Impolite Company [Levi]

[Vincent Verax]

Vincent had almost immediately reverted to his normal routine of cutting class and slacking off once Brendan lost his teaching job at Hammel. His sole motivation for doing anything school-related was gone. Not that he'd told Brendan he was skipping classes again, because if he had, he was sure to get scolded. He'd just... forgot to mention it was all. Yeah, that's it. Forgot.

But no Brendan also meant that Hammel was marginally less fun to hang around. Sure, his friends were all there still, but without the chance of seeing Bren in class or even in the halls, it had grown rather boring. And so, when he passed Levi in the hall, without much thought, he'd pretty much roped the boy into coming with him on an impromptu journey into town. He wasn't really sure if Levi had agreed or not, but Vincent, like his buddy Sam, really didn't take "permissions" into account.

So that was how he'd ended up sitting in the little cafe across from Levi with a steaming mug of hot chocolate and a whipped cream mustache. (Yes, Vincent likes lots of whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles on his hot cocoa. Don't judge.) Vincent only really knew Levi through Sam. He was more familiar with Evan for the sole fact that he still had several pairs of the poor kid's pants. But his best friend had regularly said that Levi was a pretty cool kid, so who better to kidnap for an afternoon away from school?

"An' y'coul' see th'bone an' everythin'!" Vincent was pointing at his own wrist as he regaled Levi with the story of how he had indirectly caused Sam to break his wrist. Because that was totally an appropriate thing to talk about. "Was fuckin' awesome." He concluded with a nod of his head, grinning in his manic way at Levi.

[Levi Xu]

Levi wasn't a good student. He was smart enough, but he struggled in most of his classes, and in the ones where he didn't, he had a habit of putting things off until the last minute, or not turning them in at all. But since he and Evan started dating, he'd tried not to skip classes. He tried to be better at getting things in, even if it was just because Evan would grin when he did well on something.

But with his boyfriend still at home healing, it was easier to agree to sneak out. Plus, Vincent said he'd pay for the hot chocolate, and didn't exactly give him much of a choice.

"That's so gross," Levi frowned as he listened to the story. He would have thought it was cool, a few months earlier. But even knowing that Sammy's hand healed completely, it made the freshman sick to think about it. "Can we please talk about something else? Something where nobody's hands come off."

He added another little plastic container of creamer to the stack he was carefully building, trying to make it go as high as he could. "Sorry, I just really miss Evan. I just want him to come back to school." Another creamer, and the stack was looking pretty wobbly.

[Vincent Verax]

"His hand dinnit come off." Vincent clarified, proving that he had no concept of sensitivity. "Jus' went th' wrong way a little, s'all." Because that totally makes it better. But Vincent soon became distracted by the tower that Levi was building, watching as it swayed threateningly when Levi added more and more to the top of it.

He stopped staring when Levi mentioned Evan, licking off the whipped cream that still clung to his top lip. "He's gotta come back, righ'?" If it was that easy to get out of Hammel, Vin probably would have hacked off his own hand by now. ... and now he's wondering if it would grow back. No, Vincent. Just no. "D'ya know when?"

Vincent took another swig from his mug, keeping his hands curled around the warm surface once he set it down. "Yeah... I wish Bren coul' come back too." He looked rather glum, his focus trained on the table. He still felt awful about costing Brendan his job, despite what reassurances he'd been offered. If he hadn't been acting like a grade A asshole that night, the whole thing could have been avoided.

He placed his chin in his hand and slumped over the table, pushing the little sugar tray around aimlessly.

[Levi Xu]

"Yeah, but Evan's hand did, so I really don't want to talk about it." He frowned, and that distraction was enough for him to knock over the stack, sending creamers scattering over the table and the floor. The freshman blushed when the waitress looked over at them and glared.

Levi ducked under the table and started picking up the stray containers. "Vin, help me! And yeah, Evan's going to come back, but he's got a few more weeks before he can, since he's still learning how to use the prosthetic. Did you see it at the dance?" Evan's prosthetic arm ended in a pretty cool claw-like thing, and he could use it pretty well, but he was still learning how to write with this left hand.

"He's gonna be okay, right?" Of course, Levi had heard about Vin's boyfriend getting fired. That's what happened for dating a student. But that in combination with the diagnosis must have been hard. "They caught it pretty quickly, right?"

[Vincent Verax]

The collapse of the creamer tower made Vin giggle a little, watching the little tubs roll off the table as if they were committing suicide. (His analogy, not mine.) But it was also enough to take his mind off the story of Sam's broken arm, which Levi would likely be thankful for.

At least he was nice enough to get off his chair and help Levi collect the stray containers, listening while he described Evan's situation. "I was... kinda busy." Vincent answered, straightening up when he was sure they had gathered all the creamer, and returned his share to the table. "Busy" being the word he used to describe getting busted by Sean no less. That had only been extremely awkward. "But I ain' seen it yet." Not that he didn't want to, because we all know his feeble brain will be entirely fascinated with it.

Plopping back into his chair, Vincent looked genuinely confused. "Uh... yeah, he's fine?" He wasn't sure exactly what Levi was asking. "He's been lookin' fer 'nother job." He assumed that was what the question was pertaining to, but then Levi asked another and Vincent's eyebrows drew together. "Caught what?"

[Levi Xu]

The waitress was giving them less of a stink eye when Levi popped up again, dropping his pile of creamers back onto the table. The freshman gave her an innocent grin, and started putting them back into the little dish. "I mean... it'd be cool if it wasn't his arm gone, you know? He can open and close the claw by moving his arm, and he can do all kinds of normal things with it now." Though he couldn't play basketball or draw, he'd started making little model houses, and that was pretty cool.

"Oh, that must really suck." Levi had a pretty vague understanding of how health insurance systems worked, but he figured getting fired for sleeping with a student would be more than enough for Mr. James to have lost his. And now? That was pretty awful. "Do people not wanna hire him because he's sick?"

No, Levi didn't realize what Vincent was asking about. Not yet.

[Vincent Verax]

Vincent was unaware of any looks they might have been receiving from the waitstaff. Nope. The moment that Levi mentioned that Evan had a claw, well, that totally trumped anything that the waitress might have done or said because of the mess they'd made. "S'a claw? Fuckin' sweeeet!" Vincent was grinning. "Maybe I shoul' stop callin' him wall dude..." Yes, because "The Claw" is so much better.

Slumping over the table, chin in his hand, Vincent gave Levi a look that clearly said I don't know what the hell you're talking about. The bridge of his nose wrinkled as he replied, "Uh... he ain' sick." He'd been with Brendan just this morning and he was pretty sure that he'd shown no signs of illness.

"An' only an idiot wouldn' hire him." He looked stubborn. Brendan was talented and as far as Vin was concerned, he shouldn't have been punished for their relationship. It was just unfair.

[Levi Xu]

Dear Evan, Levi will soon be very sorry for any unfortunate impending nickname from Vincent. Undoubtedly though, "The Claw" was pretty cool, as nicknames went. "Please. He's been through enough shit. Isn't Evan good enough?" Oh well, at least he tried.

Vincent had always come across as something between stupid and goofy, but Levi thought even he'd be able to understand why Mr. James had been fired. It didn't matter that Vin was an adult too, it was creepy for a teacher to date a student. "Is he looking for another teaching job?"

The younger teen finally got it and blushed hard. Brendan hadn't told Vincent yet. Shit. "He, uh, kinda is, Vin. I'm sorry." This wasn't how Vincent should find out. Not from him. "You should probably talk to him about this. It shouldn't come from me."

Oh G-d. What had he done?

[Vincent Verax]

For a while, Vincent seemed to really contemplate calling Evan by his name. His eyebrows drew together in concentration and smoke came out of his ears because oh my god thinking and he drew in a long breath before he finally answered, "Mmmm... nope. He's th'fuckin' Claw now." Sorry Levi and, more importantly, sorry Evan.

He shook his head, then shrugged. "No. I mean, I don' think so. He's got some frien' that owns a theater or somethin'. Said he'd try t'get a job there." Vincent's arms folded across the table, raising an eyebrow at the sudden blush that colored Levi's cheeks. At his words, his stomach turned.

"What... what d'ya mean? He's fine. He's fine, ain' he?!" Levi knew something and he was holding it back and Vin didn't like it one bit. Especially because this something involved Brendan and being sick and Levi looked worried and that was never a good sign. "Wha'ss wrong wit' him? He didn' look sick."

[Levi Xu]

Levi's face dropped, and he groaned aloud. No. That wasn't fair. Evan deserved a better nickname than that. "I'll help you come up with a better one." the freshman said as he picked up one of the creamers from the pile in front of the older boy. "There's a lot better than that. Like Ghost. 'Cause he can disappear."

His point might have been punctuated by the plastic container leaving his hand and arcing over the table to bounce off of Vincent's face.

Of course, he was embarrassed again when Vincent started questioning him. This was what he hated the most about his power. It shouldn't be Levi's job to break the bad news to anyone, but he'd just make it worse if he shut up now. "Look, don't freak out. I shouldn't be the one telling you this, okay?" He took a deep breath again, then continued. "I'm really sorry, Vincent. He has cancer."

[Vincent Verax]

The little tub of creamer hit him in the cheek, but Vincent didn't even flinch. In fact, he hardly looked phased at all as he retrieved the container and began turning it over and over in his hands. "Claw's way cooler, dude." He had already made up his mind, I don't think you're going to convince him to change it, Levi.

But there was something more important at stake here, something way more important than whatever asinine nickname Vin is going to assault Evan with. And when Levi finally said it, Vincent went rigid. "C-cancer?" He wheezed, as if he'd been punched in the chest, and sank back in his chair like gravity had suddenly increased.

Even though Vincent wasn't the brightest crayon on the box, he knew that cancer wasn't something you just threw around lightly. "No! He can't." Vin looked remarkably pale, accidentally crushing the creamer container that was still in his hand without even noticing. "Why... why dinnit he say anythin'?"

[Levi Xu]

Suddenly, the freshman felt a flash of sympathy for his father. Dr. Xu was a doctor, and had to deal with telling patients and families bad news all the time. This was the first time Levi had ever told anyone something like this, and it hurt, seeing Vincent crumple in his chair like that.

"I don't know, Vin! I'm so sorry." Levi pulled a handful of napkins from the holder, then reached across the table to gently pry the plastic container out of Vincent's fist, then dab away the mess. "Look, maybe we should head back to your apartment and you should call him, okay? Let's just pay for this and go, and then you go call him."

The waitress was going to kill them for the mess.

[Vincent Verax]

For perhaps the very first time in his life, Vincent's head was filled with racing thoughts. It was quite a difference compared to the creeping, snail-like pace of his usual thought processes, but this was an extreme case. He'd just been told that Brendan had cancer and not even from Bren's own mouth. He'd had to find out through Levi. (Nothing against Levi, Vin already kinda liked the kid.)

How long had Brendan known and not told him? What kind of cancer was it? Was he getting treatment? Was he dying?!

Vincent didn't know and all the thinking was really starting to give him a headache. He saw that Levi was cleaning the mess he'd made (but didn't remember making) yet he didn't even feel the boy touch his hand. "He's not gunna die, is he?"

He stared at Levi, hopelessly confused while he tried to process all that was going on in his head. It took a while, but eventually the younger boy's suggestion registered, and with shaking hands, Vincent retrieved his wallet from his pocket and dropped several bills on the table. He wasn't even sure if he wanted to talk to Brendan right then, as he stood up from his chair and waited for Levi. He didn't know whether he wanted to shout at him for hiding this, or worry because Brendan was so sick.

"Can y'please jus' tell m' yer jokin'?" Vincent pleaded at Levi, hoping that maybe this wasn't real.