he made sure not to let it be fully known. He scooted the plate back towards him, using his fork to move the mashed potatoes around a bit. He doubted he was going to eat any more, especially since it was cold now, but he wanted to look like he was trying to be considerate.

He listened to him not really explain the reason why he was sitting by himself. T.K. raised his right eyebrow and sipped his water. "Is it because you won't let people throw away their food?" Another smirk. "I can see that being a problem for some people." This guy was fun.

[Deleted]

Oriel furrowed his brows in confusion, not quite(or at all) recognizing the exclamation his new "friend" had exclaimed. He sat up and stared at the guy as he pulled his plate back to him and started picking at it. Oriel narrowed his eyes and put on a smirk. "What'sa matter? That shit ain't a nose, so quit picking at it."

Of course Oriel wasn't going to explain the reason why he was stigmatized. He didn't even tell his ex-hook-up Tak when she came back last month. If this guy was so out of the loop to have not heard about anything yet, then he was definitely going to hear about it once this meal was over.

Still...he wasn't completely unamusing to talk to. "Damn straight. I'm the guy who tracks down the kids who don't eat all their vegetables and give them nightmares about the third world." Oriel snorted, ripping a large piece off of his chicken with his teeth and chewing it like an animal. Of course he wore his classic demon grin.

[Terrance Kellam]

He squinted at Oriel as he was being scolded -- This kid thinks he's my mom, HAH! -- contemplating his next move. Using his utensil-less left hand, he poked at his chicken, confirming it was definitely cold by now. There was absolutely no way he was going to touch either food product on his plate. When he mentioned the third-world stuff, it gave him an idea.

"Well, little known fact," he said as he stood up, heading for the nearby trash can. "There's a meta here who goes through the trash and 'recycles' thrown away food. It's her power or something..." T.K. plopped the food down in it without a second thought before returning to his seat. "Figure I might as well help out her cause." He smiled. It was a bunch of bullshit, but, knowing some of the powers that walked these halls, it was definitely plausible.

"So, tell me, why do you need this 'crater'?" With air quotes. 

[Deleted]

While it was true that he had a habit of taking care of others like a mom, Oriel wasn't trying to act like one to this guy, he legitimately didn't like it when people so blatantly threw away perfectly good food just because they were ignorant and picky. Didn't they know that someone took the time to make that for them?

"I call bullshit on that," Oriel said with a glare. "I think you're just trying to justify being an ungrateful asshole." It had nothing to do with the environment or anything like that. Seeing how easily the privileged disposed of things so mindlessly that the less fortunate would love to have was one of Oriel's biggest pet peeves. It was the reason why he was so meticulous about taking care of his things. If you were going to have nice things, you best take care of them so you can keep using them like new.

Hmph. At least Oriel had grown enough over the past few months to not let such a thing bother him to the point of exploding. If he hadn't, then TK wouldn't have needed to ask why Oriel needed the crater. "If I told you I killed someone, would you believe it?" he sneered, leaning into the table. It wasn't true, but close enough. Two half deaths equaled one whole one, right?

[Terrance Kellam]

"Ungrateful? Yes. Asshole? Noooooo." He wasn't trying to be one, in all seriousness. It just... happened? "But, I'm glad you think that way. Someone's gotta save the earth and stuff when assholes like us do that." Cue the smirk. T.K. wasn't completely heartless. He tended to care about going more digital to help save trees and stuff, if that counted.

He thought about this guy murdering someone. Wasn't a stretch. T.K. could totally see him strangle someone with a jump rope, or slipping them three too many pills, or maybe drowning. But in those situations, despite his attitude with him, T.K. could only really see them as really bad accidents. He couldn't see him going Carrie or Jason on anyone."Eh, I wouldn't be completely surprised, but I doubt murder is the reason." 

[Deleted]

For once, Oriel wasn't actually trying to be an asshole. Hell, being particular about cleanliness and eating habits weren't even the things that Oriel used in order to be an asshole to another person. Well, there was that one time that Oriel cleaned Madison's pig-stye of a room, and then he was always harping on Phoenix about eating to the point that he would force feed his lover until he couldn't move and then have his way with him....

Ok, maybe he did use it enough, but this was different! Oriel didn't know how, but he just knew it was! And the worst part was, this guy, TK, was deliberately pointing out how he wasn't appreciating the slop he just dumped. "Listen, Godiva, I don't give a goddamn about the fucking earth, it can rot for all I care. I just don't like it when retards dump out perfectly good food when some other sap could've taken it. If you're going to toss it anyway, buy it with your own money and bring your own fucking lunch. See how easy you chuck it then."

Oriel definitely wasn't planning on lecturing the guy like that either. But at least he wasn't screaming at him like he had some ungrateful bitches.

Though the fact that this guy didn't think Oriel looked like the kind of person who'd kill someone...actually made him smile. They weren't accidents, but he definitely didn't mean to take them that far. "Well...at least you got something of a brain on you." Oriel shook his head. "Nah, half the shit people say is just that." He shrugged. "Gets me a table to myself, so can't complain." Even if it did sting when they cleared out like that.