𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐘𝐌𝐏𝐇 || ʜᴀᴡᴋꜱ

16 ➟ In which I make a friend.

  Training finished 2 hours later than planned.

Ms. Anders was more than happy to keep me there for longer, so at some point, I just gave up on talking back. There was a point when my immaturity started grating on me too.

I can't say I was proud of giving up. I know I wasn't proud.

I had given up on more than just talking back, and it showed.

Humour's meant to be a coping mechanism, but then, so is avoidance and denial. I did all of that after I first left the commission. Now I was back, and that felt like coping didn't work anymore, because coping would imply that I was dealing with the situation in some sort of capacity.

And that was the biggest lie I'd ever heard.

There was no time for yourself in the compound. As soon as I left training, I was escorted to the showers and as soon as that was over I was escorted to the cafeteria, where the escorts took positions at either door.

It felt like this place had more security than Isengard Penitentiary.

The only positive about the cafeteria was that I could actually hear myself think- if I actually had anything to think about.

I hadn't worked out in years, nor properly trained any part of my body, so not only was I mentally exhausted, but I was physically exhausted too. The good part of the training that day was that I didn't have to use my quirk. Perhaps they wanted me to be on top of physical skills before I started on my quirk skills, or maybe they didn't know what would happen if I tried to use it after all this time. I, for one, wasn't expecting much.

"Hiya Ephialtes! How was your day?"

My head snapped up, meeting the face of the young boy from yesterday, just as chipper as before.

"How was your day?" I questioned back, not really feeling in the mood to talk about it.

"Good- we worked on some new tricks with my quirk!"

"What is your quirk?" I looked at him, "something to do with reading people's minds?"

He beamed, "kind of, basically, I can infiltrate people's minds as soon as I make eye contact with them. Then I can look into anything and everything."

"So why did you ask me so many questions yesterday if you could just read my mind and find them out for yourself?"

"Well, I did," he shrugged like the whole thing was no big deal, "but I like you, so I wanted to ask you."

"You've only known me for a few hours, why do you like me?" I thought back to Ina, and the day the commission found me. She asked me if I was okay, even after she'd been told that I was dangerous. What was it with these kids?

"You're only a few years older than me, right?"

I shrugged, "I don't know, am I?"

He scrunched up his face, "Stop acting all edgy like that, it'll make me stop thinking that you're nice."

"Why do you think I care if you think I'm nice or not?" I questioned him, taking a bite of the bland meal on my plate.

"I know you care because you look lonely and you want a friend, " he smiled, "don't be embarrassed, I'm lonely too. But now you're here! And we have each other to be friends with."

I felt a smile tug at the side of my mouth, "Did you use your quirk for that?"

"No," he continued to smile, "I just guessed."

"I'm not sure if I believe you."

"Well, friends believe each other, so you better start believing me, friend."

"Okay then friend, you still haven't told me your name."

He smirked, "Guess."

I took a bite of food, "Your real one? Or your commission one?"

The boy picked at his food, looking away, "The commission one."

"Don't want me to know your real one?" I tilted my head curiously, noticing the shift in his demeanour.

He shook his head, the smile returning to his face, "I'm a secretive guy."

I raised an eyebrow, "you're a child."

"And what about it?"

Shaking my head, I took a sip of my drink, "Mindreader boy?"

"That's terrible, you have to at least try."

"Hey! I did!" I protested, holding my hands up.

"Could've fooled me."

"Okay, fine, Brain Boy."

He deadpanned, making me chuckle.

"What?" I smirked, "Mind man? Telepath Timmy? Extrasensory Perception?"

"Where did that last one come from?"

"My brain, I'm actually really smart."

"Yeah, of course, you are," he grumbled, taking a bite of his meal.

"I'm not going to ask what you mean by that," I shook my head, the smile on my face growing wider without me even realising, "So instead of flexing my smartness on you, why don't you just tell me? I mean, it's only fair, you scanned my brain for my name."

He looked up from his meal, our stupid grins mimicking each other, "Delphi."

I held out my hand for him to shake, "Well then, hello Delphi, it's a pleasure."

He stared at my hand blankly for a few seconds before realising that I was offering it for him to shake.

"Hello [N/N], it is also... 'a pleasure'?" He looked at me as if to ask if he was doing it right.

I nodded, giving his hand a firm shake, "I think we're going to be good friends Clairvoyance Kid."

He scowled, but it was quickly replaced by a smile, "I think we're going to be good friends too."

Kristopherson's theme is elite.