Xellos sat in his classroom and stared at the wall. This was ridiculous, there was absolutely no reason why he should be forced to sit here and wait until the other students finished the test. Why was it high school teachers always made students stay in the classroom as long as absolutely possible? Exactly how was staring at the wall supposed to be of educational value? He sighed. This was ridiculous. Getting up he gathered his books and walked over to the teacher.
"Xellos, I know you're done already but please -- "
"Mr. Zangalus, my next class is the one at the University, I'm not going to be on school property anyway, please can I leave early just this once?"
The teacher stared at him for a few moments and then sighed. "All right, go ahead."
"Thank you." Xellos was out of the class before the teacher had a chance to change his mind. He got to the stop just as the bus was arriving and got on. At this rate he would have over half an hour before his class started. It wasn't enough time to go to the lab, or to do anything else of any real value, but he was sure he could find something better to do than staring at a wall and that was all that mattered. Well, that and getting away from that damn school.
Zelgadiss stood outside the Humanities building and sighed, looking at his watch. He hated it when Professors cancelled their lectures last minute. It was incredibly annoying, and even though it meant he didn't have to listen to an hour long ramble, it now left him with a bit of time on his hands and almost nothing to do with it. After all, half an hour wasn't much when it was between classes. Well, if nothing else he could go get a coffee. Turning around he was surprised to see Xellos walking towards the building. Suddenly things were looking up.
"Hey there!" He called, walking up and seeing surprise in Xellos' eyes. "Did your class get cancelled too?"
"I had a test." He answered, looking just about anywhere but at Zelgadiss.
"And you're done already?"
He shrugged. "It was easy, there was no point in staying any longer."
"I know that feeling. So what are you going to do before English?"
"I don't know, there's really nothing that I have to do."
Zelgadiss smiled. "Good, then you can join me for coffee."
He could almost see Xellos mentally kicking himself. There was a moment where he seemed to be trying to find a way out of it and then he gave in. "Sure, I might as well."
"Excellent." They walked down the street to the coffee shop instead of one of the ones in the mall next door and placed their orders before finding a table. "I had fun on Friday." The innocent comment caused Xellos to blush, which in turn made him smile. He just looked so cute when he did that.
"Thank you for coming."
"What did she threaten you with any way?"
"She was going to cut my access in the Realm."
"Ouch. I know how that feels."
"Oh really?"
"Well, my grandfather keeps trying to shut me down from my side. That's almost as bad, although I guess your mother interfering would be a lot harder to overcome."
"You have no idea. She can be very determined."
"Why did you start playing in the Realm anyway?"
"My mother needed a play-tester for new levels and situations, and I was handy. What about you?"
"A friend gave me the basic gear for my birthday. I tried it out one day because I was bored."
Xellos looked at him. "Because you were bored?"
"Yup."
He shook his head. "You have no idea what potential that system has."
"I'm starting to realise it." He replied thoughtfully, remembering the lower levels Kuraku had shown him on Friday night.
"Oh really?" Xellos gave him a curious look. "And why is that?"
This time it was his turn to blush. "I just found something the other day, that's all."
Xellos smiled then, almost more of a smirk and Zelgadiss couldn't help but think that the other boy knew EXACTLY where in the realm he had been. Somehow, that was a little embarrassing. Xellos chuckled. "That's interesting, I wonder what else you'll find if you keep looking around."
Zelgadiss frowned and looked up at the other boy. There was something about his tone there...
"What did you think of the story we had to read for English?" Xellos asked suddenly, changing the subject.
"I don't know. I'm not sure I like the idea of the anti-hero."
"No? You don't find standard heroes just a little annoying?"
"I do, but I don't think it's interesting to read about an ineffectual person who does nothing, will never do anything, and doesn't have an interesting thought in his head."
"You didn't think the comparison of the wind to a cat was interesting?"
Zelgadiss gave him a sceptical look and he laughed.
"Okay, no, apparently not."
Zelgadiss smiled, he Xellos hadn't laughed when they were alone before. "Are you working in the lab tonight?"
"No, I actually have a day off. That's pretty rare."
"And what do you do on your days off?"
"Nothing much." He replied with a shrug. "What about you, will you be helping your grandfather?"
"Nope, in fact I have absolutely nothing to do. So how about I take you to dinner?"
Xellos choked on his coffee. "What?"
"Well, you said you didn't have anything to do."
"I... I..." He gave a lost little sigh. "Well... all right."
Zelgadiss smiled. "Excellent we can go right after our English class."
"But... but... but that's..."
"Problem?"
"I... well, I guess not."
"Good." Zelgadiss knew he was grinning like an idiot, but he couldn't help it. Suddenly the hour long English lecture they were going to sit through seemed like an eternity.