The Lunchroom

Raya had been spying on Luis Carson all day long. The little twelve year old had noticed him a couple weeks ago and couldn't help but like him. He was so cute, but to be honest she had no idea how to deal with these feelings, not to mention that he was five years older than here. Therefore, she stuck to watching him instead of talking to him. But she had noticed that he was mean to everyone, and that concerned her. Anyone who was mean all the time had to have something wrong with them, right? There must be something wrong in his life for him to be so cruel. The twelve year old picked up her tray of food that the lunch lady gave her and just stood there, watching him with a perplexed and puppy love look on her face, clearly debating on going over there to sit beside him. She started to shake at just the thought and stepped off to the side, trying to work up her nerve to at least say hello. Something. Anything. She needed to say something to him, or it would eat away at her all night and her childish brain would go into a fantasy land of what could've happened if she had just said that one little word.

Luis sat all on his lonesome once more. Not to worry, that's the way he liked it. His size kept most of his "peers" out of the way, and he was more than happy to use his refined social graces to scare away anyone else. Aside from the would hero of the peoples, and emotional crusaders of the academy, Luis had no contact with the students of the DWMA. Those were things of the past though. People no longer approached him, and in the moment he was working on an unfortunately large portion of material from his teacher. He couldn't focus however. Something still bugged him. Like someone was watching him. He leaned into the table in an attempt to gain a modicum of relaxation, and rested on his elbows disregarding many of the mixed social norms existing in this unique part of the planet. Consumed by the feeling, he glances around the room. Perhaps the smallest thing in the room catches his eyes. A girl shaking a ways from him. Just as he thought, he was being paranoid.

Raya, after several moments of scared hesitation, decided that she needed to go say hi, at the very least. After all, what could it hurt? The twelve year old shivered again and picked up her tray to go head over and sit across from Luis, her black hood obscuring her bright red face. She was so embarrassed - she'd never ever done something like this before. She hated talking to people, but for some reason this boy interested her. "...Hello," she said at last in a quiet, meek voice as she started to eat her chicken nuggets, not looking up at him. She knew he would probably think she was incredibly weird, but there wasn't anything she could do about that. She offered him perhaps the smallest of smiles, her blue eyes flicking up for a heartbeat toward his face before she looked away again. She didn't want to completely humiliate herself, even though she knew it was inevitable.

Luis looked up from his work with an expression somewhere between surprise, and amusement. Judging by the looks of the girl he had to assume she simply didn't want to sit at a crowded table. He shifted a bit in frustration. What was he supposed to do? Can't be that blunt with kids, but if he wasn't he might attract more. Little bastards travel in packs most of the time. Luis Carson, the children's hero. He cringed at his own thoughts. After a few incredibly awkward moments, he finally replies. "Hey." His voice fell just short of his usual unforgiving tone. Age playing its part on his disposition. Shortly after his eyes returned to the paper.

Raya blinked slowly at him and offered him a tiny smile when he responded, having expected him to be cruel or something of the sort. That was what he was known for. She shyly reached into her pocket and pulled out a bag of gummy worms to push toward him. "Do you like candy?" she asked, her blue eyes round as she peeked out behind her black robe, her white hair sticking out the sides slightly. She had completely forgotten to introduce herself - she'd kick herself for that later, but at the moment she was just too nervous to care what she'd forgotten as she nibbled anxiously on one of her chicken nuggets, her blue eyes glancing up at him every now and again.

Luis looked up from his paper again, noting her odd disposition towards him. Seeing that she wasn't going to sit there quietly, he decided to give her more than just a glance. She was obviously nervous. Her choice in clothing suggested that this was true of her all the time. He might wonder why that was if he cared enough to ask. The most important thing was what someone he assumed bordered shut-in wanted with him of all people. Giving a short lived sigh, he decides to -properly- address the girl. "Alright. What do you want?" He asked, with something akin to his usual tone, but managing to keep it cool, and collected.

Raya's feet kicked lightly at each other underneath the table and she looked away at his tone of voice. "I just... I don't know. You look lonely a lot and I wanted to see if you were mean like they say," she admitted, glancing down in mild shame. She hadn't really lied - in all honestly, at least half of the reason she'd come over to see him was because she thought he was cute. She had just left that part out of it, and yet she still felt guilty. She didn't say anything else as she finished her chicken nuggets and went on to the mashed potatoes, occasionally stealing a glance at Luis every now and again.

Luis gave yet another sigh. He didn't mind running people off by being rude, but he felt like this little, who couldn't even make eye-contact, would burst into flames or tears if he did the same to her. Needless to say he didn't need that on the list of things he was worried about. "So you're my white knight?" He began in a sort of sarcasm. "Stop worrying about me. You'll live longer." He spoke in a cold tone, hoping to finish the encounter as quickly as it began. He almost felt bad about it though. Such a nervous girl mustering all that courage just to help someone she hadn't even mixed words with? Almost, however, was a proper word. She had no business with him.

Raya blinked again at his cold tone and looked down with a small sigh. "I'm Raya," she began in a small voice, pushing the gummy worms toward him again, her hands shaking as if she were afraid that he would hurt her if she got too close to him. She looked down at her lap, scooting back once the candy was close enough for him to be able to grab it. She wasn't sure what to do - he was scary to her, but she had a feeling that she could get through to him, and then maybe he'd be nicer to people. She could take it if he yelled at her once or twice, but she didn't want him to be angry all the time. It couldn't be pleasant.

Luis looked down at the girls unsteady hand, and then at the candy. He had to wonder if she knew he liked candy, how she knew if she did, and why she was offering it to him. "Luis. I guess you knew that much." He stated dismissively, knowing the introduction wouldn't matter even if she didn't already know who he was. Luis looked down at the candy once more. "No thanks." He added shortly. He was growing tired of this conversation already. Part because it wasn't something he was used to, and part allotted to the fact that this girl possessed the unique ability to disarm him.

Raya blinked with a tiny smile at him. "I didn't know your name," she told him truthfully - she honestly hadn't. It wasn't like she'd done in-depth spying on him. She just assumed everyone liked candy, and she wanted to improve his mood. He definitely needed to be sweeter, or so she assumed, and candy always helped her when she was in a bad mood. "Um, are you sure?" she asked gently, leaning over to open the bag up and pull out a yellow and green one to put it in her mouth, letting it dangle out past her chin as she looked up at him with round blue eyes, a tiny, unsure smile on her lips.

So she wasn't odd enough to go and find out his name from someone, but even still, it didn't matter in the end. "Yeah, I'm sure." Naturally, the reason he didn't want to take the candy was because he knew it would probably only make the girl more comfortable. Better that she doesn't. "Are you done then?" This conversation couldn't be ended too soon for him. Every exchange was an affront to what he built here.

Raya blinked slowly and looked down at the gummy worms with a soft sigh before she got to her feet and picked up her tray, looking a bit crestfallen. "I'm sorry I bothered you," she murmured quietly, looking down at her feet before leaving the candy on the table and heading to go put her tray up. She couldn't help being a bit sad over it, and the expression on her face rivaled in cuteness to a sad puppy. She didn't look back at him, forcing herself to keep her eyes transfixed on the ground as she started to walk out of the lunchroom.

Luis brought his face into his palm with immediate regret for what he had said. Why did she have to look so damn sad about it? She was a crusader alright, but not the kind that looked for social validation in their actions. In his heart he wanted to tell her to wait, but he knew it would only end badly. Opening his eyes again, he notices she left the candy. Did she forget it? He wondered to himself with a stone expression set on his face. True the least he could do was return it, but he was met with the same problem. Getting attached to people was bad news for both of them.

Raya sighed softly and sat down in the hall with her back against the wall and her skinny knees brought up to her flat chest as she played with the hem of her tight leggings. She wasn't really sure what she was feeling right at that moment. That hadn't gone anything like how she had thought it would. She thought he would just open right up and perhaps they could even have a semi-long conversation, but he was clearly as mean as everyone had said. She buried her face in her knees, a tiny sniffle escaping her. While it seemed silly, she really did want friends, and to be turned down the very first time she tried making one... that was hard on her.

Luis emptied his tray into the garbage, and began wondering to find the... Raya. After a short while he see's sitting in the middle of the hallway. Is she-? Whatever. He thought to immediately neglect his own feeling of empathy. The feeling still ate at his subconscious. Approaching Raya he extends a hand holding the bag of candy. She was obviously not a social butterfly, or she would have run to her respective group of friends instead of sulking in the wide open. "You forgot something. You should be more careful about leaving your stuff around kid." If it were anyone else...

Raya jumped when she heard his voice and wiped her eyes very quickly to hide the evidence that she was crying, though she did have a tear or two clinging to her eyelashes as she looked at the candy. "No, I left it for you," she said in a quiet tone. "I thought you might still want it, and I didn't want to take it from you," she explained, not getting up from her position in a curled up little ball, hugging her knees tightly to her chest. She was obviously trying to hide that she was sad, but wasn't doing too well. Every emotion she had read on her face.

Luis only felt worse seeing her face. She really was... Just from that? He wanted to tell her to toughen up, but knew that would make it worse. He kneeled down to near eye level with the girl, in an attempt to give her a little more comfort. "Listen..." He began, then looked off to find his words. "It's nothin' personal, got it?" He spoke, trying, though failing, to shake his rough norm. "But you really gotta learn to be more careful. Don't sit wit' the guy everyone calls mean, yeah?" He finished, hoping not to sound at all sappy, inviting, or overly caring all at once. Which was naturally hopeless.

Raya looked up at him with round blue eyes. He had just sounded slightly... nice? She shuffled her feet and looked down at the tiled floor with a sigh. "I just wanted to see how you really were. I knew you couldn't be all bad," she said with a tiny smile. She still looked a bit hurt, but it was fading pretty quickly. "And I was right. If you were all bad, then you wouldn't have come to try and give me my gummy worms back, right?" she asked in a quiet tone, keeping her robe over her head for some sort of phsycological protection.

Luis joined the girl in standing. As soon as she began speaking he began to regret another decision he had made today. Looking to the side, his mind wondered to the many reasons he had to act this way, as if trying to justify it to himself. "No one's ALL bad kid. That's something not included in the DWMA's lesson plans." Turning, he began his walk away. He had failed to make his point, but there was nothing for it. There was no suitable way for him to handle this at the moment. "And don't be followin' strangers around. That's dangerous." He added impulsively, then quickly berated himself for it silently.

Raya stepped slowly after him, hugging her robe closed. "Uh, wait!" she stammered, trotting to keep up with him. "You're not a stranger and I'm not a kid. We go to school together," she said in a nervous voice, clearly not used to talking for long periods of time. She had to take quicker, longer strides to keep up with him and quite literally tripped over her feet once or twice in her haste. "I want to ask you a few questions, if that's okay," she said, slipping a gummy worm into his hand as she walked.

Luis immediately grumbled as he heard the girl's feet begin to patter in attempts to match his pace. Feeling the worm in his hand he gives a sigh. "I said I didn't want any." He continued his pace, hoping the girl would eventually tire of following him. "Knowing my name doesn't mean I'm not a stranger." He thought out loud. The way he looked at it this girl must be bipolar, or some other type of head-case. "What could you possibly need to know anyways?"

Raya kept her hood covering her face as she looked up at him, offering him the tiniest of smiles. "I don't know. I just want to be friends... can we do that?" she asked hesitantly, her blue eyes round and nervous as she watched him carefully for a response. She couldn't help but be nervous, as she hadn't just gone up to someone to be friends before, especially after what that woman did to her at the orphanage. While normal twelve year olds had no problem making friends with people, she did, so she was really stepping out of her comfort zone to do this. And it wasn't just for her benefit. "You're all alone most of the time, so I just thought maybe you were kind of lonely," she murmured, taking another gummy worm and putting it in her mouth, not looking at him this time.

Luis began to subconsciously slow down as he thought about the girls offer. From his point of view it was pretty obvious she thought she was doing him a favor, and again glancing over his shoulder at her it was clear it wasn't something she was used to. That mixed with the words suggested she had never had any friends period. While he might relate to this, he chose to bury that empathy again. At least for the moment. "Friendship isn't something you just ask for you know?" He started, and averted his eyes from the girl, and back to attention in front of him. He was obviously being to lenient on the girl for her to be this close to him, but in truth he simply couldn't help it. She was so... innocent maybe? "Trust is earned." He finally finished after his short pause of thought.

Raya blinked slowly at him and nodded with a small smile. "I know that. But you can't say you don't want to be friends if you don't at least try it first. You have to talk to someone," she said, swallowing the gummy worm. She was getting a bit closer to being comfortable with being around him, even though she was still worried that he would say or do something cruel, but she was actually... enjoying this, at least a bit. She kept sending him approachful glances, her blue eyes round and slightly anxious.

Luis brought his hand to his face again. The one time he does something decent a leech latches onto him. I don't need a thing. This girl is the one that needs someone to talk to. He raked through his mind, again justifying his disposition. "What is it that you think I have to tell you eh?" He was still waiting for her to give him an excuse to cut loose on her. The odds of this kind of person doing that were slim to nil though. He didn't know where he acquired his attitude towards children, but he sure hated it. "I mean really? You think I want to play with your dolls or somethin'?" He spoke bluntly, trying his hand at being slightly rude towards her.

Raya blinked hesitantly at him and shifted her feet as she continued to walk faster to keep up with him. "N-no..." she mumbled, looking down away from him. She didn't really know what she was doing. This was scary to her, but she still felt the need to talk to him for some reason. "I just thought that you looked lonely... I wanted to know if we could be friends," she said nervously, her hands fisting in her black robe. She half expected him to turn around and hit her or something, but she doubted that would happen, and even if it did, she could run away or something. She just really felt like this guy needed a friend.

Luis stopped, and lifted his head as if to say something, but simply continued walking. It seemed like the girl was doing this for herself more than for him. maybe that's what was bothering him. She seemed genuinely worried about the outcome of this. Like her existence depended on it or something. On the other hand a small part of him still wanted to throw her planet-side, and never think of her again. Watch her ask all those pesky questions in the atmosphere right? Luis shook the thought loose from his head. "I'm not lonely." He threw out of the blue. He tried working up the will to tell her they couldn't be friends, but the vision of her bursting into flames again graced his mind. "Besides, I already told you, friendship isn't that easy to get."

"Well what can I do to be friends with you?" she asked in the softest voice she could muster, her blue eyes round as she looked up at him. In reality, she was doing this for the both of them. She needed to work up her courage more often, and they both needed friends. She blinked slowly up at him with trusting eyes. "Maybe we could see if our souls resonate or something. If they did, would you trust me then?" she asked, her eyes still scanning his to see what he was feeling. She knew he was mad at her, and that she was getting on his nerves, but she also knew that she couldn't seclude herself from people forever, and that was the same for him. Even if this didn't work out, she hoped he could come out better for it in the future.

Luis stopped mid walk at the mention of resonating. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Slow down girly. I'm not a tool like the rest of the so called weapons around here." Luis began a frustrated walk. It wasn't far till his next class. Then again maybe if he leaved early she wouldn't bother him anymore. "What makes you think you can resonate with me anyways?" He half mumbled. It wasn't a bad question either. Anyone that wanted to resonate with him of all people would have to shoulder a lot of hatred, or teach him to manage it.