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This was a load of garbage. Ezekial didn't need someone to watch over him. He was his own person. A freshling? Sure. But he knew how to take care of himself. It wasn't like he had any parents of his own. As an orphan, he knew how to survive life.

So why he needed a "big sibling" was beyond him.

The hybrid slumped on the ground, his gheistly whips flaring in anger. He didn't come here willingly. They had to drag him here, kicking and screaming.

And now he was in front of a fey. Did they really think that a fey was going to set him on the right track? Ezekial stuck out his tongue at the junior and crossed his arms. "I don't like you." He didn't like any of the prospects in the room. Why in the world did they think this was such a good idea?

Jossiah opened his mouth to greet the freshling, having just finished talking to the caretaker. However, the first words spoken were not from him. Nor were they pleasant. His eyes widened in shock and he past a nervous glance to the grimm caretaker, who gave him a hesitant smile and a pat on the shoulder.

"Now, be nice," the caretaker named Nuka had suggested gently. A bloodcurdling scream came from the hallway and the caretaker didn't hesitate to dash out. Which left Jossiah alone with the hybrid who seemed intent not to like him immediately.

He felt his dreams of being a charming big brother and getting along fabulously crumble. Well... perhaps he could get the other to warm up. "Why don't we go play?" he suggested cheerfully, hopefully. He was technically supposed to help with homework first. But... that would probably make the hybrid despise him.

Oh, the caretaker wanted him to be nice? Ezekial sent the adult a glare his way. bristling. He was the one to always get after him. "No, Puka." The freshling made the sound equivalent, placing one of his stubby fingers near his mouth. He hoped whomever screamed gave him trouble. More trouble than Nuka caused him.

He turned his steely gaze towards Jossiah. Right. His new "big brother". It was time to get rid of him. But how? His tendrils swirled as he schemed.

Playing. The hybrid grinned deviously, eyes slanted. Oh. he could play. "Okay." he reached out towards Jossiah's hand. "Let's play." Ezekial knew of just the game. And they didn't need anything else to play it either.

Jossiah shifted uncertainly but smiled. Well, as long as the boy agreed to playing. There as a... air of caution in the air, considering the tone and expression. But Ezekial was just a child! Surely, the fey was just misreading him. Grabbing his hand, he tried to guide him to the coloring area.

"Why don't we color for a bit, hm? There's all kinds of pictures we can color," he tried, grinning encouragingly. Maybe this wouldn't be so hard after all! He glanced at the door where the blonde caretaker had dashed out of, eyes flickering in concern. The scream sounded bad, hopefully it wasn't something super bad.

The junior looked down at the boy. "You're called Ezekial, yea? Do you prefer a nickname?"

Nearly pointed fingernails dug into the junior's hand with glee, giving the older male a sharp toothed smile. The adults liked to throw around the word murder around at the sight. He wasn't dumb. He could hear their whispers. And it only made his lips pull farther away from his mouth. Ezekial didn't like the idea of getting into that big of a fight. But he also wasn't going to correct them. Adults in fear gave him more opportunities to do what he wanted. It was perfect. He swung their hands back and forth erratically, gladly following Jossiah towards the coloring station.

Oh, he could color all right.

Ezekiel's greedy hands reached passed the crayons, passed the colored pencils and straight towards the small tubs of paint on the table, making sure that he was holding it on the opposite side of Jossiah. He couldn't have the junior ruining his fun now, could he?

Of course not.

"Zeke or Ezekial is fine." The freshling absentmindedly picked up the paint brush in the tub and watched with glee as the broad brush dripped down on the bare table. Quickly, his hand darted over to the side and smeared a large orange streak on Jossaih's sleeve. "I think I'll call you orange." He placed the brush back in before reaching for another color on the table. Adding one color to everything wasn't very fun. He needed some variety.

Jossiah winced, wanting to pull his hand away. The junior gave the child a wide eyed look... but the freshling must not know what he was doing. So, he tolerated it and quickly moved to the station, glad to finally release his hand. A breath of relief escaped him while he rubbed at the indentions on his delicate skin.

"Zeke is a cute nickname," he commented, sitting down at the table and watching the boy. Something caught his attention to the side and he had only looked away for a second. And when his eyes turned back to Ezekiel.... Jossiah's sleeve was sporting orange paint. His eyes widened, a gasp escaping him as he jumped up. "Oh no, did it accidentally spill? Did you get any on you?" he fretted, examining the child.

Cute?! The malicious smile turned into a hard frown. He wasn't cute. Ezekial might be cool, and against the man but he wasn't cute. Cute was for the freshlings who were good and kind and pure.

No way was he any of that.

What was the junior even thinking? How could it spill that far? It was all the way over here. Zeke blinked up at the fey slowly, lips thin. "Are you dumb?" Or was his just getting played? He took another color and, albeit reluctantly, took another swipe at Jossiah. "Does that look like a spill?" Brown and orange. Ew.

Jossiah stared, slack jawed. The... the freshling had intentionally painted on him? And called him dumb? He stared, unable to process this. Sure, he wasn't new to bullying but being bullied by such a small child... Jossiah swallowed around the knot in his throat and forced on a smile. His chest felt tight. "Uh... Perhaps we should paint the paper... instead?" Oh deities, he hoped the paint was washable.

As if encouraging him, he grabbed a paint brush and painted a smiley face on a paper. "See, like this! Oh, we could play tic tac toe, if you want?" Oh please let this child agree to the suggestion.

Paint on the paper? Oh, the junior was avoiding the large problem at the table. Ezekial's smiled, sickenly sweet and bared his teeth in a predatory fashion. "What if I'd rather paint on you." He went to grab another small bucket of paint, this time yellow, and let the brush drip, drip, drip on the table. He hoped it stained. "Your wings look like fun to paint."

He moved over and looked at the smiley face, adding two slants to show how he was feeling. "Now It looks better." Tic tac toe, huh? His grin widened, a plan already formed in his head.. "Sure, I'll play some tic tac toe with you. You go first."

Oh no, not his wings. Jossiah tried not to show the terror at the aspect, wings fluttering anxiously. Fortunately, tic tac toe seemed to be a winning suggestion. His shoulders slumped in relief and he smiled hopefully, quickly making the hashtag symbol before placing an X.

"You're next!" he told him happily, as he tried to consider how he was going to get the new stains out of his clothes. He hoped the freshling was done acting up, however. The child... was rather scary. And Jossiah hated thinking that, considering how he was older.

The junior's wings were moving. That was weird. Ezekiel chose to ignore the temptation to touch those wings and decided on focusing on the small grid that was in front of him. "Who said you could go first?" The hybrid jutted out their bottom lip in a mock pout. Honestly, he couldn't care less.

He moved over towards the game. Having had no one to play with and ruining most of the friendships he could have had, Ezekiel...wasn't quite sure how this tic tac toe worked. No bother. It wasn't like he cared to win anyway. He placed a slash directly in the middle square before looking up at Jossiah.

Man he hoped he ruined it.

Jossiah's eyes widened, unsure. Didn't... the boy ask him to go first? Confused, he kept quiet and patiently waited for Zeke to make his move.

Well, he made it alright. Right across the entire board. Jossiah stared for a moment before nervously looking over at the freshling. Was it... intentionally mean spirited? The fey pushed that thought out of his head. Of course the freshling didn't mean it to be mean! So, taking in a breath, he tried smiling. "D-Do you know how to play tic tac toe?" he asked. His watch began vibrating suddenly and he looked down. Oh! His first meeting was over with! The junior's shoulders slumped in relief and he smiled at Ezekiel. "I had fun. Hopefully we can do this again!" Hopefully not. The boy... did make Jossiah uncomfortable and unsure as to what to do with such belligerent behavior.

The unusual concentration that Ezekiel sported as he stared down at the board turned int a small malicious grin. "Of course I know how to play!" He lied, flashing his teeth with his eyes closed. Zeke inwardly cheered at himself for doing such a great job. Who knew he'd be paired with such an idiot? Fooling the junior was easy. Almost too easy. He loved it.

Unfortunately, their time of torture was now over. How sad. The freshling stared at the watch that was now all abuzz his lips thin. "Okay, I'll be counting on it!" They waved. all too cheerily.

Who was going to be his next victim?