After the day he’d had, Marvin wasn’t quite sure as to what he could expect on the school trip. The rest of that day had gone on in a similar manner as his school life. He was stuck in a futon while the two strangers he was rooming with had practically gone out of their way to ignore his existence,not that they actually acknowledged each other; it seemed as though they were all stuck where they didn’t want to be.

And he’d be lying if he said that didn’t sting a little bit. Sure he hadn’t expected CB to be coming to his door to hang out, but Adam and Marly-especially her considering she’d asked to meet up-could have spared more time to hang out with him.

Still, it was a new morning and he had to figure out what to do. Putting on his watch and glasses, and tying his hair in a low bun were the finishing touch to his outfit. A faint smile decorated his face as he appreciated how much better his prosthesis felt compared with the past, a result of its Conduit status. It obviously still had its limits and couldn’t hope to replace a real let, but he was still grateful for it as it made his life just that little bit easier.

“Yo! Marvin! Are you awake?” called out a voice from outside his room. A distinctly similar voice belonging to Adam Lacetro.

Opening the door, Marvin found said boy there, alongside a taller bronze skinned blonde haired, blue eyed boy around Adam's height, and a dark skinned-even more so than Adam-boy, almost as short as Marvin himself. “Good morning?” stated Marvin awkwardly. He’d seen the two around the school, but he hadn’t interacted with them, and his last meeting with Adam hadn’t been what you’d consider good.

“I think introductions are in order.” stated Adam. “These here are Jacob and Trevon.” he said, pointing to the taller and shorter boy respectively, leading to a series of semi-awkward greetings being exchanged between the three. “How about you join us for breakfast?” casually requested the werebeast.

Marvin sighed. He might have been thinking about this not a full minute ago, but he didn’t want to intrude on the friendships and routines they had already developed. “Are you sure? I mean I don’t want to intru-”

“Yeah I’m sure. You guys have any issues with this right?” interrupted Adam, looking back at his friends.

“We’ve seen you and Adam talking and he’s said only good things about you.” replied the blonde, Jacob, in a soft tone that honestly freaked Marvin out a little. “Why wouldn’t we want to get to know you ourselves?” he continued, sounding curious but still very monotone.

“Plus, I’ve seen you in the archery club.” added Trevon. “Everyone I’ve talked with there is either snooty, stuck-up, or both so, if we can, I’d like to be friends.” he explained with a smile on his face.

“I’m pretty sure snooty and stuck up are the same thing Trev.” muttered Jacob, who was met with a deadly glare from his shorter friend. A glare that he met with an eerily calm look, making Marvin wonder how such different individuals could coexist.

It was a bit overwhelming for the generally awkward Marvin to be bombarded by all of this positiveness, but he found himself smiling once more. Deciding to actually step out of his comfort zone he joined the trio, joining in their discussions wherever he could as they went to catch breakfast.

“So, you’re in the archery club Trevon?” asked Marvin, kind of excited he had someone that was interested in the sport.

“Yeah!” responded the boy. “It really helped me build up confidence growing up, but I never had any people to talk to about it.” he explained, a tone of sadness in his voice as he admitted he never had anyone to talk about it with.

It was a feeling Marvin understood all too well. Even if there were other people training next to him, he very often felt alone in the range. Trevon was much like him it seemed.

At least in the sense of not being easily capable of talking to new people. Even Adam was the one that approached him, while his relative closeness with Marly was born out of necessity and the girl’s insistence that they all stick together.

“Well, I’d be happy to meet up and train if you’d like.” He said before he had the chance to talk himself out of it. He remembered Kara’s and Kon’s words. He would live, he would make something of himself.

Trevon looked excited at the prospect, and as the four teens continued to talk about anything from teachers to personal interests, they reached the breakfast room. They picked up their trays and plates, and picked up their food in silence. Jacob Adam and Trevon seemed to get the most they could, practically getting something out of every piece of food., while Marvin limited himself to some croissants, a little pie and some bacon.

He noticed Marly and CB sitting at a table surrounded by a crowd of their classmates and thought about going to say hello, but he was stopped by Adam’s hand on his arm.

“Don’t go. I’ll explain later” he told Marvin in a warning tone. From the corner of his eye he thought he could see Marly stare at him briefly, but she was talking to her friends when he checked again.

“I noticed you staring at Mallory girl.” stated Jacob as they were going through their breakfast.

“You see, I-I mean-”

“It’s alright my man.” reassured Trevon. “But I don’t think you have a shot with her. She’s always surrounded by jocks and rich people. Plus I hear she’s rich as hell.”

Marvin groaned. High school drama wasn’t something he liked much, having been on the bad side of it in his previous school. It looked like some things never changed though.

“I think we should stay clear of those kinds of conversations. These people don’t talk to us, and we don’t talk to them.” cut in Adam. There was a bitterness in his voice, and Marvin recalled his first days at the school. Adam was always far away from Marly and CB. Based on what he knew about their relationship, Marvin just assumed it was because of what happened with Ava, but it seemed they just drifted apart as well, hanging out in different social circles and not bothering to mend their friendship.

Of course he could be completely wrong as well.

“I didn’t mean to cause any distress.” responded Jacob, eyeing both Marvin and Adam. “I’ve been trying to be more tactful in stating my observations. I failed in that, so I apologise.”

“Don’t worry about it. If you ask me something I’m uncomfortable with I’ll just tell you.” Marvin told him. He honestly felt bad for the guy. Jacob-Marvin guessed-didn’t know about anything regarding Adam’s relationship to Marly and CB, and he certainly didn’t know about Marvin’s past and the reasons he was tired of gossiping and the high school social messes.

“May I ask about your scars and prosthetic leg then?” wondered Jacob.

It’s a good thing Marvin wasn’t drinking anything because he honestly would have spit it out if he were. “It’s-it’s a l-long story.” he sputtered, trying to get his anxiety down.

“I think I need to apologise again.” said Jacob, his monotone voice breaking a little at the words. He really looked anxious at that moment, as if a strong reprimand was on its way. He saw Adam and Trevon grasp him by the shoulders and whisper for him to breathe.

“We’re all a bit odd.” sighed CB after Jacob had calmed down. “You know, we just don’t really fit in. Trevon and Jacob aren’t exactly the most socially adept, and I-well, I’m a whole other thing.” he chuckled humoursessly.

Marvin had been wrong before. While CB and Marly had alluded to the fact that they didn’t keep in touch with him, and he had realised whatever relationship they had was broken. But he now realised that maybe there wasn’t that much of a friendship in the first place. Sure they had a closeness that they couldn’t have with anyone else due to their unique situation, but that didn’t mean they had to be friends.

As the foursome continued their breakfast he caught Marly’s dual coloured glare on their table. It was wordless and far away, but he didn’t get the intended hostility he thought he was supposed to get from it. It was her body language that ruined her illusion.

Sure Marvin wasn’t an expert, but he had sparred with the girl many times, and he saw the same look in her as when she was on the defense in their spars. Looking for ways to turn the tide, bring herself to victory. What exactly she wanted to win however, or against whom, he had no idea.

He noticed Jacob look at him once more and, for a brief moment, he thought the blonde was going to comment on his staring but refrained from doing so. Marvin frowned thinking his stupid insecurities and secrets regarding his past were going to get him out of another friend group, but the blonde then smirked at him and winked.

Based on Trevon’s wide open mouth and Adam’s laughter that wasn’t something that was in character for Jacob to do.

He couldn’t help it; Marvin grinned as well.

After breakfast was done, they had a few free hours before they would be off to see whatever attraction they were going to go to next. Marvin honestly couldn’t care less. He’d grown up in this city, and he’d seen most of the things they were showing off.

So he found himself in his room practicing magic waiting for Adam’s group to come and get him to spend the next couple of, free, hours together. They all shared their room, so he was basically waiting for them to get ready in order to leave. He was studying a spell known as Gleipnir.

Apparently it was based on ancient Norse mythology, or the myths were born from it, at this point Marvin couldn’t even tell anymore. It essentially gave form to a series of golden chains that bind the target. It didn’t seem that complicated to perform when it came to manipulating the ‘imperfections’ needed for it or regarding the circle he needed to draw for it.

A knock on his door broke him out of his thoughts. He was surprised to hear Marly’s muffled voice come from the other side.

“Is everything alright?” he asked his classmate as he opened the door.

“No!” she shouted as she entered his room. She seemed ready to go out, which was fair, but her entire presence oozed stress and anger. “I came by earlier and you were gone. We need to talk.”

Worried, Marvin closed his room’s door, pointing to a bed for her to sit on.

“Can you tell me what’s wrong?” asked Marvin, after they sat silently on the bed for a few minutes.

“I never had a sparring partner for swordfighting before you.” she began, looking at him straight in the eyes. “I have fun when I’m with you. It’s also because of you that we are so close to rescuing Ava. And it looks like through that we may also prevent whatever disaster is coming. I personally believe it’s thanks to you that our little group wasn’t shattered yesterday.”

He was looking straight into her eyes. Her dual coloured eyes. Crimson and light blue. Different from each other, one appeared harsh and unforgiving while the other was gentle and bright. He knew it was beyond cliché, but he was lost in them until her words finally registered.

“I meant it when I said I don’t know how to handle compliments.” he responded, chuckling. “You are the person Adam and CB came back for. Adam may have his whole friend group, but there’s something there between you three. That’s why they came back. That and Ava. And even the whole ‘rescuing Ava’ thing wasn’t thanks to me. I was just the tool in someone’s plot.”

“That’s the problem!” shouted Marly, as she fell back to the bed. “I don’t think I have ever heard you say anything positive about yourself in the time I’ve known you. And I know that when we first met I wasn’t that nice toward you, but you’d be an idiot if you thought that I wouldn’t mind it if you died!” She finished angrily, and Marvin found himself praying that either the soundproofing here was excellent, or that the other rooms were empty. Her voice only got louder through her rant, which wasn’t unjustified in the dark haired boy’s opinion.

“So that’s what this is about huh?” questioned Marvin. He found it truly baffling how such anger could be born from worry. “Other than my grandma and Annie, I’ve never really had anyone. Back when I was at my old school most people were like Johnny. I guess the teachers finally intervened after I left because of that. The point is that I always thought that after saving Ava you’d all reconcile somehow. And in your happiness I guess I just-” he never quite realised how difficult opening up would be, “-I just-I thought you wouldn’t have a place for me there.”

Marly’s eyes widened at his explanation. “You absolute, moronic, short, idiotic foolish-I’m running out of harmless insults here. You really thought that?” she shouted getting in his personal space.

“I-I mean you all are childhood friends. Even if you’ve drifted apart you share the experience of having spent your whole lives bonded because of your secret. Can you tell me where exactly I’d fit into that equation?” he snapped back at her, getting so close he could faintly smell the chocolate and strawberries she had for breakfast in her breath.

Suddenly she leaned in and kissed him.

He kissed back. It was rough and clumsy, he knew that, and yet if felt for all the world like it was something so good he should have done it ages ago. And it was over a moment later as she pulled back.

“No.” breathed Marly. He felt a twinge of disappointment as she broke it off. “We can’t do this. Not now.”

He understood. Whatever this could lead to would most likely derail them from their current mission in saving Ava. Not to mention how much of a bad place Marly was in psychologically. But there was the part of him questioning if she even meant it, if she was just trying to make him feel better about himself ,if-

“I asked one of the teachers with us and she said that we have booked a dinner tonight. After we get back from that I’ll come here. There’s-there’s a reason I came here beyond this. We can talk about that then. Discuss where we stand with each other as well.” she explained, determination in her voice.

Yet he once more found himself lost in her eyes. So different, and yet they both showed a uniform uncertainty at that moment.

He’d never really thought about it, but he really wished this would go somewhere, more than he would have even expected from himself. Still, his curiosity and unease about whatever it was she had to tell him was strong as well. It was foolish of him to think he’d have a normal day after all.

He supposed it was ironic how he wanted as little to do with typical high school issues, while he now wished he’d have that be his main concern.