umkansa - atwow highschool au

four

rotxo

Rotxo couldn't help but over hear the conversation taking place in front of him. He recalled Lo'ak running out of their english class quite aggressively. But Lo'ak had been on his phone most of the period. Why would he be upset? What could have happened? Rotxo lifted himself off of the cafeteria bench with a bite of his sandwich still in his cheek. "I'll be right back, I have to use the restroom," he wiped the crumbs off his hands and began walking towards the bathroom located outside the cafeteria. He peeked inside checking if anyone was in there. That's when he spotted Lo'ak in the corner next to the sink. He had what looked like a vape pen resting in his left hand while his right was located on his left elbow. His head rested on the bathroom wall as he stared up at the ceiling. His eyes looked puffy. Was he crying? "Hey, you alright?" Rotxo asked. Lo'ak jumped then instantly looked ahead of him and cleared his throat. "I'm fine," he croaked, leaning into the sink. He turned on the faucet and began splashing his face. "What are you doing in here?" Lo'ak asked him more aggressively than he intended. "Damn, a man can't piss anymore?" Lo'ak rolled his eyes and a slight grin appeared across his face. "You're not in here to piss though are you? Neteyam sent you in here. Or it was probably Kiri. Who am I kidding, it was probably both of them," Lo'ak huffed as he turned the faucet off. Rotxo just stood there. He truly wanted to help, but he just didn't know what to say. "You probably shouldn't do that in here, deans will get pissed," he turned his gaze to the vape pen located in Lo'aks left hand. Lo'ak quickly placed the pen in the pocket of his sweatpants and slid his hands across his face with a groan.

"You can talk to me, you know? I mean I know it's kind of weird since we just met, but everyone's waiting on you in the cafeteria. I won't tell them anything if you don't want me to," Rotxo assured blinking. Lo'ak took a glace at Rotxo then looked at himself in the mirror. "I'm a mess," he whispered. "Huh?" "I said I'm a fucking mess," he said slightly louder. It made Rotxo jump a little. "No- no I heard what you said it's just- how are you a mess?" Rotxo put his hands in his pockets walking slightly closer to Lo'ak. "It's just- I keep messing things up for my siblings you know? I try so hard to not fuck up everything but I still manage to do it anyways. I can't be on time, I can't be comforting, fuck I can't even keep us in the same school for more than 4 months," Lo'ak burried his head in his hands. Rotxo heard him start to sniffle. Was he crying? What should he do? Should he hug him? No way, he would probably think that's weird. Rotxo did it anyways though. He walked over to Lo'ak and hugged him. At that point Lo'ak began cry softly. Not loud enough for anyone but Rotxo to hear though. He felt bad. He had no idea why Lo'ak decided to be so vulnerable with him, but he didn't mind providing others with comfort every once in a while. It felt nice to help a friend.

About 3 minutes after Lo'ak finished cleaning his face off and fixing his hair in the mirror he jumped on the sink and looked at Rotxo blinking. "You can't tell anyone about what happened in this bathroom, understood? What's said in here stays in here," Rotxo nodded rapidly afraid of what would happen if he didn't. Lo'ak laughed at how scared the small boy was and elbowed him softly in the shoulder. "Thank you though, seriously," a brief smile spread across Rotxo face as he nodded. Lo'ak jumped off the sink as they both headed back to the lunch table with the rest of their friends. "Aww look who's back," Kiri  grinned at her brother then threw a pretzel at him. "Stop Kiri," he huffed. Lo'ak sat next to Neteyam while Rotxo took his seat next Ao'nung. Lo'ak pulled his lunchbox out of his backpack and set it on the table. He pulled out leftover rice and chicken from last nights dinner. "Leftovers? Really?" he glared at Neteyam. "Wake up on time and maybe you can pack your own lunch," he gritted his teeth. Rotxo let out a small giggle while munching on his pistachios. "Haha, leftovers," Ao'nung started giggling quietly too. The whole table stared at the pair that was silently laughing to the point where the only noise that escaped their mouths were the sounds of them wheezing and gasping for air. "It's not that fucking funny," Lo'ak hissed. That sent the entire table into orbit. They all began laughing historically while Lo'ak sat there more irritated than he was before.

Neteyam started choking on his blueberry so Kiri had to pat his back until it flew out his mouth right onto Lo'aks cheek. The whole table when silent. Suddenly a chuckle escaped Rotxo's mouth. The whole table burst out in laughter again but this time Lo'ak was laughing too. As the laughter dialed down the group attempted to regain their breaths. "Oh by the way Lo'ak, this is Ao'nung and I'm guessing you already met Rotxo," Tsireya smiled wiping the tears from her eyes. Ao'nung gave him a upward head tilt and offered him a pocky. "Thanks. And yeah, me and Rotxo are like this" he folded his middle finger over his pointer. "We are?" Rotxo smiled. Lo'ak gave him a small nod in response. This sent Rotxo into a giddy hum of excitement as he finished his sandwich and pistachios. He picked up his phone and started scrolling through it. "We should all exchange numbers, you know, and make like a group chat or something," No one replied to his suggestion leaving him embarrassed "Or not it was lame idea anyways" he whispered under his breath. "No, I think it's a good idea" Kiri jumped in. Rotxo smiled at her then quickly looked away, just in case he was blushing. He felt his cheeks while looking down awkwardly at the table making sure they weren't getting warm. He was all clear.