Edumication(Noa)

[Deleted]

Oriel kind of felt bad about not calling Noa to meet up with her sooner. There was just...too many things going on that took up his attention. Madison leaving. Lux getting drunk in the woods. The retreat.

Before he knew it, three weeks had passed and he hadn't even glanced at her name in his dingy little phone's contact list.

So after staring at it for about 30 minutes, Oriel finally gave her a ring and made plans to meet up somewhere where they were both comfortable.

He got there first, insanely early, because he had nothing better to do other than laze around anyway, so he may as well get his daily lazing done there. And the grass didn't feel to bad either, it was especially springy that day.

Oriel snoozed for about an hour before Noa showed up.

[Noa Reese]

Noa had been curious if Oriel would ever call. She had spent a few days putting together teaching materials (and by a few days, she referred to about 30 hours of time spent watching videos and finding diagrams and info to share), but he hadn't contacted her. Of course, his asking alone had stirred up her interest, so she continued to research anyway, assuming he'd lost interest, or been embarrassed, or had second thoughts about discussing sex with some random stranger he met in a convenience store.

But the he'd called. And she had been happily surprised.

So she'd packed up her laptop, loaded with as many videos as she could store offline, and two pairs of headphones with a doubler, as well as a few diagrams she'd put together, and made her way to the park. She was curious as to why he'd suddenly decided to call, but didn't know if he was about to open up about personal stuff like that. For all she knew, there had been a death in the family, and she didn't really want to go plodding around delicate material like that.

She gave him a brief wave as she approached, glancing around to see how close the nearest people were. Once she'd reached him, she gave him a nod of acknowledgement - a hug would've been too personal, and a handshake too formal. "Hey, how've you been?" The question was casual, but she was curious about his answer. Her powers were on full alert to detect any denial or lies in his words.

[Deleted]

Oriel still wasn't sure why he called her other than he had promised he would. Oriel may be a dick-wad, but he at least kept his word when he said he'd do something. Yes, he was still interested in learning more about everything but…

"Hi…" he greeted her with a boyish smile as he sat up from his laze in the grass, crossing his legs. He shrugged at her question. "Meh. Alright, I guess." Obviously a complete lie. And completely out of character for him to answer so straight and not with a clever or snarky or offensive remark that usually had people looking at him strangely.

"Soo," he started. "What did you bring for me? Sensei?"

[Noa Reese]

His answer was beyond unsatisfactory. But the wording was such that she couldn't determine much. He had been something other than 'alright' but she couldn't tell what. Which was frustrating. But she just gave him an incredulous look and shook her head. "So descriptive," she deadpanned, sighing and sitting beside him, pulling her laptop out of her bag.

She launched right into it, handing him a pair of headphones, and opening up the first video. When that was done, she asked if he had any questions, answered them as best she could, or explained that it would come up in a later video, and went right into the next. From communication, to the most common medical risks, to scene negotiation.

With that video, she pulled out a list from the papers she'd brought. "I know that you said you wouldn't use it, but I still think you should have a read over it and-or give it to your pet - it can be rather inspiring," she added with a smirk, holding it out to him.

[Deleted]

Again, why had he come? This was stupid, it wasn't like he….

Oriel ignored her comment, but did scowl a slight up at her. "We doing this thing , or what?" That faster they got through it, the sooner Oriel could get back to…

Well, it wasn't like he had anything better to do except doze off somewhere. Maybe invade Phen's bed or go poke at the Princess or practice with Pen or just go stare blankly at a wall somewhere. But the stress from the past couple weeks was finally catching up with him and was swirling around in his head like a damn carousel ride that wouldn't end. He was trying really hard to pay attention to the videos. They were interesting yes, but what point was there anymore?

Oriel took the pages she handed and pretended to skim over them. He'd have to figure them out later but they looked pretty straightforward, it probably wouldn't be too hard. Probably…

"Mads left," he said with a choke in his voice. Shit…this wasn't what he came to do. Oriel cleared his throat, but that seemed to just make it hurt more. He grit his teeth as he tried to hold himself back. No way in hell was he going to cry like a pussy.

[Noa Reese]

Noa was taken off guard as her student choked out a couple of words. She blinked a couple of times. Mads? Mads... she thought for a second, and her mind put together the short name, and his attitude, and their previous discussion... "Oh."

What was she supposed to say? She wasn't really used to comforting people. She wasn't especially good at it. An apology would sound fake and forced, wouldn't it? Something stilted like 'I'm sorry to hear that,' would be cheap and awkward.

"...That sucks." She felt her nosiness rearing up, and almost wanted to tell it to shut it's face and let the kid brood instead of getting up in his business, but it got the better of her. "Do you want to talk about it?" She wasn't sure what her relationship was with Oriel, if they were at this level of sharing things. She hadn't even considered sharing her own personal drama, but that had been because she was trying to keep her authoritative air.

The most she thought about it, the more she realized maybe she should be a support for him. She was distanced enough from Hammel that she didn't really hold any input in his day-to-day activities, and she wasn't about to judge him for anything... plus, he should be able to trust her.

[Deleted]

Shit shit shit shit shiiiiiit…….

As soon as the words were croaked out of his mouth, Oriel wished to all the gods in hell that he could take them back. What the fuck was this shit anyway? He wasn't a whiner! He didn't complain about the shitty shit that happened in his life like it actually meant anything to anybody else! He didn't expect anyone to care and pity him like it was their holy duty in life to be a better person than he was!

Fuck this shit. He needed to get out of there…

But for whatever reason, Oriel stayed sitting there, staring at the pages Noa had given him that he was never going to use with Madison, clenching his teeth until his jaw hurt and using all his willpower to hold down…whatever the fuck feelings were trying to come out and prove to him that he was just a pussy-assed kid who only knew how to feel sorry for himself.

And for what? What the hell did he have to feel sorry for himself about? It wasn't like Madison and he were….together or anything! He was just a fucking fuck toy! Nothing more!

"No…." his voice came out as more of a whine than he had hoped as he shook his head and his face started to redden. Even if he wanted to open up to her(which of course he didn't, nope, why in hell would he want to do that!), Oriel felt like he wouldn't be able to get out more than two words before he lost it.

[Noa Reese]

The kid was super tense, and the cacophonous tone of denial made Noa wince. Honestly, she didn't really want to talk to him about it either. Talking to people about their relationships and emotions tended to get... complex. And convoluted. And just too much. But it was probably the right thing to do, right?

With a slight huff of resignation, she avoided Oriel's eyes and twisted her lips in an expression somewhere between discomfort and frustration. "...Look, I'm not gonna pry. Just let me know what you want to do." She informed him, feeling stuck in a very awkward situation. "If you want to chat my ear off, go right ahead - no judgment here." Her mood had darkened quite a bit, thrown off by his distress, and she was a far cry from the bouncing bubbly girl he'd met at the convenience store. In fact, she sounded a little... bitter? She didn't mean to sound so jaded, she just knew that having someone to vent to could be useful, but still hated putting herself out there. She was still figuring out their dynamic, and now he was potentially adding another layer that would make it far more confusing.

[Deleted]

He wasn't paying attention to her face or what expressions of discomfort Noa was making in the face of Oriel's ridiculous upheaval of distress. He didn't want to look at anything or anyone, he wanted to forget that there was anything wrong, just force it away and pretend that nothing had ever happened anywhere.

Though, while Oriel wasn't looking at her face, he did hear her. Selective hearing at it's best.

"...Look, I'm not gonna pry."

Which meant she was too bothered to hear it. That she didn't care.

"If you want to chat my ear off, go right ahead."

Which meant his whining was just a nuisance to her and that he should find someone else to break down in front of.

Not that he was breaking down. Nope. He totally wasn't about to explode in front of this girl he barely knew and who was only pretending to care for the sake of appearances! Because of course, it was the "proper and civil" thing to do when someone was upset, offer a fucking goddamn hand of salvation to them just for the next five minutes until they "calm down" and then dump them to the wayside like all the other trash they didn't want to deal with.

Oriel could feel his eyes and face burn as his heartache(nope!) quickly turned into misplaced anger. "If you didn't want to fucking hear it, then why the fuck are you even here!? Why would you even pretend like you care? Huh? To make yourself feel good? That you got your minimum random act of fake goodness for the day out of the way?! Well, eat shit cuz I don't need your fucking fake pity!!"

Oriel ran. He wasn't even sure when he got up, but he ran. There was no place for him there anymore. And he'd gone right and fucked it all up before it'd even begun.