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At least Toby could follow instructions, and headed off before Izzy found himself yelling at that stupid face of his.

With him out of his face, Izzy could work properly. Preparing tea wasn’t that hard after all, and before he knew it, he had a cup on a neat little tray, along with a small plate of cookies his mom said he should give to him. Something about ‘oh, he’s from your school, he must be a friend, give this to him, on the house’! Which, to Izzy, was a stupid idea. If he could get free cookies, then he’d never leave.

But whatever. He couldn’t go against the owner after all.

“Alright, here you go.” there was atleast a semblance of professionalism there when he set down the drink and snacks, before sitting across from Toby. “Alright, did you read the instructions?”

“.... Heathen.” How disgusting... Couldn’t this kid show a little class by not talking while he was eating...? Whatever, Izzy had a job to do.

“Okay so. Basically, you use the stick as the base point. Point of contact. Your grounding point. And then you start your loop there.” Rather than explain it further, Izzy made sure Toby was watching, then did a simple loop around the stick, then tied it off. “You start here, and then just keep going like that. There’s different colors, and after the first row, you just keep going. You can put whatever space you want between knots, and it’ll still look generally cool.” He grinned, leaning a little forward.

“Even someone like you couldn’t screw it up too bad, not like the science project.”

“Yeah, cool. Mainly grandmas like this, since it’s good for just sitting around, less tools than crocheting or knitting. You basically got it right, just need to make it tighter. Try to keep your knots the same size. If one is loose, and one is tight, there’s a chance it will slip and unravel.” Without thinking too much that it was Toby he was teaching, explaining it all was easy. Once or twice he tapped his classmate’s hand, pointing at a knot and showing how it was to be done.

“This is just. A basic line and starter. Is there something you want to tie in or just keep going til the end?”

“Nope, I don’t like doing it, I just happen to know how to do it. ... That makes you the Grandma, not me, you’re the one paying to learn.” Izzy was far too focused on the design of the piece, flipping through a guide book to think too much about the cute comment, or to see Toby’s blushing face. After all, to him it was simply another teasing word that he was trying not to let get under his skin any more than it already had.

“... Hmm.... I bet you’d like one of these.” There on the page was a fancy tied knot, in the shape of a Celtic cross. There was also another picture nearby of a moon, much like the one that was up on display, but a lot more simple. People often came in and asked about the one on the wall and wanted to do one like that.

Deciding that the cross was good enough, Izzy looked up, then looked blankly at Toby, realizing that his face was getting red like his was earlier.

“... Why is your face red? What, don’t tell me the tea was too spicy for you.”

“Alright, then we’ll do that.” It was easier to quickly set up the pattern than instruct Toby, so he went through that while his classmate indulged himself more on the tea.

... He was acting suspicious, that was for sure. There was no way the tea was that hot. “Dude, you’re lying and you know it. Spill the beans!”

Another knot finished, and he pushed the ropes back to the other, leaning on the table and popping one of the offered cookies in his mouth. “And dang straight it’s not spicy. That’s not cheap chai either! It’s the good stuff! Nothing but the best for the Delunas!”

“Come on, dude, weren’t you the one who said you wanted to get along with everyone? Keepin’ secrets is an awful way of doing that, isn’t it?” To see if he could figure out what was up with the blushing, Izzy looked around the Cafe. There were a few small groups set up nearby. A few other students from the school, his older brother manning the register now that his company had been requested... A cat, weird.

Nothing really seemed blush-worthy, but who knew what was going on there. Focusing back on Toby, he poked at the hand that was working again. “That knot is too loose, what did I tell you? One little tug and it’s gonna unravel completely.”

“Why is that worth blushing over if you’re just teasing me anyway? There’s nothing behind it, just you being a d**k, so you don’t need to think too much about it.” It was that line of thought that allowed him to work without thinking too much about that hole he was considering climbing in before.

Atleast the knots were looking a little better. Maybe a boy like Toby really could be taught something new once in a while. And it made him feel just a little bit bad for ruining their project the first day they met.

“Did you want anything else to eat? ... You probably don’t want too much though, since I’m sure by the time you get home, it’ll be dinner, won’t it?”

Izzy decided to let it slide. Toby could make up all the excuses he wanted, but Izzy wasn’t going to buy any of it, and he really didn’t feel like prodding him too much. He was hungry too after all.

“Well, I really like the sausage pies we bake here, and the sandwiches are really good too. We get our meat from the deli down the street, so it comes to us fresh! Aaaaaand, you know, us ‘assistants’ are allowed to eat with our customers too, if you want to be nice and buy something for me to make up for the harassment you’ve been doing. Call it a ‘tip’. Ooh, and a hot chocolate for me too. Want me to place that order for you real quick?”