The Making of Molehills (Open)

[Gleam]

Even if the class was Geometry, there was a certain level of attention expected out of all the students present, and Jacob Khorwah was not meeting this base metric, as he was asleep face down on his desk.

It wasn't as if he meant any real disrespect - but this was his fourth time taking this clas, and he had grown increasingly disenchanted with the proposition of review. The first half an hour he had passed by doodling sketches of the island's native plants, but there's only so long anyone but a botanist can draw leaves.

He didn't snore, but the recognizable, steady rise and fall of his chest was enough evidence. The teacher had, so far, largely ignored him, as she had yet to actually turn around during this class. That wasn't a good indicator of quality education.

[JDGreat]

Eyes flicking over to the guy who was clearly asleep, Rusty Kekise looked back over to the teacher who hadn't turned around just yet. Now while he could let this one lie and have a good laugh when the dude eventually got caught... That wasn't really his style.

Keeping focused on the front, he extended his right arm slowly out in the direction of the sleeping male. With a breath, the Astral Arm was quickly summoned, shot out and stretched and poked said guy about three times in the side. When that didn't work, the AA gave a sort of one armed shrug, then gave a proper good slap to the back of the sleeper's head before retracting entirely and disappearing.

So...this is how the explain Geometry here, huh? the teen thought to himself. He knew most of this already, but goddamn he wasn't gonna get caught sleeping on the job and neither should this guy.

[Gleam]

Jacob's head thudded against the desk, hard, and rebounded up. He blinked slowly once as he recognized the waking world and then glanced behind him.

The teacher finally turned around at the loud thud and pinned Jacob with a stare. "Roughhousing is not allowed except on the fields, Mr. . . . " she paused, waiting for a name.

"Khorwah." Jacob said absently, as he rubbed the back of his head. "And as I do not doubt the fine tradition of violence restriction, I shall henceforth restrain myself to such places as it will not disturb others."

The teacher's gaze went gimlet. "That wasn't what I asked of you, Mr. Khorwah."

"It is the reality inherent despite your request, however." Khorwah responded, unfazed. "This said I am not fond of complications. And I am wasting your classtime, I believe. Please, may we continue this at such a time as it would not impugn upon my classmate's tuition?"

The teacher frowned slightly but turned back to the board without another word. Jacob turned to the desk beside him with the guiltiest-looking student and raised a dark eyebrow, flicking his fingers in American Sign Language.

/thank you for waking

[JDGreat]

Blinking as the guy defended himself with the greatest of skill, Rust just arched an eyebrow at his verbosity.

This guy is damn good at talking, that's for sure. I know I'm not dumb but I have no idea what some of those words even mean...

Then the male turned to face him. Directly.

...ah...rumbled...bugger...

Offering a sickly grin back, he noted the fingers moving. Sign language, maybe? Rust had never learned it himself, but it looked too co-ordinated to be random finger movements. Rust didn't understand a lick of it.

To reply, he just shrugged and mouthed the word Later, before going back to his own work and filling out a few more calculations. This would be tough to explain if the kid had a grudge. He honestly hadn't meant to hit him that hard but that had been an audible thwack. And most of the others had seen it.

Ehehe...maybe this wasn't a good idea

[Gleam]

After class Jacob spent a few moments cloistered with the teacher, explaining his situation and why he was so disenthused with the prospect of her class in general. It took a few moments to prove his claims, but soon enough they had reached an understanding.

He too a moment to inspect the name on the paper the boy next to him had handed in - Rusty Kekise - and then headed out into the hall and hung a left to the office. A bit of research there pinpointed his locker, and he headed out to it, where he managed to catch him.

"Rusty Kekise, is it not?" Jacob said, with a raised eyebrow. "Thank you for waking me. Adjusting to the new campus and curriculum has been rather difficult for me. Not to mention the timezone difference."

[JDGreat]

Finishing up with his books, Rust turned to see the guy he'd woken up earlier approach him. After initially steeling himself for a confrontation, he instead found the male was actually thanking him for whacking him upside the head.

Huh...this is new...never would have expected that response...

"Well, err..." he started lamely, clearly put on the wrong foot, "You're welcome, I guess. And timezones are affecting me too. Y'know, from Britain and all."

He extended a hand in friendship, smile on his face having finally mentally caught up.

"Call me Rust, mate. Everyone does. And you are?"

[Gleam]

Jacob cracked a smile. "Truly? I hail from Kent myself. Dartford, to be particular." He took the other boy's hand and shook it without any particular reservation. His grip was stronger than it would appear at first glance. "I am Jacob Khorwah. Yes, the name is Arabic - my mother was foreign."

He paused for a moment to allow Rust to gather his dropped marbles, as he released the other boy's hand. "I am rather unaccustomed to how the faculty run classes here, and my credits did not transfer over correctly, so I am forced to retake some classes. The result - as you witnessed - is tedium."

[JDGreat]

"Oh sweet!" Rust's grin brightened as he realised he was talking to another Brit. "Totally didn't recognise the accent, sorry about that," he chuckled.

Helluva grip though, damn.

He nodded at Jacob's explanation.

"Damn, that must suck, mate." he agreed. "Especially when you already know this stuff. Kinda mandatory for me though, I got kicked out due to an...altercation. Anyway, old headmaster was a prejudiced old goat and here I am. Relearning crap I should have known two years ago."

He shrugged.

"Guess you got screwed more than me though. At least I'm learning this stuff for the first time. Must be hell for you."

[Gleam]

"It has been unexciting." Jacob allowed, a wry smile curving his mouth. "I would not term it true suffering at least - all that is required of me is to sit and regurgitate material, after all. If baby pigeons can do this, I see no reason why I cannot."

He glanced around and raised an eyebrow. "I rather doubt your story is unique here." he said. "Adolescence alone is troubling enough, but with definite proof of one's own distinct difference, I imagine it is worse. Very few came to this Academy, shall I say, well-adjusted."

A shrug, as Jacob placed his hands in his pockets. "They should do this earlier." he murmured. "Not to segregate us from people without powers, but to explain that they're no fault of the child's own, and to intercede in case of - well, a guardian's abuse of his charge's talents. It seems rather common."

[JDGreat]

Rust nodded all the way through Jacob's little speech. It made sense to him at least, up until the last bit.

"Actually, my mom was generally very supportive of the entire thing. She was the one who found the ad, to be honest." he corrected. "I mean, I can understand where you're coming from though."

Great, now you sound like a right momma's boy.

Leaning against the lockers, Rust noted the time.

"Well, I haven't got any place to be for a few hours." the mechanic started. "Fancy grabbing a drink and shooting the breeze for a bit? Or have you got a nearby class?"

He stopped and thought about it.

"Not saying you'll necessarily need it but...you know... attendance."

[Gleam]

Jacob snickered. "I participate in a work-study program in the academy laboratories." he commented. "And I have lunch there soon. Does this sound acceptable?"

Without waiting he turned and headed towards the kitchen, ambling at a slow pace. "I did as much as I could to get out of a steady schedule, and as the laboratory deals frequently with fellow students attempting to learn about or refine their powers, I am at least guaranteed new material every once in awhile." Jacob said amiably.

[JDGreat]

"I suppose that's true. New people keep turning up every couple of weeks or so, with multitudes of powers and stuff. It's bound to not get boring." Rust agreed, walking alongside Jacob. "And yeah, mate, I can hang on for a bit. You want me to hang around in the Cafeteria for ya or am I coming with you or what?"

He asked out of genuine curiosity. This was the first bloke he'd properly met in the teaching environment of the school and this work-study program honestly sounded a little cool.

Wonder what research he does?