Private Finished Blame everyone but me for this mess

The weirdest thing seemed to happen:

Lochlann relaxed.

The next weirdest thing happened:

Lochlann reacted positively to praise. For a moment, his shoulders loosened, his eyes softened, and he seemed almost pleased. Lochlann did not recieve praise often and wasn't sure what to do with it. His face flushed a little bit. He said, "Thank you."

Lochlann swallowed.

He was probably so far behind because he was sleeping a lot in class lately. Lochlann asked, "Is there...I don't know, any kind of stuff online you'd recommend I look at?"

Then, a little abashed, he asked, "How did you get so good at this?"

It didn't seem so impossible with the other boy's help.

Lochlann did not know what to do with the praise. it was nice, and Lochlann was not used to feeling nice.

The suspicion started to sink in that maybe this was some kind of ploy to....to what exactly? Lochlann brushed his worries aside.

"Okay," he said, but what he was saying okay to was unclear.

He chewed on the inside of his cheek, then jotted down the website that Marcus gave him and nodded again. "Thanks," he said. 'I'll probably do that. I just haven't really been...I don't know, motivated I guess to come to class. I mean, it feels a lot like what's the point, you know?"

He scratched at the back of his neck. He looked at the first examples were his numbers were backwards and then frowned. Lochlann started to practice writing them the correct way.

"Thanks again for your help. Is there anyway I could return the favor?"

Lochlann shrugged.

What hadn't happened recently?

"I guess I never expected I'd ever get this far," he admitted. "And now that I'm here i'm waiting for someone to tell me it's a mistake."

Lochlann was waiting for someone to tell him this was never a second chance and his whole experience on the island was exactly what he thought it was going to be: a prison.

"And my best friend sort of broke up with me recently," he shrugged. When it came back to favors, Lochlann frowned. Though he didn't consider himself a fae even though he really truly was, he was still bound by some notion of favors that he couldn't quite comprehend.

"But you helped me. I should help you in return somehow. Do you have a phone?" Lochlann asked, holding out his hand. he'd punch his number into it if the other boy acquiesced.

Marus's speech caught Lochlann off guard.

There was a moment where Lochlann's face went blank and his body tensed up again, like he was ready to make a break for it to go for the window. But he didn't, and he listened to what Marcus had to say, and in response, Lochlann just said, "Okay."

It wasn't a big response, one far from what someone would expect, but for Lochlann, it was progress.It was a relief when Marcus passed him his phone.

Subdued, Lochlann punched his number into it.

"I'm not good at a lot of things like this,' Lochlann waved his hand over the books. Academics. Learning. School-stuff. "But I'm...I'm okay at a lot of other things. Please text me or call me if you need anything. Any time of day. i'm probably awake."

Lochlann returned the phone to him and said, "Thank you again."



ooc: want to wrap it up in your post? seems like we're reaching a natural conclusion!