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[brooklynishere]

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[brooklynishere]

Spot makes a small noise of confirmation, nodding again.

"Brooklyn." He says, but that's all the information he volunteers. He's tense, waiting for the question - he doesn't want to talk about it if he doesn't have to, so he holds off in case Ezra decides not to ask, but he's expecting it all the same.

"You always lived around here?" He adds - he's not normally given to showing an interest in other people, but he'll use it as a distraction if he has to. Besides, Ezra seems okay enough.

[jabbathehutt]

Ezra - who has the people sense to know when a subject's being changed,if not the self awareness to realise that's what he's doing, nods.

"Yeah, I'm a townie," he admits. "Doesn't mean I knew anything about this place before coming here, though. Kids here don't mix with kids out there much."

[brooklynishere]

"Yea, I can imagine." Spot knows the type - there was a similar school he used to walk past every day to get to his own, and the kids there might as well have been on a different planet for all they paid any attention to him. Not that he paid much attention to them, either.

"What's there to do for fun round here, anyway?" He asks - may as well get some info from somebody who actually knows, since they only moved a week or so before school started, so he hasn't had the chance to investigate for himself.

[jabbathehutt]

This shrug is deeper, still one shoulder, but more of a genuine I don't know.

"Depends what you're into," he says. "I guess the school's got all these clubs you can join," except, do they cost extra? Ezra's not sure because he never asks.

"I've got a few friends from before," not 'my old school' because they aren't school friends, "usually we just hang out."

If he's cagey, it's because admitting that he dances in his spare time is still kind of embarrassing for a first conversation.

[brooklynishere]

Clubs are not really Spot's thing, he doesn't wish to submit to the authority of teaching staff any more than absolutely necessary, so he dismisses that idea immediately.

The answer isn't really surprising, it's about average for a kid their age, so even though it doesn't really give Spot any information he doesn't bother to push for more - he would ask where they hung out, but didn't want to come across like he was angling for an invitation, because that's kind of pathetic - and instead after a moment's thought he decides to go for a different question.

"Anything I should avoid?"

Read: What clubs or hangout spots would be social suicide or likely to cause trouble.

[jabbathehutt]

"Yeah," and Ezra has no problems naming the neighbourhoods he doesn't recommend, "especially in school uniform," he stresses.

He doesn't think to add places like the under-18 dances, the bowling alley, other places the other kids go, because he doesn't really go there himself. And he doesn't much care about 'social suicide' or he'd think of that too.

[brooklynishere]

Spot nods, making a mental note of the list he's given. At least one of the neighbourhoods is pretty close to his own, but it'll be easy enough to skirt it on his way home if he wants to avoid any trouble.

"Thanks." He says after a moment, since that is useful information after all. He glances down at his lunch - he's only really eaten the sandwich and some chips, but there's other food in there as well that he'll just save for later, and also a couple of homemade cookies wrapped up in foil.

In an uncharacteristic display of friendliness, he unwraps the foil and offers the other cookie to Ezra.

[jabbathehutt]

Ezra isn't quite used to sharing food as a matter of course, so the offer takes him by surprise, and it takes him a second to smile and take it. Dessert at the lunch counter today had been Jello, and he can't have that so he was going without.

"Thanks," he says.He nudges his plate a little towards Spot as well, profeering one of his fries in exchange.

"You sure?"

[brooklynishere]

Spot nods, taking a fry more as a reasonable exchange than out of any desire to actually have one (it makes sense to him) before eating his own cookie.

It's just as delicious as he expected it to be, and it's nice to know there's more waiting at home... after his ballet lesson this afternoon.... he's still not sure how he feels about that.

"My grandma made them." He offers, just to keep the conversation going so he doesn't think too much about class.

[jabbathehutt]

"Yeah?" Ezra asks, before even tasking a bite, after which his eyes widen again, impressed. "They're really good. She must ba an amazing baker."

No one in his family bakes, ever. So he's already a bit jealous.

[brooklynishere]

Spot nods, approving of the praise - they are good, and they are worth that reaction.

"Yea, well, Irish Catholic Grandmother so it kind of goes with the territory." He shrugs, typical teenage boy not wanting to give away how much he loves his grandma.

[jabbathehutt]

Ezra doesn't know much about Irish Catholic, beyond what he's seen on TV,so just nods along like he understands.

"No one in out house bakes," he offers in conversational exchange, trying not to think of the occcasions his real mom used to. "Does she do it a lot?"

[brooklynishere]

"Yea... I mean, she cooks all the time, and a good chunk of it is baking, too. Especially when there's like some church bake sale or whatever going on..." He shrugs.

She's a retired, traditional old lady with 11 grandchildren, so... yea, she bakes. A lot. Especially since Spot came to live with her and she realised how much of a sweet tooth he had.

[jabbathehutt]

"Yeah well if she wants any taste testers," Ezra says immediately, "you know where to find me."

He will never say no to free cookies.

[brooklynishere]

Spot is silent for a moment, he glances over at the packed lunch room and then back down at the table, considering the situation.

Ezra seems tolerable enough, and he'd much rather have a place to sit with a person he can stand than face figuring out where he's going to eat lunch every day.

"I'll probably have more tomorrow..." he offers casually

[jabbathehutt]

It's so casual, that. It probably should be met with a similarly casual, chill response.

Ezra almost manages it. Sure, his first response is to grin brightly, but he brings that under control and instead just nods, keeping his smirk muted.

"That'd be cool," he allows. "I mean, if she's baking them anyway."

[brooklynishere]

It's fine, it was totally cool - and Spot knows the grin is about the baking, and it's okay to be excited about his grandmother's baking, because it's good. He doesn't want to get judged for being excited himself, obviously, but he's not going to judge anybody else either.

"Yea." Spot nods. He'd said he'll tell her to pack extra, but she always packs too much anyway.

His gaze flicks to the clock and he suppresses a sigh, starting to pack up his things.

[jabbathehutt]

It's good not to be judged, because Ezra might have to admit that he's less good at keeping his chill than he likes to think.

He follows Spot's gaze to the clock and completely fails to suppress his own ugh math sigh, after which he stands, bringing his tray with him.

"Enjoy the rest of the first day," he says. "It's not all as bad as it looks."

Though part of him does want to know what Spot will think of Kanan, he doesn't want to be the teacher's son too much.

[brooklynishere]

Spot snorts slightly in wry amusement but he nods. He stops himself before he says 'see you tomorrow', not wanting to be too keen, but he can't deny (to himself, anyway) that he's feeling a lot better about at least one part of the school.

He shoves his leftovers into his bag and grabs his rubbish, tossing it in a bin as he leaves and giving Ezra a nod on his way out. Once he's outside, however, his steps slow a little... he really isn't sure about this whole class thing....

When he actually reaches the class and sees the crowd of girls waiting outside, his stomach drops. One of them asks what he's looking at and he just scowls, walking past them like he was on his way somewhere else... and then he just... keeps walking.

For a moment there, it had seemed like things wouldn't be so bad after all. Now he can see he was an idiot and that moving was, as he thought, a terrible idea.

[jabbathehutt]

Ezra's hatred of math isn't anything special per se, just a normal teen boy's hatred of math, but because he's a teenage boy he hates it a lot. Because he's also understandably worried about Hera's reaction if he gets into trouble, he doesn't bother skipping, but he does spend most of the class trying not to get picked on, with his chin in his palms and his gaze out of the window at the school fields.

Which is why he sees someone he knows shouldn't be out there. And that's when his fear of Hera is overridden by... something. Call it wanting to look out for the new kid. He puts his hand up immediately for a hall pass - spinning a tale very quickly about needing to help Kanan with something.

He'll face that music when it comes to it.

So, stashing his stuff in his locker, and leaving a cover for me note for Sabine, he slips out of the school building. He knows all the exits by now, and has a pretty good idea of where someone might head on their first day, so jogs off in that direction.

[brooklynishere]

Spot's pretty much wandering aimlessly, just trying to find a spot (ha) he can avoid people and wait out the end of the class - and maybe quietly sulk about the whole situation.

He figures outdoors makes the most sense, he's way less likely to run into anybody, so he skirts around the edge of the school grounds until he finds a spot that seems out of the way enough that nobody's going to bother him and settles down to wait.

He's not dumb enough to turn his hearing aids off, but he does pull out his phone and start flicking through the photos - he's only making his bad mood worse, of course, but it's something to do. Something distracting enough that he doesn't notice when somebody else approaches.

[jabbathehutt]

Ezra is, it has to be said, not deliberately sneaking up on anyone. It's just that he's naturally light of foot and has a lot of habits learned from a nefarious past, so it's easy for him to sneak up accidentally.

When he sees Spot, he slows down to approach, but when ebven that approach doesn't seem to be noticed, he stops a short distance away, hands thrust in his pockets, and clears his throat loudly.

[brooklynishere]

Spot flinches at the sound, panic in his eyes when he looks up - panic that is quickly masked by a scowl, annoyed at himself for being so easily startled, and at the newcomer for startling him.

He isn't sure what to do with that annoyance when he sees that it's Ezra, but the scowl doesn't really fade. He's wary, now, too - their interaction at lunch was pleasant enough but he doesn't really think he can call Ezra a friend, and if he's a teacher's kid how is he going to feel about Spot skipping?

"....hey..."

[jabbathehutt]

"Mind if I join you?"

Ezra tries not to take the scowl personally. He didn't actually come out here with a plan, he just wanted to make sure the angry new kid didn't get himself into trouble, and with his own history, he connects 'running off to be alone' with 'about to do something destructive and/or needs someone to check up on him.'

He doesn't wait for an answer, just drops down to the ground where he's standing, ready to whip his own phone out, or make conversation, whichever works.

[brooklynishere]

Spot pauses for a moment and then nods, the scowl softening slightly - it's not exactly a pleased expression, but it's not quite so combative any more, more like cautious acceptance.

"I don't have any more cookies, if that's what you're after." He comments, deadpan but he's probably joking... probably.

(He is, he's just not very good at it)