Hitting The Books Is Bad For The Spine(Stewarts)

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Oriel didn't like the library. It was chock full of things he didn't understand nor cared to. The only thing he ever came to the library for was to use the computers, but even then he tried to go when traffic was low. He couldn't stand watching other people on the student access computers typing away and reading these webpages that would make Oriel's head hurt, all while he was simply looking at videos and pecking away at the keyboard with his index fingers. Seeing how much less trouble everyone else had made him feel unnaturally pathetic, which wasn't a good feeling for someone as proud and pompous as Oriel was.

He didn't know why he was here anyway(Ok he knew why), and he didn't even know who he was here with(Ok he at least knew their names and knew of them), but most of all, he didn't even want to be here(nope, no afterthought for that one).

Oriel needed some extra credit to rise to the next grade level. He was doing that badly in his classes, especially his English class. All the writing gave him a headache and he wasn't good at it in the least, he'd neglected to do most of his homework and refused to seek tutoring. If he made it through this mandatory group project with these twins, then Oriel might actually have enough credit to pass the grade.

Not that he cared. (Lies!)

Oriel found a spot in the library close to the windows. He sat down at the table, laying his head in his arms while he waited for his doom to arrive.

[Orion & Naomi Stewart]

The Stewarts did not have mixed feelings about the library. This was surprising, as they had mixed feelings about everything. But this was one place where they were in complete agreement. Naomi had always enjoyed the quiet of the library as a place to escape and enjoy reading. Orion liked studying. So it was without any concerns at all that the Stewarts strolled in, looking around curiously for their group partner. Naomi, unused to getting good grades and quite enjoying it, wasn’t happy, but she knew like Orion that the teacher hoped they could help Oriel improve his grades.

”Because smart equals a good teacher.”

”We know how to tutor just fine.” Orion’s hazel eyes skimmed the room, and he eventually found the boy they were supposed to work with. The twins walked over and settled smoothly, and in sync, across from Oriel. Orion studied him curiously, Naomi’s gaze was slightly more hostile.

”Oh, you look like you’re in a fine mood,” she said. Orion just shrugged, as if dismissing it, then offered a wry smile.

”Let’s just get this over with. We have to do a presentation. How are you at talking—”

”Oriel?”

One of the teachers had bet that the twins liked making people uncomfortable by switching attitudes and letting the other carry on the sentences. It was impossible to tell if this was accurate, or just the fact that their control was not yet superior. In this case, it did seem to be the former. Along with their love of the library, both twins had always preferred to make others uncomfortable, although it was an urge Orion had kept buried for the most part.

[Deleted]

Actually, the library wasn't a bad place to catch some zzz's, Oriel wondered why he'd never thought of it before. It was generally quiet, had some good holes scattered about he could probably pass out in, like study rooms.....nope. Still too many people and having people watch him sleep was just as distracting as it being too noisy. Actually, Oriel could handle noise more than strange spectators, so yep, library was instantly re-nixed.

Still, he'd almost gotten into snooze mode by the time the twins showed up and tried to freak him out with their creepy speaking tendencies. Yeah it was creepy, but it made him wonder if he and his own twin sister were ever that close? His memories of her were both strong and vague. Seeing these two always left him feeling a little uncomfortable, but not for the reasons they were probably going for, not that they'd know it. Oriel had never told anyone at Hammel that he was a twin, the only ones who knew were the people he used to know back in NYC. Basically, Xavier and Kodah.

Still, it was creepy how they tended to move as one person. Oriel had mixed feelings about that sort of thing being possible for himself and Orin should they ever be reunited.

Which was likely going to be never.

He glared up at the twins with a disgruntled face carrying all the disdain he felt for being forced into this place and into this project.

"Durrrrr......." Oriel vocalized, trying to sound like a special-needs kid. No he was not taking this seriously.

[Orion & Naomi Stewart]

It wasn’t so much that the twins were close. They had spent the majority of their young life apart. However, the situation had forced them together, and as they were nearing the end of their training, there was very little they could keep from each other and few thoughts that weren’t shared. It was a forced closeness, and one of the first things Orion and Naomi had shared one mind on was the fact that they didn’t like it.

Still, there wasn’t much of an option. They’d gotten used to it instead.

So while they could’ve made their speaking patterns better, less creepy, they stuck with it because it made everyone else feel as uncomfortable as they did.

Had they known that Oriel had a twin, however, they might’ve rethought their strategy.

”Oh, this is a good start,”” Naomi said, staring at Oriel with something like disgust on her features. Orion’s expression was more complex—a bizarre mixture between the same disgust and a more distant politeness. The politeness one. For both of them, although a faint twitch of Naomi’s lip indicated she wasn’t too happy about it.

”I have a deal for you,” Orion told him. ”If you agree to act like a normal person for…an hour.”

”Then we’ll do all the work.” Naomi was definitely looking exasperated now, but her tone was as even as her brother’s.

”Four hands will do the work no matter whose hands they are,” Orion said. ”But we’d like you to be articulate.”

“For an hour,” Naomi added. “It would be dumb to expect anything more.””

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Oriel's lips turned upward into a look of pure mischievous. The offer sure was tempting and he should have just sucked it up and done what they asked. But he was also bored and needed some level of entertainment, which he may as well get from these twins.

"'The raaaaain in Spaaain stays maaainly in the plaaaain.'" He made sure to say it as annoying as possible with his lips over-articulating the horrible vowels. Oriel's grin just got wider.

"Or how 'bout this one? 'Moses supposes his toses are roses, but Moses supposes errrrrroneously.'" But if they really wanted articulate....

Oriel stood and hopped onto the chair and extended his hands out dramatically. "To be, or not to be: that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing end them? To die: to sleep; no more; and by a sleep to say we end the heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep; To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub; For in that sleep of death what dreams may come when we have shuffled off this mortal coil, must give us pause: there's the respect that makes calamity of so long life......" Oriel bowed and waved his arms as if he were receiving the joyous applause of thousands and murmuring out a few silent "thank you"s with an over-emotionally false expression of overwhelming tear-jerking happiness.

Then just as suddenly as he had popped up, Oriel hopped back down and re-took his seat with a boyish smile. "Now where were we?"

[Orion & Naomi Stewart]

Judging by the expression, Orion and Naomi had clearly not expected any of those words to come from Oriel’s mouth. The twins looked at each other, and then Naomi smiled and stepped up onto the chair and assumed a grave expression. ”I believe it continued with…this.” She focused her attention, dropped her voice, then spoke. “The oppressor’s wrong, the proud man contumely. The pangs of despised love, the law’s delay. The insolence of office, and the spurns that patient merit of th’ unworthy takes.”

”But I think the best part is this.” Orion smiled and helped Naomi down as he stepped up onto the chair. ”To grunt and sweat under a weary life, but that the dread of something after death, the undiscovered country, from those whose bourn, no traveler returns, puzzles the will. And makes us rather bear those ills we have than fly to others that we not know of?” He paused. ”Thus conscience does make cowards of us all.”

”And that’s enough,” Naomi said, pulling her brother down. She steepled her fingers and regarded Oriel over them. ”You do realize you’ll have to be doing the work now, right?

”We should have filmed that to get him into the drama class,” Orion added thoughtfully.

[Deleted]

"There was more to that?" Oriel said with a halfhearted laugh once the twins had finished their follow up. He was actually more amused than annoyed that they had joined in with his soliloquy. Most people just looked at him strangely when he did stuff like that, which was honestly the response he was going for, but having people join in was always more entertaining. "Where's that from anyway?" Based on the sentences that didn't make sense, and the monologue-comments from the comedian he just copied it from, Oriel had a halfway idea that it came from some Shakespeare play, but he wouldn't be able to tell you which.

"Meh, it was worth it," Oriel retorted with a dismissive shrug, not actually caring how much work he had to do. If he could do it then he would. If not, then he wouldn't, that was all there was to it.

"Hell, no. I don't want that shit plastered all over the internet," he said apathetic eye-roll, though if he really thought about it and was a little more honest with himself, Oriel would realize that he'd actually kind of enjoy the attention, no matter how it turned out. "So what are we doing, my almighty twin-tutors?"

[Orion & Naomi Stewart]

Some of the respect on the twins’ faces were lost here, but some of their comments had to be limited. After all, they couldn’t recall which one of them had managed to memorize Hamlet’s soliloquy. Naomi believed that it was her, as she was the one interested in theater, but Orion wasn’t so sure. He had the better memory, after all. But this debate, like many they had recently, was voiced silently as more of a duel of thoughts.

”Hamlet,”” Naomi said in her flattest tones, eyeing him. ”Shakespeare. England. Elizabethan era. Any of this ringing any bells?”

”Relax, Naomi.” Orion gave her a look, then turned his attention back to Oriel and studied him. The end decision was, even if he didn’t know where the monologue had come from, he was intelligent enough to memorize it. Therefore, all hope was not lost and they could proceed with the assumption that he was an abnormal human being like the rest of them.

”First of all,” Orion said. ”We’re not your tutors. We’re working with you. Think of it as collaboration.”

”If you know what that word means,” Naomi muttered.

”I thought we’d start with planning the poster,” Orion said, ignoring her. ”Or the PowerPoint. Any suggestions for which one?”

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"Hamlet," Oriel repeated, giving Naomi a curious look of "what's your problem", as if she had nothing to complain about in regards to Oriel. He'd heard of the play but had no idea what it was about. Actually, he'd heard of quite a few Shakespeare plays before, but wouldn't be able to match their stories to their names. "Is that the one where the dude sleeps with his mother then tears his eyes out?" Leave it to them old playwrights to be overdramatic, but that's just the kind of scene that Oriel would have fun acting out.

Oriel gave the girl yet another incredulous glare, then turned his attention back to the Orion, completely ignoring his question about the poster vs powerpoint. "Ok, I like you," he said, pointing his finger out to the other boy. "Miss Cranky over here has all the personality and social skills of a potato." That, and she'd had a chip on her shoulder from the moment she'd opened her mouth, though admittedly, Oriel hadn't done much to inspire any degree of confidence from the two, but at least Orion wasn't treating Oriel like he was a superior or something, he was speaking to him like a peer. Oriel hated being talked down to, especially by people who were, in all likelihood, blessed with the fortune of being "better" than the street kid in every way.

She was ticking him off.

"The bright side, I guess is that at least you have separate personalities," Oriel observed, flittering his eyes between the twins with an uncomfortable look about him, "even if you're doing the whole creepy twin thing." Oriel scowled and averted his eyes. Yeah, it was at least reassuring that they maintained that sense of self....maybe. It wasn't like Oriel knew what it was like, he hadn't seen his own sister for over 10 years. Though even now, he still felt he couldn't get rid of that bond or whatever it was. Oriel leaned forward and fiddled with the chain at his collar which fell and hid a locket underneath his shirt. Stupid twin-ship. No matter how much time passed, he couldn't remember nor could he forget.

Oriel sighed and laid his head on the table, groaning like an indignant puppy-dog. "..........best not leave either of those things to me anyway, unless you want it to look like a fourth grader did it." Actually, a fourth grader might do a better job than Oriel could muster.

[Orion & Naomi Stewart]

Naomi was staring at him as if she couldn’t believe the words coming out of his mouth. Which she couldn’t. Honestly, not knowing Hamlet? Where had the guy come from, Mars? Orion shot her a warming look, and then looked back at Oriel. ”No,” he said politely. ”That’s Oedipus. It comes a few centuries earlier.”

”Which would make sense as you have the instincts of a Neanderthal,” Naomi muttered under her breath. Orion did his best to ignore it. Sometimes he did have to wonder if Naomi just echoed everything he was thinking deep down, with the difference being that she had the courage to say it. But she’d been raised in a rougher environment than he had been, and had grown up very differently. It was no surprise she viewed the world in a different way.

Orion was about to open his mouth to explain that it wasn’t that easy to like one of them and not the other, but on reflection, he decided to let it be. Especially as Naomi was glowering at him and he could tell that she just wanted to burst with something extremely rude and impolite and he’d start to wonder, yet again, if he’d had some input into that.

”Sort of,” he said instead. ”We do right now, but when we’re fully trained and our powers fully manifest—”

“We’ll be one person in two bodies,” Naomi finished. ”Meaning that you’ll have to put up with me, you pain in the—”

“Let’s move on.” It was that or they’d get into another argument again, and Orion wanted this to remain civil. He didn’t dislike Oriel—in fact, he thought he would’ve liked him had Naomi’s irritation not been so potent. ”So, ah…what can you do? Memorization seems pretty good.” He didn’t care. So long as they finished the project he’d be happy.

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Where had this guy come from? The streets of New York City! Where he could sneak into a bazillion shows and not care what they were called because he almost always fell asleep halfway through. Except for musicals, those were pretty fun. And comedians. They had shows too. "Is that right?" Oriel confirmed, taking note of the difference. "So which one's Hamlet?" he asked of Orion, completely ignoring the snide comments from Naomi. He was actually just a tiny bit interested in knowing...you know, for future reference.

Fully trained, two bodies, one mind. But they weren't there yet......

"That's fucking creepy....." Oriel commented, sliding himself even further across the table. His eyes watched as his fingers lightly tapped on the table's polished wooden surface. "I can't even imagine it," he mumbled to himself into the flab of his arm.

Orion had a point, hey really should be moving on, but by this time, Oriel was more interested in knowing more about how these twins operated. Hell, that was more fun than doing some stupid English assignment. "Yeah, ask me to recite The Music Man sometime," Oriel said dismissively as he lifted his head and darted his fingers between them, his eyes mirroring the movement. "So, like...were you always like that? With the creep factor 10?"

[Orion & Naomi Stewart]

”The one where the guy’s uncle marries his mother,” Naomi said shortly. ”And everyone dies in the end.” It was a Shakespearean tragedy. It wasn’t like she was giving away anything by saying that.

Orion smiled over at Oriel faintly. ”Pretty much the sum of the differences. Oh, and Oedipus ends up blind at the end and less people die.” Difference between Shakespeare and Greek tragedies was not everyone had to die. Just, uh, just most people.

The whole creepy thing they were used to, even though Orion ended up straightening up a little and withdrawing from Oriel.

”That’s because you don’t have the imagination to.” Naomi said sourly. They should’ve been moving on, but they decided not to instead. Orion met Naomi’s gaze, offered a faint smile, then looked back at Oriel, both sets of eyes tracking the finger going between them.

”Wouldn’t it be creep factor twenty?” he inquired. ”No. We started when we were twelve, when we manifested.”

”Before that we were separated,” Naomi said.

”Foster care. You know the Music Man?” Easier to talk about musicals than feelings, definitely.

[Deleted]

"I would think so, considering the maniac gouged his eyes out," Oriel said with a slight roll of his eyes. Oriel didn't know the difference between Greek and Shakespearean plays, just that they were completely overdramatic and melodramatic, and it was like watching a soap opera where nobody knows how to just say what they mean.

And once again, Oriel simply ignored Naomi's comment. She wasn't interesting. Orion was.

"Touche, my dear sir!" Oriel exclaimed, raising his eyebrows and pointing at Orion. "It would indeed be 20."

"Yeah, one of my foster Grannies took me to see it once," the one who called him Oreo, "That guy, what's his name, is one smooooth-talking con-artist. Then I saw it a couple of times on AMC....I think." Oriel looked to the side with overy-contemplative eyes as he couldn't quite remember the name of the station. After that, though, Oriel looked up the musical numbers on youtube. Youtube the blessed thing. Then he bounced the conversation right back to the twins. "So you guys were apart when you manifested. What woulda happened if ya guys just," he shrugged, "stayed apart?"

[Orion & Naomi Stewart]

”Well, he had just found out that he’d slept with, married and had kids with his mother, killed his father and was basically the source of all his problems.” Orion pointed out. He seemed to be equally as fascinated by Oriel as Oriel was by him. Naomi gave up and rolled her eyes. She had to be here because part of her was fascinated too, but they didn’t mean she had to like it.

”That’s my math too you dunderhead,” Naomi said. She had no expectations of being listened to at all. But it was worth a try.

Naomi and Orion both looked thoughtful as they leaned back. “Harold Hill,” they said suddenly in unison. “His name was Howard Hill.” Then they looked back, looking enormously pleased with themselves.

The next one was a question they’d both considered, and they glanced at each other.

“Dunno.”

”Not that easy. From what I’ve heard, we—”

”Still keep manifesting, but without the benefits.”

”Reduction in strength, getting muddle-headed—”

”It isn’t much fun, let’s put it that way.””