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 Posted: Tue Oct 22, 2013 9:45 pm
Baffled. No, that wasn’t the right word. Baffled did not even begin to cover Lune’s emotional state. Bewildered. Shocked. Something along the lines that conveyed the complete and utter loss he was currently experiencing. He had been kind. Friendly, even- which was entirely unusual for him- and Michael had just… left. Denounced him a little s**t and left.
Normally, this wouldn’t have phased Lune. Seeing as this was generally the goal, it barely got him to bat an eyelash. But he had well and truly meant to actually talk, get to know someone. Perhaps that was his mistake from the beginning.
Despite the time that had passed, Lune couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. Days had gone by- literally days. By now he ought to have been back to normal, not a care in the world for what had just occurred. But there was something eating at him- a nagging at the back of his mind that something had gone wrong. He played the encounter again and again, and…
It just didn’t make sense. This shouldn’t have been bothering him. So why was it?
Well. No matter. He had a solution to fix it, push any thoughts of it from his mind, and move on with his life. The encounter had been by chance, anyway. Best to mark it as such, and not to dwell on anything more than it deserved.
It hadn’t taken him much to get into the school. He’d just told the right people he’d needed a reference letter, bat his eyelashes just so, and was off. It wasn’t an unreasonable request- Lune was a bright young man at a very intensive school. Of course he’d need a letter of recommendation- and why not go to one of the school’s best teachers?
All the turns and hallways were still so familiar to him. Lune was certain he could navigate this school blindfolded, were he asked. His heels clicked against the tile, loud and resounding in the deserted hallway.
As he wanted it, of course. Were classes out… well. He might actually run the risk of crossing paths with Michael. Or, worse, some student who’d want an explanation as to why on earth he was here.
Couldn’t have that, now could he? Lune quickened his pace, briskly covering the school grounds, until he made his way to Michael- Mr. Gallo, really-‘s room. He stood there a few moments, uncertain. This was… was he really going to do this? Over a teacher?
He was not the apologizing sort. By any means. Even if he was wrong, this was not what Lune did. He passed it off, waited for the anger to pass. If not, he dropped the relationship. Moved on. People weren’t worth the worry nor the time. Especially not idiots like Michael. So…. He’d just get this over with.
Glancing about to make certain no one was in the area, Lune hesitated a moment before setting the box before the door. Destiny City’s best pastries, and a replacement frappe. There was really no better way to end the day than warm croissants and beignets. He’d also penned a rather well-written note, apologizing for inconveniencing his former teacher and whatever in his behavior might have set him off.
And that was that. Taking a moment to stare at his work, Lune wondered… why, really, was he doing this? Did he really give that much of a s**t on the teacher whose goal had been ruining his education career?
Well, no matter. What was done was done. Turning around, Lune headed for the school’s exit, intent on getting out of there before anyone noticed him.
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Posted: Sat Oct 26, 2013 4:49 pm
”Do you have a visitor’s pass?”
The students might have been released for that day, but there were still a few lingering around the buildings, finishing up some grading, or even just organizing their lesson plans for the next day. Michael was one of those who hadn’t left yet, and was carrying a stack of papers he’d just had xeroxed for an assignment the next day, and had been standing, waiting for the younger man to turn around after leaving… whatever he’d brought.
Seeing Lune there, after their strange run in, surprised him… Admittedly, Michael had not been the nicest or most understanding person at the time. Actually, he was rarely a very nice or understanding guy, especially when he didn’t know someone very well — an old student of his was definitely in the category of people he didn’t know very well.
His behavior when they’d crossed paths the other day had been… not unusual, but now he realized that maybe he was giving Lune too hard of a time. After all, Lune was a bright student and deserved more patience than he’d been given. While Lune hadn’t exactly been the best company at the time, he realized he’d kind of… overreacted a bit.
He wasn’t planning on apologizing, but he did want to let Lune know that he wasn’t always such a jerk outside school.
Or… Lune could think he was a jerk, and Michael would still sleep just fine. Whichever worked.
Although Michael leveled Lune with a suspicious look, he did make a nod towards his classroom door. “If that’s not poison or a bomb, you’re welcome to sit down. I’m just cleaning up,” he added, making sure to block the way so that Lune had no choice but to stay a little while longer. “Leave the door open,” he added, not wanting to get into any kind of mess with the staff being all fussy about inappropriate behavior — as if Lune was still a student there, but still.
“Were you going to leave that here overnight?” he wondered, nodding to the frappe with a raised eyebrow.
He grimaced, realizing he was doing the same thing and lowered his head with a small sigh. “I wanted to be in the Navy, like my father. And I did. So… dreams and goals accomplished.” It wasn’t much, but hopefully Lune would understand what he meant.
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Posted: Sat Oct 26, 2013 5:23 pm
Well. Apparently Michael had decided to check outside of his classroom more quickly than Lune had anticipated. Pausing in his valiant attempt at absconding, he turned back to look at the other man, keeping his expression fairly neutral. So help him, if he was snipped at during his attempt to apologize, the administration might have to drag him away from the corpse.
“Of course I got a visitor’s pass. After four years of this school, I learned how the system works,” he replied coolly, fishing the aforementioned pass from his pocket and waving it lazily. The comment on his tongue of ‘beating the system’ went unsaid, though he was certain Michael would also have some thought on that issue. It wasn’t as if they didn’t have history.
At the question of his delivery being a bomb or poison, Lune leveled his best ‘are you shitting me’ look on the other man.
“I wouldn’t have left a letter with it, if I was trying to kill you.” He tapped the letter on the top of the pastry box, signaling to Michael its existence. But then… if they were talking, there wasn’t really a need for the letter at all. Lune quickly snapped it off of the flimsy cardboard, and stuffed it into his messenger bag.
Michael probably would’ve laughed at it, anyway.
“Besides that, bombs and poison are so boring. Overdone. If I was going to kill you, I would’ve been more creative with it. Investigators would have a field day, trying to figure out what’d happened to you,” Lune teased, probably a bit more well-humored than he ought to have been, considering the subject. He nodded, none the less, at the invitation to sit down, and walked back into the classroom he’d left so long ago.
…Odd. He remembered it being bigger, for some reason.
“I knew you were still here. I just didn’t realize you’d find me leaving it,” Lune admitted, setting the box on Michael’s desk then going and sitting on one of the desks for students.
He had pulled out his phone to inspect it, wondering about the time, when Michael brought up the Navy. It took Lune half a second to understand- but when it clicked, his eyebrows raised and he gave a very small nod in understanding. Wanted to be military… but wasn’t anymore. Very interesting.
He was certain there was some sordid tale attached to that- a girlfriend back home? Issues with command? But Lune wasn’t about to dig up old wounds. Especially considering the nature of their previous encounter. Sure, the classroom door was open, by Michael’s behest, but Lune wasn’t about to press his luck with a guy twice his size and nobody around.
He’d ‘fallen down the stairs’ enough times in this school for one lifetime, thank you very much.
“Military man. I can see it,” he acquiesced, mind drifting to the thought of Michael in uniform. And lord, that was not a thought he needed to be drudging up in the middle of a conversation. Looking away- mostly to hide the slight pink that colored his cheeks- Lune gave a slight ‘hmm’ of thought.
“Nothing so valiant on my end. I think the military would eat me alive, personally. I… just don’t have any goals,” he admitted, despite how unmotivated it sounded. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to do anything. There just… wasn’t anything that jumped out at him.
“Attitude issues and what-not. There’s just… not a lot of possibilities out there for me.”
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Posted: Sat Oct 26, 2013 5:46 pm
Michael watched as Lune made his way into the classroom and set the boxes and such down on his desk. He was surprised at himself for how well he withheld an eyeroll at Lune’s comments, but he was able to keep himself distracted with the papers he was getting ready to go through. He didn’t even bother glancing up at what his pile of gifts were… until Lune took the note he’d had on top.
“You wrote a letter?” he glanced up, fighting back a grin of amusement. “Well? Are you going to read it to me?” It wasn’t lost to him that Lune had obviously shoved the letter in his bag, and he wondered if it was because he was embarrassed, or maybe it was because it wasn’t very nice. “Don’t be shy,” he teased in response to the really horrible comments on how he would kill him in less conventional ways if that had been his intention.
Now that Lune was there and talking to him, it seemed as though nothing had changed over the summer. It wasn’t surprising, really, but since this was now his third year of teaching, it was always strange at first, getting used to new faces and personalities…
And challenges, as Lune had definitely posed for him.
“So what’s the occasion?” he asked, nodding to the box and frappe, but didn’t mess with them yet. Instead he took the time to staple a few papers together and jot some things down in a gradebook, glancing up at Lune after a few moments, still expecting him to read the letter he’d written for him.
Surely Lune wasn’t feeling remorseful for what had happened the other day… because if that was the case, well…. Michael didn’t exactly feel too great about his own behavior. If this little brat of a rich boy could… sort of apologize, in his own way, then what did that say about Michael? Maybe he really was just a jerk.
“The military isn’t for everyone,” he agreed, balling up a piece of paper and tossing it in the direction of the trashcan to join the few other crumpled pages left around the can. He would pick them up when he left, but for now it wasn’t as if they were hurting anything, laying there. “Don’t give me that bullshit. With your attitude, you could do a lot… what do they say? Bitches get stuff done?”
He make a face like a grimace and glanced up as he heard someone walking down the hall, wondering if he was going to be fussed at for using inappropriate language around kids… but thankfully no one came in and the footsteps went down some other hall. Not that he really cared if he got fussed at since he was only planning on staying there for another couple years, but still… he would rather not have to deal with people.
“Sounds kind of lazy to me,” he shrugged, shuffling a few more things on his desk before taking the frappe to sip at. Hey, he might as well since it was brought for him, right? And since he didn’t keel over right then, it must not be poisoned. “You’re pretty good with writing and languages, right? Or rather, you’re pretty good at nearly everything…” Michael paused to glance up at Lune with an exasperated expression before focusing back on his work. “Don’t give me that BS that there isn’t many possibilities for you.”
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Posted: Sat Nov 16, 2013 11:07 am
Reading the letter aloud. There was a laughable thought. Rather than laugh in Michael’s face, Lune bit his lower lip and turned away. He was… far, far more emotional in writing than in person. It was easier that way- to put the things you felt into lettering, penned and beautifully articulated. It… matched the medium, really. But to read it out loud… God, he would die. Just keel over, then and there. Michael would be saddled with the body, probably blamed, and he would probably deserve it! Making him read that kind of thing out loud.
Jerk.
“Right. Going to ignore that suggestion and move on with this surprisingly pleasant conversation,” Lune supplied, idly checking his nails to keep from going further. He wasn’t lying at the mention of surprisingly pleasant- and if he had to refrain from rudeness to retain some civility? That was tolerable.
He glanced up from his idle distraction at the question of the occasion, and shrugged lightly. He’d thought it obvious- perhaps Michael was just making him spell it out to embarrass him? Or… or perhaps he was just being paranoid.
“It… was an apology. I wasn’t on my particularly best behavior, and I didn’t mean to patronize you. So. I brought an apology. The note was just a formal iteration of that,” Lune explained, slightly tense in his tone. He was not an apologist, by any means. This sort of situation was beyond his territory by every stretch of the imagination. It made him feel weak, stupid. Like he was a child.
It was not a feeling that Lune enjoyed.
“So. I’m sorry. This doesn’t happen often, and- I would rather appreciate if we didn’t discuss this again,” he confessed, staring at the wall. In his mind, he thought that Michael would be willing to let this sleeping dog lie.
It was a very pleasant thought.
His eyes trailed after the crumpled paper that soared for the can and missed. Were these… papers? Good lord, no wonder Michael had always been such an interesting grader. If this was his methodology, much of the previous year made sense. Part of him was curious to know what it was, exactly, that was now laying on the ground.
His attention was otherwise diverted when Michael challenged his lack of knowing on his future.
“Yes, we certainly do get stuff done,” Lune laughed, a surprisingly light and genuine sound. “When we know what we want to do, anyway. I’ve got so many ridiculous offers, tugging me in so many different directions, I just… am completely apathetic to it all. Nothing’s caught my eye just yet.”
Lune’s head tipped at the mention of writing and languages, and he considered that possibility. He enjoyed them, certainly- more than he enjoyed other fields of his studies- but that didn’t mean there were open careers in those directions. And what if he didn’t enjoy it?
“Alright. Perhaps it’s a bit lazy. I just… can’t figure it out yet.” He frowned a little bit, green eyes darting over to Michael to watch him with interest.
“Can you, with sincerity, tell me you had it all figured out at nineteen?”
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Posted: Sun Nov 24, 2013 7:12 pm
“Then let me read it?” he asked instead, tossing one more balled up piece of paper towards the trashcan, this time hitting the intended target. Michael could definitely understand about not liking to apologize. He didn’t like it very much himself, but if someone took the effort, well… he thought it was kind of nice to see what Lune had put in his letter.
Even still, he was just as surprised with their conversation, although he supposed it helped that he wasn’t being a jerk in return. There were so many things they could have already said to turn their meeting sour, and yet… Michael found himself generally at ease. Maybe because it was his classroom and he had a distinct advantage here…? Or maybe because he really just thought Lune deserved a chance, and it helped that he wasn’t being a little s**t like he was the other day.
“You didn’t need to do that. I wasn’t really very friendly, either,” he admitted, his eyes still down turned towards the work on his desk. There was no chance in the hue of his cheeks, but he did know his eyes might end up giving away his sincerity when he was just trying to shrug it off.
“I’m… sorry too…” It sounded forced, but he paused to look up at Lune, feeling as though he at least deserved to see his expression. “I was rude and inappropriate and I should have given you more of a chance to explain yourself.”
He knew it wasn’t much and Lune probably would think he was just making s**t up, but… at least he said it.
It was surprising to hear the young man laugh, and Michael had to struggle to think of a time he’d heard him sound that genuine before. It was strangely refreshing and had him completely distracted from what he was doing. Lune was a bright student, but had always been so sad… and when he wasn’t sad, he was pointlessly mean to others — most likely a defensive mechanism, Michael knew, but it was never nice being on the receiving end of it.
“Why bother looking for a career? You’ve got the money to just spend your time perfecting your skills and doing whatever the hell you want, right?” Unless he was stuck waiting for a trust fund, too. “If you could do one thing with your life, what would you do?”
It was a tough question — Michael knew because he had no idea how to answer it either. But in response to Lune’s question, he shrugged lightly.
“I joined the Navy when I was eighteen and out of high school… got a degree in engineering… Like I said, my dreams and goals have already been accomplished…”
Now he did the only thing he could think of doing, and lucked out that his grandmother could get a word in with a private school — one he’d gone to himself years ago, but still.
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Posted: Mon Dec 02, 2013 12:19 pm
“Since we’re here and having this conversation, the letter’s a bit of a moot point. It’d just waste both of our time,” Lune countered smoothly, hand resting on the side of his messenger bag. Anyone else, he wouldn’t mind letting them read it. But considering how… stubborn, he supposed the word was… both he and Michael were? It was a great admission of defeat. A humiliating monument to his own shitty attitude. Really, it wouldn’t have shocked him if Michael would keep it to wave in his face whenever he made a rude comment.
…Alright. Maybe he shouldn’t be thinking that far ahead. But still. If they were to speak again, in the future, this was not something Lune wanted Michael to have his hands on.
“That might honestly be why we’ve struggled so much, in the past. With no offense, neither of us is a subdued personality. Strong characters tend to either get on frighteningly well… or hate each other.” Lune brushed some of the hair hanging in his face behind his ear, and shrugged. “And considering my typical dislike of authority, it’s not… terribly surprising I didn’t treat you in the kindest way.” Lune paused, and snickered to himself.
“Not that I really treat anyone terribly kindly, but. You know what I mean.”
To say that Lune’s laughter was odd was not a far stretch from the truth. He just… didn’t talk to people like this. Ever. Never let his guard down, never let people see him laugh. Hell, this last time he’d laughed like this, hard and real and genuine, had been when he was too drunk to care. To let himself go a little bit, while sober… it was kind of nice.
Not that he would ever admit as much.
“If I could do one thing the rest of my life? Oh, easy. I would be f—“ the comment was cut short as Lune realized what exactly he was just about to say, and his jaw snapped shut with a semi-audible click. Definitely better to keep those sorts of comments to himself. Folding his arms in front of himself, Lune rethought the question, wondering what it was he would really do with all the time in the world and no worries. He really did enjoy languages… learning them, teaching them…
“I’m not certain. Maybe something teaching languages, if I could keep myself from strangling the terrible students.” He rubbed lightly at his temples, though the annoyance was clearly feigned- Lune, if Michael was looking, was very clearly smiling to himself.
“I swear. The first brat I got who even remotely acted like me, I’d be undone. It’d be a miracle if the school didn’t face a lawsuit for me ruining his life.” But then again, Lune wasn’t sure there’d ever be another student like him. Michael would probably attest the same, after attempted conversations with his parents. It took a special sort of benign neglect to foster the resentment Lune carried.
“So… the navy was it? Nothing else you were dying to do with your life?” Lune questioned, mood turning somber at the sudden weight of this revelation. He’d had no goals, sure. But accomplishing everything you had set out to do by your mid-twenties seemed… unfulfilling. Dull. Wasn’t it better to spend your life hunting for goals, in want of things to do, than to finish everything when you’d just started your adult life?
“All sarcastic comments aside, I do hope you find something to occupy your time. Idling about… well. I know how unpleasantly dull that can end up being.” Lune finally conceded, tone as casual as possible on the given subject.
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