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[physicus]

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[mooned]

No kidding, [ she says beneath her breath, as she looks at him appraisingly.

She's almost surprised he's sharing this much but she forgets that this school isn't like most, the teachers are more open. And she likes that better than the school she went to back home.]

Code? [ An eyebrow lifts as she looks up at him and she adjusts her glasses.] So are you a hacker or something? [ It's meant as a tease, she just doesn't know that she's very close to hitting the mark when she asks it.]

[physicus]

Or something. [ He chuckles, looking down for a moment. ] I was. Not anymore.

[ It's only partly a lie. He's still doing some hacking, but more as a hobby than as a career. He's feeling... a bit burnt by the world of hacking, right now. ]

Before you ask, no, I won't hack into the school system to change anyone's grade. [ He raises an eyebrow, only teasing. ]

[mooned]

I wasn't going to ask-- [ she grins, erasing one of the lines before looking back at him.] I make good grades for the most part anyways. [ She chews on the end of the pencil for a moment before she looks at him.]

So were you one of like totally tubular, cyber punks. [ She puts on a surfer voice for those last few words before looking back down at her sketch pad.]

I told my brother he should do more computer stuff but he's more interested in snowboarding.

[physicus]

Tubular? [ He laughs, changing his pose, unable to hold it as she says that. ] Really?

[ When he sobers up, he shakes his head, giving her a hang loose hand sign. ] I'm afraid I'm not half as cool as you might think. It's more about all-nighters fueled by adrenaline and caffeine, too many hard drives I've had to burn in the microwave, and unhealthy paranoia. It's not a life I'd recommend your brother.

[mooned]

I didn't mean for him to be a hacker or some kind of Anonymous guy, just have more interest in something he can do for a living. [ She pauses for a moment, smiling to herself a little.]

Which I now see the irony in because what I do... [ An artist telling a snowboarder what to do.]

[physicus]

You think he could make a career out of it? Because if yes, then... I guess that's his prerogative, isn't it.

[ He bites his lip. ]

Maybe he just hasn't found what he wants to do, yet. You want to make a career out of your art, don't you?

[mooned]

I don't know, honestly. I don't really think about "my career"-- [ she uses her free hand to do air quotes before she bites her lip and looks down at the paper.] Lift your chin a little?

[ She shakes her head gently.] I'd probably be happy to just work at a book store forever, honestly. That's where I worked back home. An antique book store.

[physicus]

[ He lifts his chin when he's asked, a smile on his lips. He's always been ridiculously ambitious, so it's hard for him to imagine wanting a quiet, easy job, but that's not his place to comment on. He's not her counselor.

He's a teacher that, in any other school, would absolutely get fired if he was caught where he is right now. ]

Maybe you could do both. Just. Keep doing what makes you happy. Especially now, you know? It's the best time for it.

[ He frowns at himself. ]

Shit, I'm sorry, I don't mean to sound patronizing or anything.

[mooned]

[ She offers him a bit of a smile and a shrug, sketching furiously for a moment before rubbing out a few of the lines with her fingers.] I'm used to it.

[ Keeping her attention on the art for a moment, she doesn't look up.] People don't understand why I don't... why I am that way, I guess. [ Charlie doesn't. Of course, it probably has to do with the fact that she feels like life is fleeting.] I just think that life is too short to... waste it. [ Her mother was murdered in her mid-thirties and Charlie wondered if her mother would have regretted the choices she made, the life she'd lived.]

[physicus]

Waste it how?

[ His voice is soft, wondering. He can't imagine thinking education is a waste of time, but their lives have been obviously extremely different. ]

[mooned]

By being in a job that you don't really care about, [ She shrugs a little.]

[physicus]

But you don't regret being in school, do you?

[ Somehow, he worries about that. ]

[mooned]

No, [ she shakes her head, her expression confirming what she says.] Of course not.

[physicus]

[ He gives her a teasing smile. ] So I should expect you to be here with bells on at every single one of my classes, huh?

[mooned]

Since yours is after lunch? Yeah, probably. If it was at 8am, you'd probably only see me half the time.

[physicus]

If it was at 8am, you'd see me half the time.

[ He smiles brighter, his eyes moving to her easel. ] How's it looking?

[mooned]

[ She holds up a finger to demand a moment. There's a few more adjustments she makes with her fingers and pencil.] It's rough but it's just about done. [ And after another few swipes of her fingers, she moves to stand, adjusting the page, approaching him and turning the sketch pad to show him.

The sketch is of a unicorn, but there's color on it so obviously, she's showing him an old sketch as a joke.]

Just kidding, [ she pulls out the real sketch pad from beneath it and shows him a pretty damn good likeness.]

[physicus]

[ He barks out a laugh, looking up at her. ] I wish I was that charming looking.

[ He stands when she shows him the actual sketch, letting out a low whistle. Curious fingers reach out, but he stops himself short of touching it, not wanting to smudge anything or ruin it. ]

Well, would you look at that. I'm hot.

[mooned]

[ She offers the sketch pad to him so he can further inspect it, she doesn't care if he smudges.] Please, there's no way you didn't already know that.

[physicus]

[ He doesn't want to seem vain, but he kinda knew already that he is conventionally attractive, and he works out enough to maintain a good body. Still, he shrugs one shoulder as he looks at her, holding the sketchpad. Right now, he prefers looking at her than looking at himself. ]

It's not the same as someone else telling you. [ He turns the pad to her. She's showing him with her art. ]

[mooned]

Well, you are hot. [ That's easy to say because it's true. He's good looking. She takes the pad back from him.]

Do you want it?

[physicus]

[ He takes a sharp breath, reaching out again, this time his fingers brushing her wrist, before he drops his hand, feeling like his fingertips are burning. ]

Well, so are you.

[ He swallows. He's dancing well over that line he thought was firmly set in his head. ]

No, keep it. Might help you remember to do your homework.

[mooned]

[ Her eyes flutter a little when he touches her, it's a curious thing and she glances at him when he tells her that she's also hot.] Maybe.

[ She isn't insecure so much as skeptical as to how hot she might be to him, specifically. But at his next words, she laughs.] I'll frame and it hang it over my bed like some kind of Virgin Mary thing. A reminder to behave myself.

[physicus]

[ It's funny, how sometimes he doesn't even have to pull into his endless pool of electrical energy to feel it rushing through his veins. Touching her was like an electric shock, the kind that makes him feel more awake. ]

D'you think I'm anything like the Virgin Mary? [ He doesn't mean it to sound as flirtatious as it comes out, but. Here it is. ]

[mooned]

I don't know, are you? [ She flirts back, whether he meant it to be that or not. ] I mean, you're definitely a lot hotter with your shirt off, I think.