Everyday People (Bunny)

[Raylaigh Hawthorne]

Raylaigh felt emotionally worn, but he finally felt like himself again. He was unbelievably grateful that Nao had been standing outside of his door, no matter how much at the time he didn’t want to see him. He had had to process it all, but in that he channeled his emotions into something else. He pulled out the old drawing he’d done of the sleeping Nao and he shaded it affectionately and added details here and there. It would be a good present to give Nao for his birthday, Ray thought. Ray spent a lot of extra time in the art room and his paintings came to life, even if they were creatures never seen in life. Here a kindly stork looking creature in a beautiful blue gown looked up into the stars and longed after the flying forms of her kind.

He was covered in pain after an hour of laboring over his loving work. And he was starving. He put a hand on his belly and took barely enough time to wash his brushes and his hands before he dashed toward the cafeteria. He couldn’t wait for food! It was definitely one of his favorite things. So when he walked in and smelled his favorite he was beyond happy. It was good to feel happy again, not just happy but stable. Stable to know that not everyone was lying to him, that maybe it was all in his head. And for the first time since Ray had known Jack the tree of doubt showed its first signs of death. Piling his plate high with delicious pasta and meatballs Ray contently wandered toward the cafeteria. He looked around at the sparsely populated room and wondered if for this first time in his life he’d been late for a meal!

Ray didn’t feel like sitting along so he picked a victim, a girl, perhaps a little younger than he was. “Hi-ya! Mind if I sit here?” He didn’t wait for the answer before he sat down. He was excited for food and his stomach rumbled loudly in demand. For a boy his size the plate probably looked like a fools task. He was tall and growing and the taller he got the skinnier he seemed, it almost felt like he would never fill out. Yet, for as thin as he was he could eat, chances were he’d go back for a second plate just as large. He smiled at his companion and offered a little bit of a wave. “I’m Ray, by the way,” he said and picked up his fork and started shoveling food into his mouth with a sense of urgency.

[Deleted]

It just so happened that Bunny was thinking about the very same person that Ray was at the moment, only her thoughts were quite different. Much more cheerful, and a tad bit obsessive, despite the fact she’d only met him a few days prior. But Nao had eaten pretty much any and all food that she had offered him so far, especially the takoyaki she’d made the day after they’d first met. So of course, having developed a crush on him in about .54 seconds after laying eyes on the boy, Bunny saw this as a sign that he felt the same about her, and that they were going to kiss and cuddle and live happily ever after!

Ahh…. The naivety that was Bunny was hard to believe sometimes, especially when it came to picking up people’s interest. She rarely got the nerve to talk to boys that she got crushes on, so this was a wonderful experience to her. They even had plans to watch a movie together this weekend – surely that was a date, right?? And they might even sit on the same couch next to each other, heehee…!

She was grinning to herself over this as she nibbled away at her lunch – a Caesar salad with chicken and a roll on the side – when a voice seemed to address her over the din of the lunchroom. Bunny blinked in surprise and looked up to see – oh goodness!!! Thoughts of Nao fled her mind momentarily as she got a good look at the new cutie in front of her. Wait, he’d said something, hadn’t he? What had he said? “U-uh, no, not at all!” she stammered, cheeks going pink at her unsteady voice. Bunny realized she’d looked at him probably a few moments too long and snapped her gaze away, biting her lip to hide a giggle. Ohmygoodness, what was with her luck this week?? “Oh! Um, I’m B-Bunny, it’s nice to meet you Ray!” she replied, trying not to seem as excited as she was. But… Wow, he sure had a lot of food, now that she was paying attention! “Um… Wow… You must have a big appetite…!” she commented, kicking herself a moment later. Was that rude to say? “I m-mean, not that you look like you do, but… Uh… N-never mind.”

Ugh!! So much for making a good first impression… Bunny half-pouted into her salad.

[Raylaigh Hawthorne]

Raylaigh didn’t think much more of the person he was sitting with than he usually did. The reality was, he didn’t see anyone he knew in the ten seconds he’d skimmed the room and so he made a new friend. Raylaigh was like that. He liked seeing people again and hanging out with them, but he was not in the least afraid to put himself forward and meet new people. New people were fascinating. The girl also seemed like she was in a really good mood and that pretty much decided it for Ray, he wasn’t sure what he was going to get into, he’d met so many interesting people here, he wasn’t about to lose out on the opportunity.

Raylaigh beamed at her, his eyes arching up like inverted grins. She colored and Ray found it terribly precious. Maybe he’d startled her out of a thought, or perhaps he’d just startled her. He didn’t think much of it. Ray met her gaze without fear and wondered if he’d accidentally engaged in a staring contest before she dropped her eyes. He giggled at her reaction and shrugged to himself putting a mouthful of pasta. She finally spoke up while he was chewing and he hastened to get the food down his throat so as not to be rude and talk with his mouth fun. “Nice to meet you to, Bunny!” He exclaimed feeding off of her happiness. He wondered what on earth had earned her the name Bunny, surely her parents weren’t that mean. Ray hesitated, then again, his mother had named him ‘Raylaigh’, he shrugged, it could be worse.

He laughed unhindered and shook his head at her. “No, no don’t worry about it, I know what you mean. I figure it’s okay, everyone’s always telling me I need to ‘put meat on my bones’ and whatnot.” He shrugged lifting his hands palm up at his shoulders. He had a feeling that between him and Nao they probably ate half of the kitchen stores. Looking over at Bunny he caught her look and completely misinterpreted it. He couldn’t have lived off of that salad, well he could, if he came back and ate an hour later. Not that he wasn’t going to do that now… He cocked his head. He couldn’t just ask people about why they ate what they did, that would be terribly rude and so instead Ray pushed his food around on his plate and said, “I haven’t seen you before, Bunny, are you new here?” Or am I just that unobservant?

[Deleted]

Ray was the sort of person that Bunny would be jealous of, if she knew his personality. She really wanted to meet more people – especially boys! – but she was pretty shy by nature and never could muster up the courage to talk to someone first. If someone else approached her, like Ray was doing now, she could to alright, but it was just that initial push that was so hard for her.

Oh gosh… Look at that smile! Bunny nearly had to grip onto the table to keep her balance from swooning. Hopefully he didn’t notice how flustered she was… Bunny knew she acted like a startled, frazzled little kid when anyone remotely cute talked to her, and that self-consciousness just made it even worse. When he took a bite of food, she hurriedly did as well, before dabbing the napkin against her mouth nervously in case she’d gotten any bit of food on the corner of her lips. He was so… Happy! Nao had been quieter, she thought to herself, but that was okay too… And she couldn’t decide at the moment who was more gorgeous.

She giggled into her hand when Ray replied, seemingly not offended. Phew. “O-oh, well, I don’t know about that, you look great to me!” Bunny chirped without really thinking. Cue another blush and stuffing a bite of the roll into her mouth before she could say something else stupid! But that was also stupid, because now he was asking her a question, and the girl had to chew furiously and swallow before she could respond. “Um, I’m kinda new,” she managed to respond after a sip of water. “I’ve only been here a few months, so uh, still getting used to everything and all!” What to say now, ahh….. “I’m, uh, I’m from Seattle,” she offered. “So it’s… Kinda a big change, going from a big western city to a small eastern town!” Bunny nervously toyed with her hair with her free hand, hoping she wouldn’t feel it shrinking away into her skull as a sign that she was using her ability without intending to from sheer anxiety. It had happened before – most recently with Nao himself. So far, it seemed like she was okay. “Um… Wh-what kind of food do you like, Ray?” she spouted off, thinking of the first (and obvious) thing that came to mind. Food was easy for her to talk about, because she made a lot of it herself. “I mean… What’s your favorite?”

[Raylaigh Hawthorne]

This girl was definitely interesting. Ray couldn’t stop smiling at how she giggled and blushed and overall acted very nervy. He was almost unable to eat he was trying to hold in a giggle himself. He loved meeting new people, especially when people like Bunny were around. She was so happy and Raylaigh fed off of her attitude and he already knew there would be no feeling bad around this girl. The carefree sort of happiness was just the kind of thing that he needed right now. He had been painting and drawing up a storm recently. It was his coping mechanism and looking down at his hands was like looking at a rainbow. He would have to do some serious washing and stuff. The flyer only now wondered if he might have gotten paint on his face. That would be just great, such a Raylaigh thing of him to do.

He shrugged it off, it probably didn’t matter. He was using art as his emotional outlet, which one had to admit was a lot better than avoiding his best friend like he had the plague. Poor Nao, Ray hadn’t meant to dump all of his problems at his friend’s feet but once he’d started talking he hadn’t been able to stop. He’d never felt more weak and exposed. Looking up at Bunny, he shook it off. She was right, this was no time for sadness this was a time for happiness. And eating. He took another large forkful of pasta and wondered if there would ever be a day when he felt full. He laughed in surprise and had to fight spewing food. Blushing despite everything, he reached for his water to swallow his food. “Thanks,” he said around a laugh and he only laughed harder when she blushed. “I think you look great too,” he said his tone teasing, but sincere.

“Oh wow! Another west coast person!” He exclaimed, “That’s awesome! I’ve never been there but I’ve heard that Seattle is awesome.” He nodded understandingly. “I believe it, well… not exactly, cause I’ve never been to the west coast, but I’m from DC so I definitely get the culture shock of a small town. I thought that it would be really boring, but don’t worry, a meta human school definitely doesn’t leave room for boring.” He realized he was rambling and stopped himself with a shrug. “Hmmm...” he considered brightly and ate some more bites because what better way to think about food than to eat. He set his fork down and put his chin on his fist. “Hmmm, I don’t know. I like so much stuff. Honestly, I’ll try anything once. I love sweets, like ice creams… oh but pizza! Can I have like… uh top ten?” He asked with a bright smile. “How about you, Bunny?”

[Deleted]

Bunny, nervous as she was, still was able to pick up positive emotions from people that she interacted with, and it in turn made her a little less anxious and more talkative and less stammer-y. Ray seemed really sweet, and that (along with his cuteness) made him easier to talk to than someone who intimidated her. She giggled again for no reason and looked down, happening to notice all the colors on his hands. “Oh, wow, your hands look pretty!” she chirped, then realized that sounded weird. “I m-mean, with all the colors and stuff! Are you an artist?” Wow, cute and nice and talented (not that she’d seen his work yet)? Was she dreaming?

She nibbled some more on her roll – it was really good, even if she had a hard time noticing the taste through her nervous infatuation with her companion. Bunny didn’t know about the emotions behind Ray’s art, but honestly, if she did, she would find it even more alluring, because boys that weren’t afraid to express their emotions through art forms were just… Rare and amazing, it seemed. Her eyes widened and blush deepened at his returned compliment, and then she burst into giggles again and hid her face shyly. “Th-thanks!” she stammered, butterflies tickling her tummy. “You’re really sweet…!” One thing she did like more about Ray than Nao was that he seemed more talkative – not that there was anything wrong with quiet guys! It just helped her feel less self-conscious.

She nodded rapidly at his exclamation. “Yup! I grew up on Mercer Island, it’s…” Well, it was known for being a pretty expensive place in Seattle to live, but she didn’t want to seem snobby. “It’s really nice there,” she finished after a moment. “You should go someday! There are a lot of really neat shops, and cute cafes, and parks, and…” Bunny sighed a little nostalgically. She kind of missed the big city. When he mentioned where he was from, she tilted her head curiously. “DC, huh? I haven’t been there! Are there a lot of, um, old white guys in suits walking around?” she giggled, hoping that wouldn’t be offensive. She just imagined that politicians were the entire population there. “Yeah… I’m still getting used to the whole meta thing. It doesn’t run in my family, but… At least they moved here with me, so it wasn’t too bad!” That was more for medical reasons than anything else, but she wouldn’t mention it unless asked. When he kept eating, she did too, although her plate was growing empty and soon she would be left with nothing to do with her hands. Then he started listing off all the foods that he liked, and Bunny giggled as he rambled. “I love sweets!” she replied happily. “I love baking, so that’s why I asked. I actually met this guy, Nao, in the home ec room the other day, and he ate all of what I made, otherwise I would offer you some!” She pouted a little guiltily. “It’s okay though, he was just really hungry I guess!” And cute. Really cute. “Maybe… maybe I could make you something sometime?”

[Raylaigh Hawthorne]

Ray looked down at his hands in surprise and giggled blushing a little as he ran a hand through his hair. “Thanks,” he said, “I didn’t mean to but they do look kinda cool don’t they?” He smiled and wiggled his fingers for Bunny to see. “A little, I mean I’m trying.” He ducked his head and gave a humble shrug. He wouldn’t say he was the most talented person in his class but he did have some shred of talent. And at least some people like Nao and Mr. Wentsworth thought he did and that was nice to hear. He couldn’t believe that he’d almost given all of this up. He shoved Jack out of his mind and stuffed more spaghetti into his mouth. It was the positive outlet for his emotions, it was the same sort of feeling he got when he flew and danced.

Raylaigh’s smile broadened at her enthusiasm and her laughter. It was terribly cute the way she colored and became frazzled. She was adorable. He waved a hand dismissively, and became a shameless flirt. “Girl, it’s only true.” He rested his head on his hand and smiled at Bunny. She was enthusiastic and happy and Ray felt like she was someone he could get along with well. Not that there was really anyone he didn’t get along with. Except for Oriel. Man, he hated that guy. He shook his head, shaking yet another person out of his mind. He was sick of worrying about people that didn’t matter. Jack didn’t matter. And if Jack didn’t matter then Oriel sure as hell didn’t matter.

“Oh cool! I’ve always wanted to go to Seattle, I shouldn’t probably stay away from the coffee though,” he laughed, he was already full of energy and it was all he could do not to run everywhere, if he had coffee, well god help whoever was stuck with him. He might literally be bouncing off the walls. Ray laughed and shook his head. “Not as much as you would think. It’s really just the one area, the rest of the place is just like any other city. Like you have the really rich area, the suburbs and the places that no one goes for any reason whatsoever.” He mapped it all out with his hands in a vague circle. “Its kinda cool to be where everything’s happening. My mom is a speech writer and last summer I worked a little bit as her personal messenger.” He smiled, that had been a very fun summer. Ray brightened. “That’s awesome! I guess it runs in my family a little bit.” Nodding he could understand being away from family being hard. “It was hard at first I guess, but my brother was here before me, so I had someone here… As good or as bad as that was.” He chuckled, now that they were older things were better but Kyle had certainly not pulled any punches. Though he was Ray’s most steadfast protector when it came down to it.

He nodded and laughed when Nao’s name came up in conversation. “You know that does not surprise me at all!” He waved a hand, “It’s not a problem though I will take you up on that offer. What kinda stuff do you make? Do you do the really artistic stuff? Like the cool animal cupcake looking things and stuff?” He gasped as an idea crossed his mind. “Maybe we could do that! Oh that would be so fun! You do the baking and the hard stuff and I can help you decorate!” He already had big plans for it. “That’s so like Nao! Never thinking about those of us out there who are missing out of sweets!” He declared dramatically, giggling and hugging his belly as he laughed.

[Deleted]

“They do!” Bunny chirped in reply with a smile. “That’s how my hands look after I’ve done a lot of make-up stuff sometimes, heehee.” Usually only when she tried costume make-up, though, and she wasn’t too good at that yet. “I’m sure you’re great!” she added on. “I’d love to see your work sometime.” Was that too forward? Maybe? Bunny blushed for the umpteenth time. “I-i-if you wouldn’t mind!”

Was he… Was he flirting with her?? Already? Bun couldn’t believe what she was hearing. When he smiled over at her, the younger girl laughed shyly and looked away, wishing she could chase away the heat in her cheeks. “You barely even know me,” she protested gently. “I could be a… An evil witch, or something!” She tried to put on her most ‘evil’ expression, but undoubtedly only just made herself look like an adorable angry chipmunk or something.

“Oh yeah, I’ve been to the first Starbucks a couple of times,” she replied with a laugh. “But the line is always like, a mile long because of all the tourists!” It was silly when there was another Starbucks literally just a block or two away. Bunny bet Ray would be fun on caffeine, although she doubted she would be able to keep up with him, as much as she would like to! She listened in interest as he described his home city. “Huh, I guess that makes sense,” she mused. “It just seems like such a… I don’t know… Top-secret, serious place when I think about it!” Bunny leaned in and whispered,”What sort of messages did you pass on? Like, FBI secrets and stuff?” Okay, now she was probably being too over-the-top, but she couldn’t help it, Ray’s silliness was infectious! “Oh, you have a brother? That’s really helpful, I bet. It was all super confusing and kinda scary when I got here!” And everything was still pretty new to her, really. “But I’ve met a lot of super nice people, like you! So that’s made everything better,” she added cheerfully with a smile.

He really was a sweetie! Nothing seemed to upset him, which were the kind of people Bunny liked to be around. “Yeah, I like to make cute animal stuff!” she nodded enthusiastically. “I really like the ‘kawaii’ look in what I make, like Hello Kitty and things. I actually have a Youtube channel, and tutorials are some of the things that I post!” Her eyes glistened at his suggestion. “I would love that! You could be in one of my videos if you want!” Any chance to spend more time with this cutie, she would gladly take. “Oh, you know Nao?” she laughed. “He’s really cut- I mean, uh, uh, yeah, he’s a pig!” A cute pig. Hee. “I bet we could bake something together and he would eat it all before we got a chance to try them ourselves!” He’d sure sucked down those donuts like they were nothing, in no time at all!

[Raylaigh Hawthorne]

Raylaigh laughed, “You know I would like to say that I don’t know how that feels, but that would be a lie,” he said, “Not that I put makeup on myself, but I’ve done if for a couple of my friends. I’m pretty badass for some Halloween makeup.” He grinned and cocked his chin upward with pride. He ducked his head and blushed. She hadn’t even seen any of his stuff but it did make him feel good that she thought so. “Uh… okay! I can show you some stuff I’m working on in the art room.” He smiled and nodded his head, indicating that he didn’t mind at all. He was shy about his work but he was trying to get into art school and he needed all the held critique and advice he could get. And he needed to learn how to take criticism if he was going to make it anywhere in the art industry.

Ray tried, he really tried! But he couldn’t stop himself. He burst into side aching laughter. Waving a hand, he struggled to get himself under control. “I’m sorry,” he wheezed out between laughter. “I think we’ll have to work on your diabolical expression.” He said still giggling. His eyes shimmered with mirth and he waggled his eyebrows at Bunny. The flyer smiled at Bunny, she was a sweet girl, definitely the last person he would have called evil or diabolical. She was far too kind for that. And pretty.

“Ugh I know how that feels. You can’t go anywhere in DC without being surrounded by tourists. They all wanna see all the famous places and they crowd the monuments and stuff. I mean I guess that’s why they’re there but it’s definitely annoying for anyone who needs to be somewhere at any time.” Raylaigh said, there was a great deal of joy he got out of complaining about tourists. They were the ones that were easy to tell. The ones that seemed a little terrified and awed by everything. “I’m not allowed to have caffeine,” he said, “I’d be literally bouncing off the walls and god knows I’d bust my head or something.” He laughed. Nodding he shrugged. “It’s really a lot of boring stuff. It’s not like the shows like the intense meetings and dramatic car chases and stuff.” Ray laughed, “No no, nothing like that. It was mostly just running errands that she didn’t have time for. And then passing along messages. I think they did most of it by email but my mom likes to keep me out of trouble so they just kinda went with it.” He giggled.

“You’d think!” Ray exclaimed pointing a finger. “He’s a dick though! I mean it was nice to have him here but definitely sucked, he always messed with me.” He shook his head. Really Zach and Ray got along fairly well. Now at least. Back when Ray started at Hammel though it was a completely different story. It was horrible, but at the same time he never had to deal with bullies ‘cause no one messed with Zach and therefore no one messed with him. “I have to say I miss having him here a little bit, but at the same time it’s nice not to have to watch my back.” He laughed, clearly not actually upset about his brother. They were brothers, messing with each other was just what they did. And to be honest, Ray had instigated just as many fights as Zach had. “I’m glad, it can be scary if you don’t know what’s going on. I definitely think people here are nice overall. Which is nice, ‘cause we’re all in this together, right?”

“Kawaii?” Ray asked, unfamiliar with that word. Which was not surprising considering Ray’s lack of abilities with languages. “Oh! You have a channel! What’s the name of it? I wanna check it out!” Ray’s expression brightened and he nodded his head emphatically. “Definitely! I’d love to! And I can definitely help with decorating. You might not want me to do the baking, but they have edible paint stuff right?” Nodding his head, Ray’s face tinted a little red. He knew Nao alright, he knew Nao very well indeed. “Yeah, he’s my best friend. I’ll definitely have to make him pay for not saving me any sweets!” He laughed. “That would be a lot of fun! I’ll sit on him while you bake and then we’ll get some before he does. This needs to happen Bunny! Definitely I need to try some of your sweets!” He was excited to try some of her food!