The Silence That Spoke a Thousand Words

Panda Bears

Headcanons:
- OJ is an animal lover and his favorite animals are pandas

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Months passed ever since OJ and Bomb met under that tree. After that the two were almost inseperatable, being seen together almost everyday. Even though they were in different classes, they always looked for each others, in the hallways, the cafeteria, and of course, at recess. Though nobody knew what they were talking about, they had an idea that it was about something fun based on how goofily they smiled at each others everytime they signed something. Today was no different except for the where they were. The grade was on a field trip to the zoo, and both Bomb and OJ went together. It was both of thier first tine going on a field trip; OJ being too busy studying to impress his parents and not having friends to enjoy the trip with and Bomb also not having friends to go with and not wanting people to bully him over his voice the whole time. Now it was different since they have each others to have fun with so they were both estatic to go on this trip together. Though OJ stuggled a bit to convice his parents to let him go on the trip, his recent good grade on a test had let his parents allow OJ to go, much to both OJ and Bomb's delight. Bomb was very excited but he noticed that OJ seemed to be bursting with excitment, excitedly pointing out all the animals at the zoo and rapidly signing at Bomb all sorts of trivia about each and every one of them. Though he enthusiastically signed about each and every animal, Bomb noticed that OJ seemmed to put all his attention towards the pandas the moment the class got to their area.

"Hey OJ?" Bomb signed as he tapped OJ on the shoulder, "Are pandas your favorite animals?"

OJ blushed a bit, "Yeah they are. They're just really adorable and soft looking. I just really like them a lot! I tend to go on and on about them but I don't want to bore you..."

Bomb blinked at OJ, and then held his hand tightly, "You never bore me OJ. I would love to hear about what you have to say."

OJ stared at Bomb with a flushed face and slowly started signing, "Well... Pandas actaully have vertic slits in thier eyes like cats... and they have an extended wrist bone that they use like a thumb..."

The more OJ signed about pandas, he started to get more excited and signed faster and faster, his smile ever growing and his eyes glistening in excitment. Bomb continued to listen, even if a lotof it he didn't understand, he smiled softly at OJ. OJ would always listen to Bomb whenever he talked about plants and such, so he wanted to give OJ the same amount of care he does to him. That's why he likes OJ a lot. A lot more than the other kids here, a lot more than his teachers, or maybe his family. Things felt different with him, but Bomb's couldn't really put the right word to what this feeling was. It didn't matter though, what mattered was right now with OJ.

OJ rambled about pandas throughout the rest of the field trip, even after they moved on to the next area. Bomb didn't mind, he just enjoyed the sparkle in OJ's eyes and listened. Soon the class reached a gift shop.

The bane of all parent's wallets.

As their classmates oggled at the over priced souveniers and themed snacks at the shop, Bomb took a gander the little books about plants had. As he contemplated if it was worth the $20 his grandmother gave him, Bomb saw from the corner of his eye that OJ was staring at a stuffed panda bear on the shelf next to him.

"Why don't you get it?" Bomb signed at OJ. OJ looked at Bomb, shot him a small smile but shook his head.

"I... I didn't get any money from my parents for anything. They think it's a waste."

Bomb stared at OJ a bit. OJ looked at him a bit confused. Then Bomb picked the plush off from the shelf and shuffled his way towards the counter. OJ took a moment until he realized what Bomb was doing and chased after him frantically. Before he could stop him, Bomb placed the bear on the counter and the clearly tired and underpaid teen behind the counter looked at the small child.

"...$19.76..."

Bomb got on his tip toes and places $20 on the counter. The cashier took it, handed back the change and the bear. OJ stared at Bomb, mouth agape, as he shuffled towards OJ.

"You didn't have to do that..." OJ signed, still surprised at Bomb's kind gesture.

Bomb smiled innocently at him. "I know," He handed the bear to OJ, "but I did!"

He grinned brightly at OJ. OJ looked at Bomb, then at the bear, and again at Bomb. He then turned a soft pink and stared at the floor, holding the bear close.

"Thank you..."

After the trip, their grade rode back to school on the buses and started saying thier goodbyes. OJ and Bomb were together before they went their seperate ways. OJ usually walks home but he would wait until Bomb's grandparents came to pick him up. They both stood together, Bomb still smiling happily but OJ was still flustered from what Bomb did. Soon his grandparents cameand Bomb gave OJ a quick hug.

"I'll see you tomorrow OJ! I hope you like the bear!"

"I do! Thanks again Bomb. I'll see you tomorrow too!" OJ smiled and waved as Bomb went with his grandparents. After they turned the corner, OJ started to walk home as well. Usually he felt a bit lonely walking home after school, not wanting to say goodbye to Bomb. But the panda Bomb got him, made him feel less lonely. OJ smiled as he hugged the bear closer to his chest and walked home giggling.

"I'm home!"

"Inside voice. Take your shoes off before you come inside OJ." OJ's mother called out from the kitchen. OJ took off his shoes as he placed the bear down gently on the floor. His mother squinted her eyes at it.

"What's that?"

"A stuffed panda bear! My friend... He got it for me-"

"You're making other people get you things?"

OJ stopped. He stared at his mother, the excitment in his eyes fading.

"Huh?"

His mother rolled her eyes at him and grumbled, "I can't beleive you're making your friend buy you useless things."

OJ turned red in shame, and put his head down, fidgeting with his fingers. "I-I didn't make him get it for me-"

"Don't talk back to your mother!" She snapped, "Just go to your room and study. You have a test tomorrow. Your father and I are expecting an A+ this time."

OJ fought back tears, but silently picked up his panda and bookbag and shuffled upstairs to his room. He flopped on his bed, tearing up a little bit, trembling. This is usually how it went whenever he came home, but he felt so happy before he walked in, it sucked to get that excitment shut down so quickly lke that. OJ sighed and turned his head towards the panda bear. He took it and held it close to his chest, letting some of his tears fall on it.

"I wish I didn't have to come home all the time..."

After a couple of minutes of OJ hugging the bear, he got up and went towards his desk. He placed the bear on the corner of his desk and stared at the study books on his desk. That's all he did really after coming home. Just wake up, go to school, come home, study and then sleep. He had all sorts of lessons on top of that too like piano and mathematics. He wasn't even sure if he wanted to do piano, he wasn't even sure if he had any hobbies since he never had time to explore anything. OJ sighed a bit, but he looked at the panda bear on his desk and smied a bit. If studying hard ment that his parents will let him hang out with Bomb more, then it shouldn't be too bad.