watchful eyes (tronnor)

eighteen; the first gaze of the defeated

originally this new trio was tøp but at some point i decided that i couldn't seriously write josh dun/troye sivan (i may have laughed every time i thought about how this was an actual thing i was writing) so meet a bunch of ocs. it was pretty great while it lasted though. just weird if you thought about it for more than two seconds. 

nicholas marton spends gym classes underneath the bleachers with a box of cigarettes. he takes his time before lighting them, always offering one to his friends before he takes his own. he finishes one in about five minutes of smoke and charred lungs and closed eyes. his friends take longer, savoring the hard-to-find nicotine.

there are three of them, clinging to the undersides of the silver metal and crushing soda cans under their gym sneakers. no one ever sees that they are missing. nicholas' twin brother, lucas marton, takes note of each time they are noticed by someone. his list, hidden in a sixty sheet notebook, is not very long. his partner, jesse white, drinks in his love each day and does not care that they go unnoticed, uncared for. they have been going unnoticed for a very long time and the hurt has faded to only a dull sting.

on the day that troye notices the trio, the sky seems to be bleeding wisps of white and the clouds glow with the touch of the sun. lucas has his back up against the poles and jesse is leaning against his legs. the dirt has pasted itself to their gym shorts and lucas' converse but neither seem to mind. nicholas exhales death, his breath filling the air. the trio do not care for the teacher blowing a whistle and calling out mile times.

the crunch of soda cans and bubble gum wrappers is what finally quiets them; their eyes drawn to the boy leaning against the edge of the bleachers, his breath heavy and eyes closed.

"you okay?" nicholas calls out (he has never been the brave one of the group, but everything is different with this new boy).

troye spins towards them, on edge, like a lion prepared to fight. "yeah, i guess so. thanks for asking."

then he turns back to the track and continues to run his mile. that is their first interaction: simple, ordinary, kind. (like a boy asking for a pencil to borrow and a friend giving it to him.) simple, ordinary, kind.