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[brooklynishere]

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[brooklynishere]

"You think you're in for something like that if they hear about you skipping today, then?" He asks

He wonders what his grandmother will do if she hears about this, about him not even giving the class a chance... probably won't even punish him, she'll probably be disappointed at him.

Which, of course, is worse.

[jabbathehutt]

"Probably not," Ezra says wryly. "I'll probably get sat down for a family discussion where they check I'm okay and ask me to talk about my feelings or whatever."

And tell him that he should have ratted on Spot for skipping, instead of following him out here.

[brooklynishere]

Spot snorts.

"That's worse than the chores." He jokes. Mostly jokes. Sometimes he'd prefer to just get punished, honestly.

[jabbathehutt]

Ezra snorts as well.

"Yeah, no kidding," he agrees. It won't be too bad, he figures. Hopefully they'll understand, but he will be forced into doing catch up math or whatever. Probably have to skip dance practice, which if he's honest is the worse punishment.

"Still better than going to math, I guess."

[brooklynishere]

"Can't disagree with that" Spot nods. He does not volunteer which class he is skipping.

"I used to skip a lot at my old school. Nobody really cared." Which was for the best, really, since half the time he was skipping to hide bruises or injuries, and if they cared they would have phoned home and just made it worse.

When he came back, he skipped out of habit, and frustration - everything was so much harder after the months he'd missed.

[jabbathehutt]

"Yeah they didn't at mine, either," Ezra agrees.

Then he pauses, wonders how much he should share, and how much would be awkward - then decides that it's probably okay to share. To let Spot know that whatever he's got going on, he's not alone.

"Didn't even notice when I stopped going."

Which was the problem, really.

[brooklynishere]

Spot nods.

"Yea, sounds like the same kind of place as mine," he nods - he wonders if they would have noticed if his grandmother hadn't notified them when he was in the hospital.

"Guess your foster parents don't let you get away with that though?"

[jabbathehutt]

That makes Ezra smile again.

"Hell no," he agrees. "They're ex-military, I can't get away with anything."

Which isn't really true, he gets away with a lot, they're just aware of the important stuff.

[brooklynishere]

"Mmm, that's about on par with a Catholic grandmother, I feel your pain" Spot actually offers something approaching a grin.

He thinks, actually, that Ezra isn't so bad. There's a lot that's shit about this place, and he's not really going to be happy until he can dance, but making a friend is pretty okay.

[jabbathehutt]

That smile is definitely worth skipping class, Ezra thinks.

(Because he likes making people smile.)

He offers a smile in exchange for it, and shrugs. "You think you'll get in trouble with her?" he asks.

[brooklynishere]

"If she finds out," he shrugs "if I'm lucky I'll get grounded. If she's really mad she'll volunteer me to help run Sunday School next week." He pulls a face.

For some reason, little kids love him, and contrary to all expectations he's actually really good with them - it's just... really not cool.

[jabbathehutt]

"Ew," says Ezra, who has nothing against kids but doesn't go out of his way to be near them.

"That's worse than anything mine will come up with."

[brooklynishere]

"Yea." He nods "Don't even get to skip the sermon since Sunday school is after, it sucks."

It's not just about commiseration, though, he's also extending a cautious 'yes, I do go to church every week' - the last thing he wants is to find out his new friend has a problem with that. It's not exactly by choice, and he isn't really a believer, but his grandmother is and he doesn't particularly want to hear a tirade against catholics that would be insulting to her.

[jabbathehutt]

Ezra exhales a sigh in commiseration, but noticably doesn't offer any immediate judgement for Spot going to church.

Mostly he's wondering if he should offer the equivalent information. Then he figures - Spot's got eyes, he'll have noticed, and if he doesn't, it'll come up.

So he eventually offers:

"At least I don't have to do that. Kanan doesn't even try to drag me to mosque."

Not least because the nearest one is a considerable drive from their suburban residency, and neither Kanan nor Ezra are particularly devout.

[brooklynishere]

"Lucky," Spot offers, casual enough that he hopes it doesn't across as any kind of judgement - people's religion is their own business, as far as he's concerned, he only has a problem when they try and use it against him (like his bitchy aunt Catherine who uses her religion as a club to beat everybody else)

[jabbathehutt]

If it's going to be a problem with anyone, Spot attending church, it's likely to be with Sabine, who has issues with her own Catholic upbringing. And she's not here to have that problem.

But he appreciates Spot's casual reply.

"But if he gets it into his head I need to answer to God I'm going to have to rethink this skipping class thing," he adds.

[brooklynishere]

Spot snorts.

"If he starts asking you to pray for forgiveness or guidance then you know it's only going to get worse from there," he offers with a grin

[jabbathehutt]

"He'd better not."

He won't - Ezra knows well what a complicated relationship Kanan has with religion, but he doesn't bring it up.

"Let's leave that to the Catholic grandmothers."

[brooklynishere]

That gets another laugh, and an impression of his grandmother;

"Don't apologise to me, apologise to Jesus."

[jabbathehutt]

Ezra chuckles, mostly at the impression, but also because it feels good to be trading banter with someone at school, where the nearest he has to friends are people who don't mind sitting next to him.

"He doesn't worry me," he points out, still grinning.

[brooklynishere]

Spot snorts.

"Yea, I guess he wouldn't, would he?" he agrees easily, also grinning.

"What time is it? S'pose we should probably get moving.."

[jabbathehutt]

Ezra looks up and towards the school, as if he can tell time by looking in that direction.

"Yeah," he agrees. "Bell's gonna go soon, I guess. If you wanna blend in with everyone coming out of class, you can head back that way."

It won't be Ezra's route out of school, but he's got other ways.

[brooklynishere]

"Thanks." Spot nods, appreciative of the tip. He shoves himself to his feet and dusts off his jeans, slinging his backpack over his shoulder before looking back to Ezra with another nod.

"Thanks for the company. I'll see you tomorrow?"

[jabbathehutt]

"Yeah," Ezra confirms, returning the nod. "Bring cookies."

He doesn't bother going back to get his stuff. He just waits for Spot to head back and then turns, disappearing into the trees around the school grounds and eventually vaulting over the wall, heading off to meet his friends, for dance practice.

[brooklynishere]

"Sure." Spot agrees with a laugh, heading off back into the school.

His good mood fades as he navigates the crowded halls and makes his way back home, spending most of the evening waiting for the other shoe to drop - but there doesn't appear to have been any truancy reports made, and his grandmother listens with obvious delight as he begrudgingly admits over dinner that he made a friend.

He finally relaxes after dinner, and while his grandmother makes a start on a fresh batch of cookies he heads down to the basement - it's not completely done up, yet, the floor is still bare and the one full length mirror is a little warped and spotted, but he has a barre attached to the wall and a decent amount of floor space and sometimes that's all he needs. He still doesn't know what he's going to do about the lessons, but at least he can get some practice in.

The next day, when lunch rolls around, he heads straight for the table from the day before.