If Paris had any idea that Alex might have some sort of a double life like he did, he would feel marginally accomplished for getting the idea of “must be more normal” across, whether that had been his intention or not. He was of the opinion that if they could somehow continue to live a normal existence on top of something so completely not normal like they war, they’d all be better off for it. Sometimes he wished that was how things would end, if they could just let bygones be bygones and give up their powered lives for the sake of their normal ones, ignore what had happened in the past and just focus on the present.

That was, of course, not to be, and it was something he would have to continue to deal with as time went on—something they would all have to deal with on some level, whether that was losing themselves to the war effort or stubbornly holding onto the life they’d had before.

For now, Paris was simply happy to be out and about and doing things that had nothing to do with Senshidom, and talking about things he enjoyed much better to someone he could believe wasn’t even involved in all that other stuff he never liked to think about as much as he should. This was how he wanted life to be, how he was determined to continue to live it for as long as he could. He would try until it was no longer possible, and hope and pray that it never came to that point.

Paris smiled and nodded as he stood to his feet as well, packing a few of his things back into his bag but sliding the French textbook they’d been using over toward Alex’s side of the table. “So you can study,” he explained with a cheeky grin.

He might not be the best teacher, but he could be an alright friend.