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"Nah, you're more like... Hmm..." He paused, leaning forward on the table before them and propped his chin up on his hands.

And he stared for a good long moment, thinking hard and analyzing what he knew about the boy before him.

"I think you are just you." He finally said, nodding to himself and leaning back against the chair. "Toby. With your violin and your anime. Your cool parents and your neat room. And your stupid kindness and trust with everything. You are very much just Toby, and that makes you plenty special and unique. So just being Toby and sounding like Toby is enough to make me happy, and suits you best."

“You gotta get that thought out of your head, Toby. I’m a total bad guy. I mean, I was at Hillsworth, you know! They only send the baddest of the bad there!” That wasn’t necessarily true, but hey, Toby seemed sheltered enough to not really know that.

“I think you just got lucky. I like you so I’m gonna keep being nice. Only you though. Everyone else, they get nothing.” The buzzer for their food went off and he snatched it up. “You wait here, I’ll be right back. “

Izzy only grinned when he walked off, then came back and distributed the food between them.

“So, speaking of meanies and bad kids...” he sat down, picking up his sandwich for a big bite. “Mm... How come I don’t ever really see you hang out with anyone else? You have your groups at school, but never after. Why’s that?”

Something happened... And it was something bad enough that it made that grin fade a little bit.

“... Can I ask? ... Wait, no, doesn’t matter, does it? I can’t make the past better, but I can promise that I’m not gonna leave you, okay? You’re my responsibility now until we get that crush of yours to like you back, and even then, I’m still gonna be here. And if anyone tries to pick on you or anything, I’ll... Uh... I’ll glue their butts to the science lab’s seats!”

For once, Izzy was unsure of what to say. He knew something heavy like that was coming, heck, he even out right asked for it. But that didn't change the fact that he wasn't expecting that. Toby was so happy all the time, always smiling and laughing... To think he witnessed that.

It made Izzy incredibly uneasy. What was he supposed to say?

Then again, sometimes nothing needed to be said at all. He did stand up though, and pulled his chair to be flushed up against Toby's, and wrapped an arm around his shoulder.

"You know, I'm glad that you let me hang out with you then. I didn't give you much choice in the end, but, eh. I think you're doing good. You're just fine from what I can tell, and you know what? If you keep doing just what you're doing now, I'm sure that boy of yours is gonna fall for you like a brick dropped from a building." He grinned wide at the thought, whoever ended up with Toby was going to be lucky as hell, he just knew it. "But you know, I'm here to talk if you need me to be."

"Well, I'm glad you're glad. Now eat your bagel, we got things to do." One more squeeze, then Izzy pulled away, going back to focus on nearly swallowing his bagels whole.

He was like a vacuum, inhaling his food with speed and precision, and before Toby knew it, Izzy was packing up and rarin' to go.

"Now that you're stuffed, let's get going! Them skates aren't gonna skate themselves you know!"

"Dude, I thought we talked about this! No talking with your mouth full! And no food hanging out of your mouth! You're neither a heathen or an anime protagonist!" Izzy had more than a few 'niceties' drilled into him by his mother, who seemed dead set on raising a boy with manners even if he failed to apply them to his mouth half the time.

"Oh yeah! So the last time we hung out, after that, I went and looked up some more anime. Did you know there was a roller blading one! They had legit like... Jets and stuff on them, and there was gang warfare based on how well you skate! I'd be part of that, no doubt! The king of the kings! There was also one about ice skating... You might like that one." The ice skating one, if he remembered the description of it properly, was about 'finding love on the ice', and the two protagonists were men... It seemed wholesome enough, and Toby definitely seemed the type to like mushy things. After all, he did blush at every little thing under the sun.

"You know, after we're done skating, I can come over, eat cake, and watch more anime if you want."