Tubbo dragged his pencil lightly against the page, smiling to himself as he worked on a new sketch...in a fresh composition notebook. The green one that Ranboo had brought him that morning, which he was now taking the time to fill with absent-minded sketches, just a collection of doodles that he had worked on instead of paying attention in class. Organized squiggles that filled the page, filling each line with a different pattern, drawing bees up the side like the stickers that had been placed on the front of the journal. Things like that. And Tubbo loved it. He really did appreciate the new journal that Ranboo had gotten him, although he wished the boy could have saved it for after school. The brunette was comforted by the fact that probably no one saw the two of them, but not much else.
Was he being an asshole? Tubbo didn't think so. He was being awfully reasonable, in his mind at least. After all, surely it wouldn't hurt Ranboo that much just asking him if they could...distance themselves during school. Besides, that was what the boy had already been doing before. Sitting by himself, not bothering anyone, never saying a word...never going out of his way to start conversation while other people were around. And it worked. Well...it hadn't exactly worked, that behavior was what had gotten Ranboo bullied in the first place...the brunette shook away the thought. No, the mask was what had gotten the boy bullied in the first place, it had nothing to do with him being a bit antisocial. Besides, it didn't matter. Tubbo would get to spend time with him after school, and that would make up for the fact that maybe he had been a bit...colder...during school. It wasn't the best impression, sure, but that didn't matter.
Tubbo glanced up from his composition notebook, his eyes moving around the library as he observed what everyone else was doing. Not as many people were at school as they were before, since it was four o'clock, but there were still a few people scattered around the library. Most of them getting work done, their hands flying across keyboards as they rushed to finish an assignment that was due at 11:59 that night. Others were just clumped in their little friend groups, talking amongst themselves and not bothering to be quiet because who was there to stop them? The librarians went home at 3:30, as soon as they could, and no student would be ballsy enough to tell another to shut up...so they just learned to work and exist with the chatter. And it honestly wasn't even that bad. The library was filled with the sounds of clicking keyboards, scratching pens and pencils, novels being brushed against the wood of the bookshelf every time they were withdrew. It was comforting, in a way. Just small noises that compiled together. Tubbo appreciated them more when people weren't talking over them, but that was beside the point.
The brunette hummed underneath his breath, smiling a bit when he noticed a particular student standing in the lanes of bookshelves, his hand skimming gently over the spines of novels. Ranboo. The student hadn't noticed Tubbo yet, but was instead taking his time searching through the sea of novels in the Realistic Fiction section. There were plenty of books there, of course, because hardly any student in this school actually picked up a book. A book that was fictional, at least. The only books they were ever checked out were non-fiction novels, filled with secondary sources, all of which were used for research papers and then placed back immediately, never to be glanced at again until the following year, when the same research paper would be assigned. It was nice to see someone going out of their way to look at a novel for enjoyment, though. Tubbo read a book every now and then, but he wasn't really good at it. The brunette was dyslexic, and he found that the best stories he could read were the ones he crafted himself...hence his love for writing. He never had to question what was going on when he reread them, because he had written them in the first place.
Ranboo continued browsing through the series of books, having to bend down quite a bit to look at the novels that had been placed in the middle row and below. Tubbo shifted in his seat once more, propping his elbow on the table and resting his chin comfortably in his hand...watching the taller boy with mere curiosity. He glanced around, noticing the other students at other tables...a few of them were also looking at Ranboo, but not with the same amount of admiration that he was. They were snickering amongst themselves, and the brunette could hear the whispers from where he was sitting...asking how he could read with those sunglasses on, or if he was actually going to read something in the first place...and why he didn't just leave everyone alone. Tubbo swallowed thickly, shrinking into himself a bit. Ranboo was already aware of how people spoke about him...the brunette was honestly surprised that the other came to school every day, holding his head high and never snapping back to any snarky comment anyone had to make. He stood there and took it every time...Tubbo honestly didn't know if it was bravery or stupidity. Maybe both.
