Ezra's tray is already on the table and his hand on the other chair, before his spatial awareness catches up with his brain and tells him there's already someone there, so he pauses, grins sheepishly at the kid and makes a show of taking his headphones out.
(And turning the music off, because Kanan has told him enough times I can still hear it, Ezra! that it's habit by now.)
"Hey, anyone sitting here?"
He's already decided that no, no one's sitting there, because his pause was only momentary and he continues to sit down. Because he's seen that scowl before and he is choosing to interpret it as someone needing to be annoyed.
There isn't, and it's obvious, and what's he going to say? I've got a friend coming? That will quickly become an obvious lie, and he'd rather just eat his lunch than start a fight on his first day.
So he shakes his head - not that it matters because the other kid is already sitting down like it wouldn't have made a difference what he said anyway. Spot scans the lunchroom but there really isn't anywhere else to go, not without joining another table already full and fuck that.
His scowl stays fixed, and he turns his attention back to his lunch. Sharing a table with one other person is probably a best case scenario, it'll have to do.
Ezra could just let it go like that: sit down, eat in quiet, maybe do some reading. It would be a tolerable way to spend lunch.
But of course he doesn't, because he's got absolutely zero impulse control and it would be rude to put his headphones in so he's got to fill the silence somehow.
Spot is just unwrapping his sandwich when Ezra speaks and he resists the urge to sigh. Maybe he should have turned off his hearing aids, then he could just pretend he didn't hear and get on with his lunch without having to be social.
Except... except he knows his grandmother is going to ask if he's made any friends, if he even spoke to anybody, and Spot Conlon does not lie to his grandmother, so maybe he can have something approaching a conversation at lunch and then he doesn't have to and she'll get off his back.
It doesn't have to be much of a conversation, really. Ezra certainly doesn't have a knack for small talk, but he might as well try.
"I'd say welcome to the school and everything," he says, as he picks at a couple of chips before deciding to tackle his veggie burger, "but you've probably had enough of that crap already."
It's not that the school sucks, it's just that Ezra still doesn't feel exactly at home - part of that is that pretty much the only thing he can eat in the canteen is their half hearted attempts and vegetarian food. His family have a get-it-yourself attitude to food - he could have a packed lunch if he wanted, but he'd have to make it himself and he can't be bothered.
Spot's head lifts slightly at that, a hint of surprise showing on his face before he hides it again. He has had enough of that crap, and it's novel to have stumbled across somebody who recognises that.
"Yea." He agrees after a moment "Sounds like you ain't exactly brimmin' with school spirit?"
When he's actually saying more than a single word at a time, the Brooklyn accent is obvious.
Ezra - a local boy through and through - raises an eyebrow at the accent but doesn't comment on it quite yet. There're all sorts of reasons a New Yorker could end up out here, it'll come up eventually.
He shrugs, a one shoulder movement.
"Just started last year," he says, "it's not like, the worst school ever, I guess. But it takes some getting used to."
"Yeah," Ezra agrees, on the principle of 'this school has a lot of stuff,' which it undeniably has.
"Guess all those fees have got to go somewhere, right?"
He says it with the slight ironic tone of someone who's distinctly not at hoome with the rest of the fee paying kids around here.
It's weird because, even though Ezra and his foster sister have a discount because of their dad working here, his foster mother could probably afford the fees on her own. But he definitely doesn't fit in with the rest of the rich kids even so.
Spot's eyes narrow slightly, curiously, there's something about the way he said that...
Spot's well aware that it's only a matter of time before somebody finds out he's here on scholarship, or notices that he's not as rich as the rest of the kids here, but he has no frame of reference for how bad that's going to be when it happens. He doesn't want to outright ask, but he's definitely now curious about Ezra, and if he can be used as an example to judge by.
"Guess they do." He agrees.
Now, though, he isn't sure what to say. So much for being good at that conversation thing.
When Spot's eyes narrow, Ezra's widen as he realises he's got to explain himself a bit. And he's not really into telling his entire life story to strangers but, like Spot, he figures it's only a matter of time before he finds out.
So he turns back to his food, lets the silence fall for as long as it takes to take a bite of his burger (but not long enough to swallow) before he says, apparently out of nowhere:
The apparently non-sequitur is confusing, but Spot doesn't really question it - mostly he's just glad to have a place for the conversation to actually go, rather than descending into awkward silence. It would have been fine if they hadn't started talking, but now that they have it would be weird to just stop.
"Uh, no, I think I have it tomorrow?" He offers, wondering if maybe Ezra just likes music or something and is looking for common ground, that's a thing people do, right?
Well, he does, but he doesn't really admit to liking the kind of music they teach here, not much.
Ezra gives his plate a sheepish shrug. "So Mr Jarrus - the music teacher - he's my foster dad. There's a discount for staff kids, which is why I'm here."
He's not really embarrassed about it, not anymore. But he is only offering to explain why he's even here, when he doesn't exacxtly blend in.
Ah. Now he understands - and, weirdly, it makes him slightly less wary of Ezra in general, and definitely less wary of him finding out about his own situation.
"You get many problems 'cause of it?" He asks, and yea okay maybe it's a little blunt, but why beat around the bush when that's specifically what he wants to know? He doesn't really care if it gives anything away about himself at this point, because either the answer is yes and Ezra is (hopefully) unlikely to want anybody else to experience that shit, or the answer is no and he has nothing to worry about anyway.
"Some," Ezra admits. Though he'd also admit, if pressed, that part of it's his own fault for being a sulky asshole when he first arrived.
But not all of it.
"You'll figure out the real assholes soon enough. Some can be - stupid, I guess? When they tal about their rich parents, but don't mean it. But yeah, there are a few who just like being shit."
Ezra nods at that. Sounds like he got it right, and this kid would do well to have someone watching his back - someone who knows what it's like to stand out, even if they do so in different ways.
He takes another bite of his burger, just to give time for any questions. But with no small talk coming he asks one of his own:
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.
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."
"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.
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.
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.
"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.
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.
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.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2022-08-12 11:14 am (UTC)(And turning the music off, because Kanan has told him enough times I can still hear it, Ezra! that it's habit by now.)
"Hey, anyone sitting here?"
He's already decided that no, no one's sitting there, because his pause was only momentary and he continues to sit down. Because he's seen that scowl before and he is choosing to interpret it as someone needing to be annoyed.
Also - there's nowhere else to sit.
no subject
Date: 2022-08-12 11:19 am (UTC)There isn't, and it's obvious, and what's he going to say? I've got a friend coming? That will quickly become an obvious lie, and he'd rather just eat his lunch than start a fight on his first day.
So he shakes his head - not that it matters because the other kid is already sitting down like it wouldn't have made a difference what he said anyway. Spot scans the lunchroom but there really isn't anywhere else to go, not without joining another table already full and fuck that.
His scowl stays fixed, and he turns his attention back to his lunch. Sharing a table with one other person is probably a best case scenario, it'll have to do.
no subject
Date: 2022-08-12 11:25 am (UTC)But of course he doesn't, because he's got absolutely zero impulse control and it would be rude to put his headphones in so he's got to fill the silence somehow.
"You're new, right? I'm Ezra."
no subject
Date: 2022-08-12 11:29 am (UTC)Spot is just unwrapping his sandwich when Ezra speaks and he resists the urge to sigh. Maybe he should have turned off his hearing aids, then he could just pretend he didn't hear and get on with his lunch without having to be social.
Except... except he knows his grandmother is going to ask if he's made any friends, if he even spoke to anybody, and Spot Conlon does not lie to his grandmother, so maybe he can have something approaching a conversation at lunch and then he doesn't have to and she'll get off his back.
"Spot."
Not that he's much of a conversationalist.
no subject
Date: 2022-08-12 09:22 pm (UTC)It doesn't have to be much of a conversation, really. Ezra certainly doesn't have a knack for small talk, but he might as well try.
"I'd say welcome to the school and everything," he says, as he picks at a couple of chips before deciding to tackle his veggie burger, "but you've probably had enough of that crap already."
It's not that the school sucks, it's just that Ezra still doesn't feel exactly at home - part of that is that pretty much the only thing he can eat in the canteen is their half hearted attempts and vegetarian food. His family have a get-it-yourself attitude to food - he could have a packed lunch if he wanted, but he'd have to make it himself and he can't be bothered.
no subject
Date: 2022-08-12 09:27 pm (UTC)Spot's head lifts slightly at that, a hint of surprise showing on his face before he hides it again. He has had enough of that crap, and it's novel to have stumbled across somebody who recognises that.
"Yea." He agrees after a moment "Sounds like you ain't exactly brimmin' with school spirit?"
When he's actually saying more than a single word at a time, the Brooklyn accent is obvious.
no subject
Date: 2022-08-12 09:36 pm (UTC)He shrugs, a one shoulder movement.
"Just started last year," he says, "it's not like, the worst school ever, I guess. But it takes some getting used to."
no subject
Date: 2022-08-12 10:07 pm (UTC)"Yea?" So somebody who at least understands what it's like to be new here, that's not nothing...
"It's got better stuff than my old school." He comments. See, he can do this conversation thing, right? He's practically a social butterfly.
This might actually be the longest conversation he's had today.
no subject
Date: 2022-08-13 10:37 am (UTC)"Guess all those fees have got to go somewhere, right?"
He says it with the slight ironic tone of someone who's distinctly not at hoome with the rest of the fee paying kids around here.
It's weird because, even though Ezra and his foster sister have a discount because of their dad working here, his foster mother could probably afford the fees on her own. But he definitely doesn't fit in with the rest of the rich kids even so.
no subject
Date: 2022-08-13 12:28 pm (UTC)Spot's eyes narrow slightly, curiously, there's something about the way he said that...
Spot's well aware that it's only a matter of time before somebody finds out he's here on scholarship, or notices that he's not as rich as the rest of the kids here, but he has no frame of reference for how bad that's going to be when it happens. He doesn't want to outright ask, but he's definitely now curious about Ezra, and if he can be used as an example to judge by.
"Guess they do." He agrees.
Now, though, he isn't sure what to say. So much for being good at that conversation thing.
no subject
Date: 2022-08-13 02:25 pm (UTC)So he turns back to his food, lets the silence fall for as long as it takes to take a bite of his burger (but not long enough to swallow) before he says, apparently out of nowhere:
"You had music yet?"
no subject
Date: 2022-08-13 03:10 pm (UTC)The apparently non-sequitur is confusing, but Spot doesn't really question it - mostly he's just glad to have a place for the conversation to actually go, rather than descending into awkward silence. It would have been fine if they hadn't started talking, but now that they have it would be weird to just stop.
"Uh, no, I think I have it tomorrow?" He offers, wondering if maybe Ezra just likes music or something and is looking for common ground, that's a thing people do, right?
no subject
Date: 2022-08-13 03:22 pm (UTC)Ezra gives his plate a sheepish shrug. "So Mr Jarrus - the music teacher - he's my foster dad. There's a discount for staff kids, which is why I'm here."
He's not really embarrassed about it, not anymore. But he is only offering to explain why he's even here, when he doesn't exacxtly blend in.
no subject
Date: 2022-08-13 03:30 pm (UTC)Ah. Now he understands - and, weirdly, it makes him slightly less wary of Ezra in general, and definitely less wary of him finding out about his own situation.
"You get many problems 'cause of it?" He asks, and yea okay maybe it's a little blunt, but why beat around the bush when that's specifically what he wants to know? He doesn't really care if it gives anything away about himself at this point, because either the answer is yes and Ezra is (hopefully) unlikely to want anybody else to experience that shit, or the answer is no and he has nothing to worry about anyway.
no subject
Date: 2022-08-13 03:57 pm (UTC)But not all of it.
"You'll figure out the real assholes soon enough. Some can be - stupid, I guess? When they tal about their rich parents, but don't mean it. But yeah, there are a few who just like being shit."
no subject
Date: 2022-08-13 04:03 pm (UTC)Spot nods - something to be aware of, for sure, but definitely doesn't sound like anything he can't handle.
He might actually get in less fights here than he did after returning to his old school.
Maybe.
"Good to know."
no subject
Date: 2022-08-13 04:26 pm (UTC)He takes another bite of his burger, just to give time for any questions. But with no small talk coming he asks one of his own:
"So you're from out East?"
no subject
Date: 2022-08-13 04:29 pm (UTC)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.
no subject
Date: 2022-08-13 04:40 pm (UTC)"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."
no subject
Date: 2022-08-13 04:49 pm (UTC)"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.
no subject
Date: 2022-08-13 08:58 pm (UTC)"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.
no subject
Date: 2022-08-13 09:07 pm (UTC)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.
no subject
Date: 2022-08-13 09:22 pm (UTC)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.
no subject
Date: 2022-08-13 09:43 pm (UTC)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.
no subject
Date: 2022-08-14 10:18 am (UTC)"Thanks," he says.He nudges his plate a little towards Spot as well, profeering one of his fries in exchange.
"You sure?"
(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From: