Violets and Chicories - MordeTwi

Chapter Six - Cafes and Carnations

"Mordecai."

His eyes snapped up to hers, and there were no words needed to be exchanged to know that he was definitely not listening.

"Candles." He blurted.

Again.

"What?" Twilight sighed, trying her best not to roll her eyes and remain patient. "You know what, don't worry about it. Should I explain it again?"

"Yes, please."

As for tutoring, Mordecai was actually improving with Twilight's guidance. He asked less questions during tutoring, but he answered more in class. Although the tension between the two was still consistently pulled taut, it was beginning to loosen as time passed and he started pushing out B's and C's when they took their weekly quizzes and knowledge checks. Instead of scrambling to finish his assignments five minutes before the bell rang for class, he was bringing in completed pages that he actually remembered to put his name on.

Rubbing her eyes, Twilight gave a quiet sigh, shutting her textbook. For a second she watched Mordecai diligently writing down his work, occasionally clicking at his calculator before switching back to pencil and paper. She had to admit: he looked good when he wasn't always being an asshole and actually caring about his school work. 

She furrowed her brow at the thought, shaking away the slight darkening purple in her face. Goodness, I did not just have that thought. Maybe she really did have a thing for jerks. Fuck.

"Hey, we can stop a little earlier today if you want," she began, brushing a stray hair from her eyes, "The packet isn't due until later next week, and you're almost done anyway."

"I am?" Mordecai asked, giving a surprised hum when he flipped over the last page to find only a few problems remaining. "Huh. Alright, sure."

Believe it or not, spending one and a half to two hours with Twilight during each tutoring session was not the most awkward part of his day, which was a surprise at first to Mordecai as well. The walk down the hallway to the front entrance of the school was just about... terrible. Every session, without fail, Mordecai and Twilight were forced to walk side by side in silence down the hallway from the library to the main entrance to leave. Couldn't they have just used one of the side doors to exit the building instead? Nope. As sure as their tutoring sessions were long and boring, the janitors were certain to have locked all side doors to make sure the school was locked tight for the night.

And so, as their footsteps echoed in the silence, Twilight and Mordecai pinned their eyes forward; determined not to spare their counterpart a sliver of a glance.

It wasn't until they finally pushed open the double doors that it felt like either of them could finally breathe.

"Phew," the blue jay sighed, bouncing a little as he adjusted the straps of his backpack, "Welp, I guess I'll see you next week, then?"

"Oh," she replied, eyes jumping to him as she snapped herself out of her thoughts, "Yeah, sure thing."

There was a silence as they stood there, staring at each other for a moment.

"Uhh, see ya."

"Yup!"

Mordecai turned to leave but was stopped when-- "Wait!" --Twilight quickly put a hoof on his shoulder.

"Good work today," she said, a small smile quirking up the corners of her mouth, "I don't think I say that often enough, but you've actually been doing a lot better lately."

He blinked in surprise as she grinned up at him. He was betrayed by the way his face began to heat up.

"Oh, thanks." He rubbed the back of his neck bashfully. "Now that you mention it, I don't think I say 'thank you' often enough. So, thank you. For helping me."