ic contact;

[orangehoodie]

VOICE | TEXT | VIDEO | ACTION | ETC.

Comments

[pheromonecoffee]

Don't think of it as bribery. Think of it as something to look forward to. Or these things can drag on forever.

[orangehoodie]

[He pauses, and looks up at Matt, and opens his notebook up and copies down the first question.]

I don't actually hate school. I won't make you correct everything.

[pheromonecoffee]

Oh, good. It would make it hard if you did that on purpose.

[orangehoodie]

[He shakes his head.]

... Should I just start these first questions, then?

[pheromonecoffee]

Wherever you're comfortable starting. Remember to show your work, even on a separate piece of paper. Taking it one step at a time is the best way to do this kind of thing.

[orangehoodie]

R-right.

[He flashes Matthias a look, frowning a little in the way kids do when they feel bad about something, and he'll pull his book closer to himself and start working on the first question. He works at a consistent pace, and although he pauses once or twice to calculate something, he... really doesn't look like he has any trouble working out the problem at all.]

[pheromonecoffee]

[He watches across the table, chin in hand, ready to correct anything he sees wrong.

And he is very pleasantly surprised that he doesn't have to. He considers this situation momentarily, and thinks he knows what's going on.]

How do you find the volume of a cylinder, Ken?

[The basic kind of stuff you learn in eighth grade math.]

[orangehoodie]

[He raises his head to Matt at the question, paused in the middle of writing down the answer to the current problem.]

The radius squared multiplied by pi, multiplied by the height.

[pheromonecoffee]

The area of a parallelogram? [He's impressed. That was fast.]

[orangehoodie]

[Formulas are easy.]

Base multiplied by vertical height.

[pheromonecoffee]

What were the original thirteen states?

[orangehoodie]

[He blinks. And he can name like ten or eleven of them! He has to think for the other two.]

[pheromonecoffee]

What political party was the first president?

[orangehoodie]

... He wasn't, right?

[pheromonecoffee]

[He's a smart kid. Matt grins before he continues casually.]

What year was Junpei Iori born?

[orangehoodie]

[That makes him stop completely.]

...

[Who is he-- wait--]

... What?

[pheromonecoffee]

[He blinks at him like he hasn't said anything weird.]

What?

[orangehoodie]

I-- [He knows that name. As of just this second. He knows, and this guy knows, and he thinks he knows how they know. It's because Matt said it. It's because he -- the other him -- knew the name Matt said. That means Matt knew the same guy, so he knew the other him too, and he must've known the other him if Matt recognized him.

Matt recognized him. And asked the question. Was it a test? Was he trying to make sure he had the right person? But why would he? Has he spoken to Matt before on the network then--?

What if he lied? Hid that he knew, because he doesn't know if this is a bad idea or not. What if getting more involved with the network would put his dad in danger? like more than whatever was going to happen to the city would? But if he lied, Matt would eventually find out.

... He didn't want Matt to dislike him for being a liar. Not yet.]

... I don't even know what year it was then. I don't know when he was born.

[pheromonecoffee]

[Matt looks very, very relieved.]

Oh, good. I was starting to think it was just a coincidence.

[orangehoodie]

[Ken grips his pencil tightly. It's leaving a dark mark on his paper. His other hand shakes a little so he puts it in his lap.

It doesn't feel good that someone might know something about him he doesn't know.]

Who are you?

[pheromonecoffee]

[Calm yourself down, Ken.]

Who I said I am. I'm Matt, and I have voices in my head telling me when I make friends and that some people I know are related to Tarot cards.

Your name came up in my head when I was talking about it. Your face, too... different hair, though.

[orangehoodie]

... My name.

He had the same name as me?

[pheromonecoffee]

Same name. Same face. So we must've known each other.

[orangehoodie]

...

[His voice is really small.]

... I don't -- I don't know if I want anything to do with that.

[pheromonecoffee]

[He considers this and nods.]

You don't have to be, I don't think.

But it helps to know somebody, right?