High School Never Ends (Loki and Apollo)

[fireflie]

"Class, we have a new student joining us today," the prim woman at the front of the class drew the teens' collected attention to the sullen young man standing at the front of the room, watching them all with barely concealed disdain. He was not the nervous newcomer hovering desperately for approval, the key emotion he appeared to be experiencing was boredom.

"This is Max Niequist, am I saying that right?" she turned briefly to the young man - Max, apparently - who shrugged, obviously unable to care less about whether or not she tripped over the Scandinavian surname. The teacher hesitated, briefly uncertain, and for those watching closely there was a flicker of amusement in the boy's eyes and perhaps the tiniest quirk of a lip, but then she rallied and the bored expression returned.

"I hope you'll all make Max feel welcome. Why don't you take the empty seat at the back there?" she pointed out the seat in question and Max nodded, not bothering to make any sort of greeting to the class before strolling to the back of the room and dropping into the empty seat.

It was obvious to anybody nearby that he'd rather be anywhere else but here.

Comments

[howdohaiku]

In that, they were perfectly matched.

The young man sprawled dejectedly in the desk next to where this Max sat looked completely miserable and did not make any kind of show to hide it. He was handsome, sure, clearly of Greek descent with wavy dark hair and round eyes, olive skin, with an array of freckles. What marred his pretty face the most was the pout that seemed to be permanently stuck on it. The only reason why he didn't furrow his brow to the best of his ability was because he feared wrinkles and creases.

Why? Because he was mortal now. And mortals? Were prone to flab, sun spots, wrinkles, and acne. All things that made him want to throw himself onto the ground and weep. He was a god and did not deserve to be here among boring mortals. They had laughed pretty hard when he announced that yesterday when he'd arrived, thinking him some kind of prankster with a wild sense of humor. Lester Papadopoulos, making a big impression by yelling at the ceiling about how it was the worst dad ever, and what did he do to deserve this nightmare? You start one war and suddenly you're a troublemaker.

Unlike the other students who were obviously curious about this new student, giving Max looks and whispering, Lester barely even registered him as he passed. Another mortal? Normally he liked mortals well enough, but he was far too cranky to ogle a handsome one dropping into the chair next to him. Which meant that he was really cranky.

But he did manage to spare him a glance, still pursing his lips and giving a squint before looking back at the board. He would have been content to leave it at that if the teacher didn't smile brightly at him and add, "I have an idea! Lester, why don't you and Max pair up? Since you're both new. It might make things easier on both of you."

To which he looked horribly affronted, looking at Max again.

[fireflie]

The teacher's 'great idea' earned a death glare from Max, who was particularly displeased for two very key reasons.

One, he did not play well with others at the best of times, least of all when he was forced into mortal form for his latest transgression (he, unfortunately, could not claim 'one' war, he had to admit this was just the last in a long list of wrongdoing) and deposited in this school, of all places. Despite his tricks, he didn't deserve this fresh torture, and he definitely didn't deserve anything that forced him to play nice.

Two, how dare this mortal look so affronted at having to work with him. The Aesir, of course, were generally displeased over anything that forced interaction with Loki, but they were other gods who knew him, this mortal knew nothing but his current form and his stupid human name, he hadn't earned the right to look so offended by his very presence.

"Nice to meet you too," he drawled sarcastically at the young man next to him, not bothering to move from the slouch he'd dropped into when he sat.

"What are we even supposed to be learning?" he added, only vaguely interested, and glanced over at the board.

[howdohaiku]

"Yes, a true pleasure," Lester quipped back, voice thick with dryness. Sure, he knew that this mortal had nothing to do with why he was here. Even being mortal itself wasn't so terrible; he'd been punished in the same way twice before for transgressions that were arguably worse than the latest. But. School? A cruel joke. Kids spat spitballs and were generally terrible. It was too much.

Briefly, his sour gaze flickered to the ceiling as though he were cursing something on it before returning to the board as well. Wait, what were they learning? He'd tuned in and out at times because most of it he knew, or it was false information. Or algebra. He hated algebra.

Which, of course, happened to be what was spread across the board. He groaned and crossed his arms over his chest, "Algebra. Honestly! They should invest in the worthwhile. Poetry! Music! Drama! Not algebra." Another thing that made him want to sob. When he'd heard that music class had been cut due to the budget he'd wanted to smite the entire Department of Education.

[fireflie]

Max side-eyed the young man sitting next to him, he did appreciate a good dose of sarcasm, even when directed at him, Lester may be a mortal kid but if he was entertaining enough maybe this wouldn't be such a terrible punishment, teenage boys were pranksters, right? It would be perfectly normal for him to draw other people into his hijinks, it would serve Odin right for trapping him here. It meant he was watching when the other boy's eyes flicked up to the ceiling, it was a curious action but he didn't think too much on it - after all, mortals cursed god all the time didn't they? None of the ones he knew of course, but that was besides the point.

"...Algebra." he repeated flatly "Algebra? Odin, what did I do to deserve this?" he added in a mutter, slumping even further down in his seat. He could agree that the arts would be far more interesting than this, he wasn't exactly a patron diety of any of them, but he still preferred them to the dull logic of maths.

"Anything would be better than this," was what he said to Lester.

[howdohaiku]

"So we agree," was his equally flat reply. Anything. Maths were not his forte. Science? He could manage. God of healing and plague, fun business. Obviously English. Art? Pie. This was utterly boring and far better suited to someone like Athena. She would probably love this. And for some reason they seemed to insist that maths were the most important subject; they had it for a double period.

"I wonder if Prometheus will swap punishments. I would much prefer having my liver eaten daily to this." Maybe a little dramatic considering he didn't relish the idea of that, either, but this was only day two and already he wanted to tear his hair out.

But perhaps out of some small mercy, that was when the bell for study period rang. The rest of the students sat upright like trained dogs at the sound, some laughing and some scratching their heads, not quite understanding the previous lesson. Lester merely continued to sit there, utterly dejected. He would end up in detention at this rate, he knew, but at this point he almost welcomed it. How much worse could this get? Like some sort of game.

Sitting up, he gave Max a pointed look. "I don't know much about any of this, so I'm afraid I won't be much help to you. I'm sure one of them," he gestured to the class, "would love to show you around."

[fireflie]

Max was far more interested in Lester and his talk of Prometheus than anything that was on the board, especially the way he phrased it. Swap punishments? Max knew this charming little educational establishment was a punishment for him, but did all teenagers see it that way? Or was there something more to the statement? He was about to press for further information when he was interrupted by a shrill ringing that caused him no small amount of startlement. He was in control of his own body enough that he didn't actually jump, but he didn't manage to entirely hide his surprise.

"What does that-" he began to ask, but Lester was already fobbing him off onto the other students, and he was more than a little offended - here he was, about to show an interest in a mortal (ok, so, admittedly it was because he had suspicions there may be something other going on, but still) and the mortal was ready to ditch him at a moment's notice!

"They aren't worth my attention," his lip curled slightly "I suppose it's likely you aren't, either." maybe it would offend Lester (good), maybe it would make him want to prove himself (even better), either way Max was feeling pretty put out and wanted to share that feeling.

[howdohaiku]

Of course it offended him. What god wouldn't be offended at being told he wasn't worth someone's attention?

Ignoring the fact that he'd been more than ready to throw this guy to the wolves. And by wolves... other eager, well meaning students who might actually have something to offer? As far as Lester was concerned they were wolves. He leaned back and gave Max a look, one that clearly said Excuuuuuse me?

"I am worth far more than that," he snipped, nodding his chin up and tossing his hair. Perhaps a little too easy to goad but he'd always been a petty, easy to flatter god, not known particularly for his cleverness or perception like some others that could be named.

"Very well. You have my undivided attention."

Swinging his legs around, he stared Max straight on, lips pursed and eyebrows raised. He supposed he couldn't blame the mortal—he was, even in this incarnation, very charming.

"You're very welcome." There might have been a touch of sarcasm in there but it was mostly sincere. He was pretty great, any mortal should feel blessed to have his attention.

Sorry for the delay!

[fireflie]

The briefest hint of a satisfied smile flitted across Max's face before he forced his expression into something more neutral. His initial interest in Lester had been based on the way he spoke, but seeing how easy he was to manipulate (at least, that was how it seemed to him at this point) added another layer - Max did so enjoy being able to rile people up, and despite that being the entire reason he'd ended up in this stupid place, he wasn't about to stop now.

"Welcome?" He raised an eyebrow innocently "This is supposed to be some kind of honour, is it?" the idea of bringing this arrogant boy down a peg or two was definitely a pleasant one - and of course for someone so usually perceptive he completely missed the fact that Lester's arrogance was no worse than his own, in fact the two were rather evenly matched.